Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the year’s busiest shopping days. In 2022, shoppers spent a record $9.12 billion, according to an Adobe Analytics report. This is an increase of 2.3% since the year prior. Holiday seasons like the Black Friday sale, Thanksgiving Day, Cyber Monday, and all the pre-Christmas campaigns are great opportunities for businesses to create cost-effective promotions and gain more customers physically and for their e-commerce sites.
If you’re a retailer, there’s no doubt that you want a piece of that pie. But how can you stand out from the competition and ensure your sales succeed? One way is to use QR codes for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
We’ve seen a huge rise in QR codes during and after the pandemic. We live now in a new normal, a normal where QR codes are even in our soups! But hey, not many retailers and brands know these little squares’ full potential. In this article, we’ll cover some of the main strategies and tips you can immediately apply to your business.
Let’s start with the basics!
What are QR codes?
QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes that can be scanned by smartphones. When scanned, they can redirect users to a specific website or content, providing additional information about a product or a service. QR codes are an easy way to engage with potential customers and drive traffic to your website, online, or physical store!
What is a Black Friday or Cyber Monday QR code?
Black Friday and Cyber Monday QR codes are special QR codes that retailers can use to offer discounts and special deals to customers. When scanned, these QR codes will direct users to a specific website or content where they can redeem the special offer.
QR codes are an easy way to engage with potential customers that can unlock your online shopping and drive traffic to your store. By using QR codes for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, you can ensure that your business stands out from the competition and that shoppers can conveniently redeem your offers.
How can I use QR codes for Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
You can use QR codes to boost your Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in several ways. For example, you could:
- Offer exclusive discounts and coupons that can be redeemed only by scanning a QR code.
- Create a scavenger hunt using QR codes to lead customers to different discounts and deals around your store or website.
- Hide a QR code in ads, email campaigns, or social media posts that lead to a special Black Friday or Cyber Monday deal.
- Use QR codes as entry tickets for special contests or prize giveaways related to Black Friday or Cyber Monday shopping.
- Make downloadable discount flyers, or even product manuals, return policies, or other important documents available as QR codes instead of traditional PDFs or Word Docs.
How to use coupon QR codes for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals?
The best way to reward loyal customers and entice newcomers is through the use of coupons. You can show any promo with a coupon QR code: a 2 for 1, 50% off, or even a free-purchase voucher. You can accompany said deal with its corresponding code or even a barcode – a code within a code within a code… talk about inception. Customers can scan the code and show the coupon code at the store to redeem their deals.
Speaking of going to the store, you can also add its address to the QR code, which will open up in Google Maps to give directions on how to get there. Lastly, you can also add your website to show other products and allow people to redeem the sale or % off online if you prefer.
All this can be done with a single QR code! You just need to add your logo and brand colors to make it stand out more! You can use a dynamic QR code generator like QRcodeKit.com to create yours, following these simple steps:
- Create a new QR code
- Select type: Coupon QR code
- Select the type of offer you want (2×1, Free Sample, 50% off, and more…)
- Add your logo, your website, and your address if you want
- Download and boost your sales!
Coupon QR codes are one of many types of QR, but as you can see, they have a lot of potential by themselves. Let’s take a look at other great types for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
How to use QR codes to create a scavenger hunt in your physical or online store?
There are many types of QR codes. You just need to make sure you choose the dynamic option. The main difference between dynamic QR codes and static ones is that with the latter, you cannot edit the content after printing. With dynamic QR codes, you can access several data and make the scavenger hunt much more playful! When we refer to Black Friday QR code to create a scavenger hunt game, you can choose among some of the most popular types:
Website QR code
You can drive your in-store customers to your website with just one scan. Adding QR codes to your print ads, in-store signage, or product packaging with a clear call-to-action increases the chances of winning a sale.
For a Black Friday QR code or a Cyber Monday one, you probably need to take into consideration the several items or services you offer at a discounted price, making sure none of your customers lose the opportunity to access any of them! You might have more discounted products online, so adding value to the customers will be highly appreciated.
You can add those QR codes in specific places, such as the fitting rooms, mirrors, or even on the floor. Anything that will call out your customers’ attention in a funny way. And what is best is that your Black Friday material could be transformed into the Cyber Monday sale without having to reprint anything.
Google Maps
Add discounts based on the location of your stores. Imagine adding Google Maps QR codes inside your store to get another deal if you visit a specific area of your store. Retailers such as malls can implement this strategy by adding several Google Maps QR codes to gather offers and discounts at specific points of the venue. Imagine a new store you want to promote. What better way to use a Google Maps QR code to get your coupon once you arrive there?
Multiple links
Let your customers choose their way. Imagine a QR code that leads to several links, and the customer can choose among the offers listed. Let them solve the puzzle and find out which is the best deal for them with a multiple-links QR code. Don’t reduce your target audience if you sell products or services for kids and adults. Let them choose which offer they want to look at.
Add as many links or even create video QR codes to explain tips or secrets to find out how to finish the game! Pro-tip: this type of QR code can be used to showcase your social media profiles, like a link in bio URL. As a retailer, showing where your customers can find you is important.
Landing page
Scavenger hunts are all about solving a mystery. You don’t need a full new landing page to create it. You can use a landing page QR code where you can add clues, links, images, videos, and more to let your customers solve the game and get their reward.
Mobile page QR codes, among other typologies, can be used in a scavenger hunt. Just remember these tips:
- Always add value: let your customers know the reward for them is worth the game. Black Friday sales are simply the best time of the year to innovate with promotions.
- Think about creative ways to combine different types of QR codes to keep your consumers entertained solving the game. Creating the right audience engagement might seem challenging, but you need to make it easier for your consumers to make purchasing decisions.
- Black Friday and Cyber Monday are great opportunities for brands to drive people from online to offline and vice-versa. Think about combining these two worlds to achieve your sales objectives in an omnichannel way.
How to use QR codes in emails, ads, and social media campaigns for Black Friday?
Before sending your next newsletter, remember to add your Black Friday sales QR code! Give an incentive to your many customers to use the code in-store to get an instant reward, such as a promotion or free sample, easily with a QR code in your email campaign.
Also, ads don’t need to be static, they can be dynamic and playful. Add a catchy headline like “Scan before the ad is gone” or, “Yes, it’s a QR-AD that will disappear in 5, 4, 3….scan it to get your discount!” Black Friday sales don’t need to be boring anymore!
Which better way to create a reel with a hidden QR code to deliver a special offer? Be creative, and add a sequence of pictures where you can find a hidden code that leads you to an amazing reward!
How to use QR codes for contests or prize giveaways related to Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals?
Simply, you need one or many dynamic QR codes! With this type of code, you can select up to how many people can access a determined promotion. Imagine that only the first 1,000 customer scans access an exclusive sale. Well, that’s possible by adding a scan limit to your codes.
Incentive people in your store to share their outfits, tagging your brand on social media to get an instant bargain. Let them scan QR codes that directly open your strongest social media profile to share their experience with you. Adding your Black Friday promotions will make them happier, and you will generate sales 🙂
Make a big contest to win a big prize, such as a cruise or a trip around the world 🙂 or just a yearly subscription to your service, maybe? Create a Lead generation QR code to gather your customer’s info to participate in a contest to win.
How to use QR codes for a Black Friday sale with downloadable discount specials, your product manuals, or any important documents for your product or service?
When you create a download file QR code, you’re opening a whole new world to your business. With this type of code on your packaging, there’s no need anymore to add a long printed manual inside. You can simply create a download file QR code with your instructions, or even better, create one with the description and a video tutorial, for example.
Remember, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are all about the deals. Maybe you want your customer to come back in the future, and you can add a QR code with a downloadable flyer with 20% off for the next purchase easily.
Other types of QR codes for this holiday season
You can offer discounts and promotions on your website. A website QR code is the fastest and easiest way to get your customers to your digital door. You may also want to consider offering discounts on your social media accounts with a social media QR code. Upon scanning one of them, the users will be able to follow you on their preferred platform and keep up to date with all that you offer.
For the grand finale, if you are a retailer or a company that works on a worldwide scale, you can use the multilingual QR code – what a name, huh? Basically, it will redirect the user to the version of your website that matches the country where they are. So, if someone scans the code in the United States, the English version of the website will show. If in Spain, the Spanish version will pop up, and so on. Offer planetary discounts with a single QR code! “Planetary…” that reminds me of something!
A metaverse of deals!
Yes, you read that right. QR codes have a new friend to play with: AR technology. Soon, we will live in a world of worlds, and QR codes will make the connection between worlds possible.
Imagine scanning a code to get a deal on a physical product, like a brand-new sofa. Now, imagine having the ability to place a 3D model of that sofa in your living room to see how it would look with your smartphone. That’s just the beginning. The metaverse will introduce new ways to interact physically and digitally. And if there’s a time for that to thrive and get attention, it is now! We suggest you try this no-code AR platform to easily turn 3D objects into augmented experiences for your customers!
In conclusion, QR codes are a great way to take advantage of the increased footfall on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. QR codes allow you to engage with potential customers, drive traffic to your Facebook, your website, your online store, and even provide exclusive discounts and coupons. So don’t wait—start planning your Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales strategies today!
Have a great holiday season, and keep QR coding!
