Shopify Launches Shopcodes: Scannable, Trackacle Codes for You to Use

First the launching of Shopify Pay, now this! It's more than obvious: Shopify's constantly striving to enrich its merchant customers' toolset with new and new features. And this time it's all about easy-to-scan, easier to track QR codes. In other words: Shopify launches Shopcodes, a free app downloadable right from the e-commerce platform's store, an app playing the role of a QR codes “generator”.

What does this launch mean for you?

Well, it means that you, the Shopify store owner, get to easily create QR codes (just generate them and then download the graphic files) and then link them to any product page or shopping cart page that you want. This way you'll be:
 

• enabling your potential shoppers to get extra info about various products while they're in your physical store (they just scan the QR codes attached to your products and voila: they'll be taken right on the products' dedicated pages in your Shopify online store)
   
• interconnecting your customers' offline and online shopping experiences
   
• streamlining the whole checkout process (the code can also take your customers right to the checkout page, skipping all the other time-consuming steps to take)
   
• delivering your clients their desired products without having to keep an inventory on hand; so even if you own a popup store and you're constrained by the lack of space
   

… and the list of benefits can go on and on.

Now let's delve even deeper into details on how to create and place these codes on your products/marketing materials, details on various use cases and on the multiple benefits:
 

How Do You Create These Codes and Place Them on Your Products/Marketing Materials?

Generating these QR codes, then linking them to your product/checkout pages and downloading the graphics files (SVG, PNG) to be placed on your marketing materials /products is nothing but a simple 4-step process:
 

1. just get the Shopcodes app from the Shopify App Store and have it installed
2. use the app to generate your first QR code 
3. link the QR code to the product or the shopping cart page of your choice
4. print the graphic file to place on your offline marketing materials!
    

Once your offline customer enters your physical store and uses his/her iPhone to scan the printed code added to a certain product he/she can:
 

• learn more about it, visiting your online shop and heading straight to the product page that he's interested in
• get straight to the shopping cart page and complete the checkout process, purchasing that specific product!
   

OK, Shopify Launches Shopcodes: But How Do They Work Precisely?

First of all, we need pointing out 2 particularities that set these QR codes in Shopify apart from the “traditional” ones (since QR codes have been around since the 90's):
 

1. you can generate them exclusively within your Shopify store
2. they can be used exclusively for shopping purposes
    

OK, now that we've set these key details straight, here's how they work and also how you, the seller, get to harness their full spectrum of functionalities:
 

• we've already briefly mentioned how they work from the user's perspective: he/she uses his Apple phone to scan the code and gets a screen with additional info about the given product or with a “buy” button instead if you, the seller, will have linked that code to a checkout page
   
• you, the Shopify merchant customer, get to track down and to monitor those codes (they're not just scannable, but also unique and easily trackable), each transaction made by your customers, right from your Shopify Analytics dashboard; so you'll get a crystal clear picture of where traffic/sales on your online store are coming from 
   
• you, again, even get to harness a whole set of features aimed at enriching your toolset as a seller: to add discounts to those QR codes (thus encouraging your offline customers to purchase online), to make changes via your Shopcodes app's dashboard (e.g. to add extra information or promotions)
   

Convenience for your customers (and for you, too, since you have your dashboard as your control panel at hand) and a bundle of benefits for you, the Shopify customer!
 

Which Are the Use Cases for These QR Codes?

“Practically you get to use Shopify QR codes wherever you advertise offline”:
 

• place them on your product packaging; this way your customers can just scan them through and get more detailed information about your products by visiting your online store or go to the checkout page directly
   
• display them in your brick and mortar shop's storefront window, alongside other products; this way, even with closed doors, after or before your shop's working hours, your customers can still engage in shopping: in online shopping on your Shopify store instead!
   
• use them in your popup store (or at the events that your company participates to), where you face multiple constraints, such as lack of space and a limited inventory on hand; your visitors can still scan these QR codes and have their favorite products delivered to their homes instead
   

In short: rely on Shopify's QR codes whenever/wherever you're conducting offline marketing campaigns! Use them to stir your offline potential customers' curiosity, turning them into your future online shoppers!
 

Why Should You, The Shopify Store Owner, Be Excited About This App?

“What's in it for you?” In what way does Shopify deliver you, through the launch of its Shopcodes app, (even more) value? 

Let's sum up your benefits and outline the answer to your question:
 

1. it enables you to turn first-time customers into loyal customers thanks to a much more streamlined checkout process (they just scan the QR codes... land straight on the checkout pages... hit the “buy” button... and that's it!)
    
2. it helps you turn various limitations (of space, of inventory on hand, etc.), that you might need to deal with, into favorable contexts for directing your potential shoppers to your online store instead
    
3. from package inserts to storefront windows, to offline ads... practically any offline marketing material can serve as a QR code support, turning itself into a “tool” for your customers to gain quick and easy access to your Shopify online store 

What do you think about these QR codes' comeback that Shopify orchestrates? Do you plan to incorporate them into your own future offline marketing campaigns?