4 Uses You Could Give QR Codes to Enhance your Online Vape Store Experience

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Author: Andres RomanDecember 14, 2022

Although you might think almost everyone has forgotten QR codes, they are slowly making a comeback now that nearly every phone can read them without needing an external app. You can point your phone camera at the code, and voila, the QR code can send you to a coupon, website, or even a restaurant menu. But how can you use this technology for your e-commerce vape shop business or your brick-and-mortar vape shop? Read on to find out how you can up your digital marketing strategy with QR codes.

What are QR codes, and what are their benefits for vape shops?

QR codes stand for “quick response codes.” In short, they are flat geometric images (sometimes dots, squares, or lines) found in products, pamphlets, or surfaces, that when scanned by a smartphone or other devices, lead to websites, phone numbers, text, or even social media posts, or PDFs.

There are many benefits of using QR codes for eCommerce stores. For example, you can incorporate QR codes in the product shipping packaging to redirect back to your eCommerce site where they can review the product they just received, find written content teaching them how the box mod they purchased, or lead them to video content teaching them how to set up their new device.

There is also the possibility, in the not-so-distant future, that you could use QR codes in the eCommerce checkout page to increase the security and lessen the likelihood of hackers gaining access to credit card information. Since most eCommerce websites are forced to hold credit card information on their servers, with QR codes, the transaction and the information would all take place in the user’s smartphone.

QR codes are also trackable, which means that one can tell when and where they are being used or scanned. This is perfect for tracking the effectiveness of real-world marketing like pamphlets, billboards, magazine ads, etc.

If you happen to be both an online vape eCommerce website and a brick-and-mortar store, you can connect the two via QR codes. For example, suppose a product might not be in the brick-and-mortar store but can be found in the online shop and is ready to be shipped. In that case, a customer can visit the brick-and-mortar store and buy the product via a QR code and have it delivered to their home or to the store to be picked up at a later date.

Dynamic QR Code vs Static QR Codes

There are two kinds of QR codes, static and dynamic QR codes. With a static QR code, the information it holds is fixed, and one can not change or update it. So if it’s a website that the static QR code leads to, it will always display the same URL, and you cannot update it or alter it. Furthermore, you also can not track it.

However, with a dynamic QR code, you can track where every scan came from (from what country it came from, what type of device, at what time, which QR code was scanned, etc.) and updated the information the QR code leads to.

So for businesses like vape shops, it makes more sense to use dynamic QR codes because they are customizable. They can track where the scans came from and can be updated and changed, which gives you the power to use them more than once, unlike static codes.

How can you make one?

Perhaps the best thing about QR codes is the ease of use and how easy it is to make one. Tons of free websites allow you to customize your very own QR code and create it for free. All you have to do is input a URL, and the QR code will be made and ready to be used. Here are three different websites you can use to create your very own QR code:

QR code software will also allow you to customize and brand your QR code. Whether it’s adding logos, brand colors, and unique edges, you can make your QR codes memorable and match your vape shop branding with the right software.

Connecting in-store and online store

Using QR codes, If you have a brick-and-mortar location and an e-commerce store, can have many benefits that ultimately connect both locations to create a seamless shopping experience.

In the vape industry, it is widespread for vape customers to visit vape shops to learn about the type of devices they want to get and buy them later online. With QR codes, this practice known as “showrooming,” which happens across many industries, can be mitigated since QR codes could immediately lead customers in physical shops to the online shop where they can buy the products right then and there. The products would later be delivered to the store of the customers’ homes.

Print QR codes on receipts that buyers get at the brick and mortar locations to encourage them to visit your online store if they forgot to get something. Also, use them in all the marketing materials in vape conventions to have attendees revisit your booth. They also generate website traffic that could turn visitors into customers.

Finally, by offering unique coupons and promotions that can only be accessible through QR codes found in the brick-and-mortar store, you will incentivize customers to shop in your physical stores.

QR codes for payment processes

You can also use QR codes to pay for merchandise, a practice that could replace credit cards in the future. So, If you own a physical vape store, using QR codes for the actual payment process will be faster and more secure. There are essentially two kinds of QR payments you can install in your store, merchant-presented or customer-presented.

Merchant presented QR payments work as follows. The customer rings up their items for purchase, and the point of sale system of the store creates a QR code which the customers scans and pays from their phone.

A customer presented QR payment works differently. The customer scans the items they want to purchase with their phone, and a QR code is generated on their phone. They would then show the QR code at the checkout or the point of sale system, and the vendor would scan it.

Although both processes work to reduce fraud and the possibility of a security breach since debit cards and credit cards are never used or swiped in the transaction, it seems like merchant-presented QR codes seem to be the most popular and the easiest to implement.

As we explained earlier, QR codes could also be used in an eCommerce purchase since the customer would only need to scan the QR code that appears at the checkout screen and never input their credit card information on a server.

To promote discounts and special offers

QR codes are also great for promoting discounts and special offers. And they can also increase foot traffic to your brick-and-mortar store. By sending QR codes in your email marketing with discount coupons they can only redeem in-store, you encourage your customers to visit your brick-and-mortar vape shop. And the best part is that these coupons can be time-sensitive, which creates a sense of urgency, so they have to visit your store or risk losing out on the discount opportunity.

Another advantage of using QR codes that contain discounts and special offers is that they can be created only to be used once or only by certain persons. This advantage opens up the possibility of generating special offers limited only to your most loyal customers.

To drive traffic to your online store

As stated before, another way to drive traffic to your website is by implementing QR codes in packaging and shipping boxes. Here these QR codes could lead customers back to the online store where they can continue shopping.

Another way to generate web traffic is by implementing a QR code in your infographics. For example, you have a piece of vape content like an infographic detailing the differences between vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol (two of the essential ingredients in vape juices or e-liquids) that might be shared on websites like Pinterest or by other vape companies. You could implement a QR code that leads back to your site without implementing a link.

Another way to generate traffic to your site is if you do Youtube content for your vape shop (which is a great way to market your vape shop online), you could also, at the end of your videos, leave a QR code at the end that leads customers to your online store.

Conclusion

QR codes are a great way to drive traffic to your online store, make payments more secure, promote coupons and special offers, and connect online and offline stores seamlessly together. All in all, QR codes have many things to offer vape shops and eCommerce stores, and their second coming should be taken advantage of and not be ignored.