We all know that there has been quite a monumental shift in the way that consumers shop or trade, where orthodox methods have made way for new technology to facilitate payments, delivery, tracking, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. But I think that businesses are yet to take the necessary steps to make the most of today’s digital technologies. In particular, I am talking about QR codes, which have been largely restricted to the payment and tracking function. Initially incepted to replace the barcodes, QR codes have evolved into a full-grown industry in their own right, and while most taking notice, I think we can use them in many more ways.
The Role of QR Codes
While QR codes have been around for some time in some form or the other, not everybody has made the most of these nuggets of information. I know many people who still think that all a QR code does is store data that the users are redirected to upon scanning it, but we know that QR codes can be used to get a lot more done and within a lot less time. Owing to its fast readability, ease of access, and higher storage capacity, QR codes are being used for multiple purposes, like payments, providing information, advertisements, offers and discount voucher redemption, marketing, etc. As they require virtually very little space, and that too in 2-D, QR codes can be attached with products, packaging, invoices, walls, and gates of outlets, in short, anywhere and everywhere.
All major businesses are using QR codes in some way and have been doing it successfully. What’s more, even QR codes have evolved from one-time use (or static) codes to multi-use (dynamic) codes. But who creates customized QR codes? Us. I was working on this project recently, where the client needed quite a bunch of different QR codes, and for different purposes, and I used QR code generating API to do that.
QR Code Generating Tools vs. Code Generating API
I came across a variety of tools that help create QR codes. I won’t name any of them for obvious reasons, but most of them only allowed static codes with limited functionality. Also, I found no option to customize the QR code as per my needs, or fit in the logo of the project I was working on. I figured that an API would help me better, and it turns out I was not wrong. The easiest way to generate multiple QR codes at scale is by integrating a quality QR Code API with the project destination. I ended up creating multiple customized, and feature-rich QR codes, and sent them all for approval. Guess what, they were spoilt for choice. Why the load when you can code, eh?
How I integrated QR Code API
Integrating the QR code generator API with the project (Windows, Android, or iOS) is a quick and easy process that hardly takes a few minutes. For example, most QR code API generators work on the format of requests and responses. After I signed up, I receive an API key (also known as developer token).
I then went on to ‘create your QR code’ option, filled in the relevant information, and entered it. The first part was a relatively simple one, i.e. two QRs, one each for payment and employee ID card. Quick and easy, as the only details required were QR type, attributes (color, margin) and URL, before I submitted it.
The second part was a bit trickier, it being a dynamic QR code. Like adding a vCard for a particular designation to a QR code, I made sure that the ‘fields data’ is filled in a prerequisite format that can be altered in cases of promotion, demotion or replacement. I filled in the columns like name, phone, phone number, email, company and designation in the dynamic format, so that it could have multiple usage.
Similarly, I ended up creating a whole range of QR codes this simple yet efficient manner. I even played around a bit, experimenting with multiple colors, borders, frames, logos, special illustrations and images as well. And that’s pretty much it.
While they’ve made it easier for businesses to streamline their operations and communications; however, the task of integrating them intelligently within business processes is our job, and I hope you make the best out of it. If you don’t have prior experience in the usage of QR codes, go for a trusted QR code generating API that can help you generate the right code for the right purpose.
Rest assured, QR codes are here to stay. My personal favorite part about QR code APIs? They are fun. I mean, it might evolve into a new tool, but the fundamentals of the technology are so simple, effective, and useful, that they will continue to spread widely.
Top comments (0)