What Can I Use QR Codes For?

QR codes transport customers or users from a physical location to a digital address. As more and more activities occur through digital media, this feature becomes increasingly interesting. This blog post explores various uses for QR codes, both today, tomorrow, and (perhaps) in the future.

QR Codes Today

Today, most people in Sweden use the internet and mobile phones. Or rather, almost everyone does, and to an increasing extent.

So even though QR codes have been around for quite a while (since 1994, in fact; see here for a history lesson on the topic), it is only now that enough people can use them for them to become widely accepted.

There is a lack of data and research on the subject, but we at dinqr are convinced that in the past year, we have just begun to see a significant increase in the presence of QR codes around society. We also believe that more people are scanning QR codes, although not as links on the internet, but rather they scan them when they really want something.

Today, we see QR codes everywhere. Just on my way to dinqr this morning, I saw a code on a poster in the window of an empty space that leads to a prospectus, and then one on the bus that I showed to a scanner to pay, and then one on the shelf in my grocery store that would provide me with allergy information about pastries if I scanned it. Yes, and so on. I might notice this “more” since I work at dinqr and talk about QR codes daily, but still, I believe most people recognize this?

QR codes are used today for a variety of purposes, albeit somewhat inconsistently and without fixed rules or patterns. You can see them on everything from consumer products to payment systems to print on image doors. Maybe we are experimenting a bit; one could see it that way.

And that’s probably where we are right now; many people have started to experiment with QR codes at the same time.

QR Codes Tomorrow

First— the future is always uncertain, so now we’re entering the realm of speculation. Since dinqr is built on an idea of where this is heading, we are of course biased in our views, so take this for what it is.

At dinqr, we believe that QR codes will become a part of everyone’s everyday life. Since QR codes are not like links, but are primarily used in more functional scenarios where the scanner has a clear intention, it is likely that QR codes in the future will not just be used for mass advertising. On the contrary, it is likely that QR codes will increasingly be used for more important tasks—retrieving something, ordering, obtaining information that is genuinely needed right here and now—that sort of thing.

Specifically, this type of functionality exists in virtually every industry. Retrieving ordered goods is traditionally done with a paper order, which one might print out from an email, but this could be easily referenced digitally with a QR code. Obtaining information about something could involve viewing restaurant menus, bus timetables, or information about when my hotel room will be cleaned next.

As QR codes become more important, the demands for QR code services will also increase, which in turn will lead to dinqr becoming the leading QR service in Sweden.

QR Codes in the Future

In the longer term, QR codes will be used for even more significant purposes, such as community-benefiting activities. We got a glimpse of this with COVID passes and similar measures during the pandemic, and we have Swish and BankID as additional examples. There is no reason to believe that this will not be replicated in more areas.

There are also machines/robots/AI on the way in, and machines need to retrieve information just like we humans do. However, they have one thing we don’t—they have built-in video cameras (one could say their eyes) and therefore an embedded QR code reader. So in the future, if machines need information, QR codes might play a role. We will see, but you heard it here first, and if you want to explore any ideas on this topic, we at dinqr are open to collaborations.