Monday, March 7, 2011

QR Codes Still Popping Up Everywhere, But Are They Being Scanned?

Daily Axioms is no stranger to covering QR codes, but it's been hard to show how much they're being utilized because it's still relatively new and the numbers just haven't been there.

However, I stumbled across an infographic from QR code startup JumpScan that revealed some pretty interesting statistics:

  • 1200% increase in QR code scanning from July to December 2010: While a significant increase was expected (considering QR codes are everywhere these days), a 1200% increase is a massive jump in scanning.
  • 52% have heard about or seen QR codes, 28% have scanned: Obviously a 28% scan rate isn't overwhelming, but according to those stats a little more than half of the QR codes that are seen are being scanned. That's important because the biggest obstacle with any call to action, like scanning a QR code, is getting people to actually use it.
  • 57% Facebook/Twitter users scanned at least one QR code last year, 40% scanned 4 or more: This is a very telling statistic because it shows that social media integration is very important is having your QR codes gain traction. Based on these numbers, social media users are twice as likely to scan a code, and about 40% more likely to scan 4 or more codes than the general public.
So although it's always hard to tell just how accurate these stats actually are, it seems like QR codes are more prolific and being scanned more than ever before.