HRG (UK) Ltd, the experts in point of purchase and retail design examine QR Codes and what does the future hold in Point of Purchase?
In today’s busy and time constrained lifestyles, consumers are looking for convenience and brands that position the consumer at the centre of their business. Looking where QR codes have been successful in the past, innovation in the application is the key.
In South Korea, Tesco’s had a unique problem of being the number 2 retailer and wanted to improve on this, without increasing the number of stores they had.
Solution
Their solution was ‘Let the store come to people’ and went about creating virtual stores which they hoped would blend into people’s everyday lives. They came up with the concept of creating virtual stores in subway stations, although virtual the displays were exactly the same as the actual store from display to merchandise. The only thing different was people used their smartphones to shop.
Tesco Homeplus Virtual Subway Store in South Korea
This worked by people scanning the QR code on the display with their smartphone and the product automatically landed in their online basket. When they finished they paid and their shopping was delivered to their home in the next 24 hours.
The results were people could shop Tesco Homeplus wherever they were without having to visit an actual store. Online sales for the business increased tremendously with 10,287 consumers visiting the online Homeplus mall using smartphones. The number of new registered members rose by 76% and sales increased 130%. Currently Homeplus has become the No.1 online retailer in South Korea and is a very close 2nd offline.
December 7, 2011 at 12:50 pm
With so many companies talking about QR codes, it’s really interesting to read about a campaign that works and has quantifiable results.