The use of quick response (QR) codes are becoming increasingly popular in Europe, reports myhermes1.co.uk.
Research by comScore suggests out of the five leading ecommerce markets in Europe – the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain – the number of smartphone users scanning QR codes on their devices jumped 96 per cent in the last 12 months.
Furthermore, an impressive 17.4 million people used QR during the three-month average period ending July 2012, cites silobreaker.com, and Germany is the biggest market to use the technology with 19 per cent of the country’s smartphone owners using it.
QR codes are barcodes that can be scanned using a smartphone. Once scanned, they can direct consumers to particular websites and content pages, like ecommerce sites. As a result, consumers can then make an online payment for goods quickly and efficiently.
However, receiving product information is one of the most popular reasons to use QR codes. Consumers could then use the information to make online purchases and payments on their desktop computer.
Hesham Al-Jehani, European mobile product manager at comScore, believes the ‘new and exciting’ opportunity brought about by QR codes could have an even wider effect on consumers in the future.
“By offering more detailed product information or related content, QR codes bring consumers vital information in their consideration of a particular product or service,” he said.
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