Small businesses have some very own, specific set of complex challenges that big businesses don’t face. Take brand positioning for example, small businesses have to strive hard to create a name for themselves and they do it by enhancing their products and services and little bit of marketing that they can afford. It takes a lot of capital to set up a business and to keep it afloat. There are other problems like customer engagement, customer loyalty and even changing customer expectations which can have a significant impact on a business. Fortunately modern day technologies can help by simplifying many of these complex challenges, some of them with low cost implementation as well.
Various Internet of Things (IoT) and AIDC technologies like RFID and QR Codes can be very efficient if implemented correctly and smartly. QR Codes offer a simple implementation with no elaborate, complex infrastructure, which makes it a cost effective tool that can help with day-to-day small business challenges, from marketing to streamlining business operations, logistics and supply chain etc.
What is a QR Code? Understanding QR codes:
QR Code, short for quick response code, which is a very apt name, is a two dimensional barcode image, which can be scanned by a smartphone (camera).
The reason it is two dimensional is because it is a matrix code that is capable of data encoding both horizontally and vertically, allowing for more data storage than a traditional BARCode.
While a traditional barcode can only contain few digits, a QR Code can contain not only numerical digits but around 220 words (text), image, pdf, url to a website landing page, Google form etc.
It is called quick response because it is very quick. It takes just 1-2 second to scan a QR code due to alignment zone and focus zone and there is very less chance of failure. In comparison to barcodes, QR Codes offer high precision, high read rate and 360 degree scanning ability. Unlike barcode, even if a QR code is slightly scraped, it can still be read.
How QR Codes can help small businesses grow?
Now coming to implementing QR codes in small business, it can be done for various purposes, targeted at different areas of a small business operation.
Let’s see some of the key areas where QR Codes can, very efficiently and very cost effectively, make a huge impact on small businesses in terms of value creation and growth:
1. Brand marketing and advertising with QR Codes
QR codes offer a unique way of promoting and advertising small brands. Small businesses can use QR Codes for creating brochures with links to business website, and social media posts, flyers can be created and distributed, offline and online through social media and emails. QR codes create a sense of intrigue amongst customers and customers readily scan it. It is painted on walls, used as menus, pasted on entry and exit points etc.
Dynamic QR codes also offer the ability to gather analytics on how a targeted ad campaign performed by going through the data on no. of scans, date and time of scans etc., which also allows for improvement in ad and marketing campaigns.
2. Logistics with QR Codes
For small businesses to grow, a robust supply chain and logistics network is essential. QR Codes can be a great tool for not only sharing information about delays and delivery shipments, but also for tagging pallets and consignments and assets.
Dynamic QR codes can be used to register an entry, each time consignments pass through certain intersection. This allows for more transparency.
3. Inventory management with QR Codes
Another great use of QR Code is in enhancing inventory management. Various small businesses often suffer from lack of visibility in their total stock availability which leads to huge losses in terms of stock shrinkage, and theft or simply expiration without sale.
QR based asset tagging can be done to manage inventory more accurately and to enhance overall visibility inside the store or inventory.
4. Visitor experience
Growth in small business is not only focused on products and services. It’s a cumulative effect of many small yet crucial factors. Visitor management is one such small factor. Suppose you run a small clinic and you have no way of managing visitors, which will severely impact the business.
QR code based appointments; ID cards can be used to enhance visitor experience.
5. Enhance Customer relationship and experience with QR Codes
Customer relationship and customer experience play a huge role in business growth and small businesses are increasingly realizing it.
QR codes can be used to help customers with information on business, opening timings, closing timings, other locations, sales and discounts and feedbacks.
Discount coupons and sales offers can be directly sent, in the form of creative QR Codes, to the customers.
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