Looking for ways to maximize sales during Black Friday? QR Codes could be exactly what you need!
While originally invented to streamline automotive parts tracking, these solutions have become indispensable in virtually every industry, helping businesses with everything from product tracking to marketing.
One of their most recent creative uses is facilitating promotions during social media holidays like Black Friday. They connect physical promotions with digital experiences, improving customer engagement and creating memorable shopping interactions.
In this post, we take an in-depth look at the value of QR Codes during Black Friday and give you ideas on how to use them to improve holiday customer service and drive sales.
Why are QR Codes useful for Black Friday promos?
QR Codes can support your Black Friday marketing efforts by bridging the gap between online and offline shopping experiences. They can provide easy access to giveaways and other exclusive deals, drive more customer engagement, and provide valuable insights into your customers.
Here’s a deeper look at why they’re worth the consideration:
Drive engagement with interactive content
With QR Codes, you don’t have to settle for typical text-based advertisements where you list everything that makes your product the best option for your target audience. You can show customers exactly what makes your offerings great by linking these nifty solutions to interactive content.
There’s virtually no limitation to what you can use QR Codes for. You can link them to demos that showcase your products’ best qualities, exclusive videos that show the behind-the-scenes of your Black Friday preparation process, or even link to AR experiences that allow customers to virtually try out the products you’ll be selling on Black Friday.
With almost every business owner offering competitive deals on the holiday, you need something out of the box to stand out. And this is it. Creating interactive experiences can capture your audience’s attention in all the Black Friday noise.
Provide exclusive Black Friday discounts
Offer exclusive Black Friday deals, as you typically do, but do things a little differently—leverage QR Codes. Link them to exclusive discounts or other deals and place them on ads, flyers, and in-store displays. The excitement of scanning a code for a deal can get many people interested in what you have to offer and drive your Black Friday sales.
To drive customer urgency, link the codes to limited-time deals that are only accessible through a scan. Let customers know they won’t get them anywhere else to encourage more engagement.
Track customer behavior and engagement
QR Codes don’t just provide easy access to content and deals; they also offer valuable tracking data that can show you how customers are interacting with your Black Friday campaigns.
If you decide to optimize your way to better-performing holiday campaigns with Bitly, you’ll get to enjoy Bitly Codes’ advanced tracking capabilities. Bitly Codes provide data like your total scans over time, scans by location, scans by operating system, and scans by browser. This data can help you understand which promotions are performing best and where engagement is highest.
The best part? Bitly Analytics provides the data in real time, so you can adjust campaigns as you go to improve their effectiveness. For example, if you find that codes directing customers to exclusive content get more scans than those leading to product demos, you can invest more in exclusive content to boost engagement.
Examples of opportunities to use QR Codes in Black Friday marketing
Experts predict this year’s Black Friday spending to be as high as $10.8 billion, an increase of $1 billion from last year’s spending. This makes the holiday a great time to promote your products.
With QR Codes and short links for Black Friday sales, this may be just the holiday you get to hit your targets. Here are some great places you can add these 2D versions of the barcode to get more eyes on your products and exclusive deals:
In-store displays and signage
While most Black Friday sales occur online, some consumers still prefer in-person shopping. In fact, retail store traffic increased by 2.1% during the 2023 Black Friday. This makes mediums like in-store displays and signage valuable during your holiday promotions.
To enhance their effectiveness, add QR Codes that link to additional product information, reviews, or special offers. This can reduce customer decision-making time and encourage faster purchases. With most businesses typically experiencing more-than-normal traffic during the holiday, this isn’t a benefit you want to miss.
Print ads and flyers
Print ads and flyers can attract traffic to your physical and online store. Optimize them this holiday by including QR Codes that direct scanners to your digital catalog or e-commerce store.
This way, customers who prefer the in-store shopping experience can get an idea of what to expect from you even before they come to your location. And, those who enjoy the convenience of online shopping can do so simply by scanning your ads and flyers—eliminating the hassle of manually looking for your store online can enhance their experiences.
Mobile checkout
The last thing you want is too long queues during Black Friday—at least not when you plan to use holiday deals to attract new, long-term customers. Keeping shoppers in line for too long can impact their entire shopping experience.
Leveraging QR Code solutions can streamline payment to promote faster checkout. QR Codes eliminate the need to pay via card or cash by enabling customers to complete purchases directly from their phones—they just need to scan payment codes with their smartphones and authorize payment. This can reduce in-store wait times during Black Friday rushes, creating a smoother and faster shopping experience for customers and retailers.
Social media promotion
With 68% of consumers following businesses on social media platforms to stay informed about new offerings, this is one of the channels you need to take full advantage of this coming holiday.
Share QR Codes via your platforms to quickly drive followers to product information, exclusive deals, or Black Friday pre-sale events. You can post images on Facebook or Instagram featuring QR Codes that lead followers directly to limited-time vouchers or flash sales. This allows potential customers to act quickly and eliminates the hassle of manually navigating your site.
You can also use QR Codes to encourage participation in social media competitions where winners get special Black Friday offers. Simply link your code to a registration landing page and post it on your socials for interested parties to join in on the fun. This is a great way to build anticipation for the holiday and create excitement around your brand.
Tips for making the most out of Dynamic QR Codes for Black Friday
Dynamic QR Codes are the best option for Black Friday promotions, as you can edit their links to redirect customers to new destinations without reprinting new codes. For example, you can repurpose your discount QR Code to direct shoppers to exclusive content once your offer period ends.
But, their impact on your promotion campaign will depend on how you use them. Here’s how you make the most of these codes this Black Friday:
Create time-sensitive offers
One of the best ways to make the most out of Dynamic QR Codes is to link them to limited-time deals. Because of their editability, you can easily update their offers throughout your Black Friday campaign, giving customers access to the latest deals.
If you decide to use the codes for this purpose, update them hourly or for specific time blocks to create urgency and encourage repeated scanning. This can drive traffic to your store at different times of the day and encourage regular engagement.
Personalize deals based on customer segments
Up to 73% of customers expect personalization from brands. Use Dynamic QR Codes to give them just that.
Create different QR Codes for various customer segments to provide access to personalized Black Friday deals. You could create one code for loyalty program members that enables them to redeem their points during the holiday season, and another for first-time customers that makes it easy for them to register for your program.
This targeted approach can improve customer satisfaction and conversion rates by showing that you care about each group’s unique needs.
Implement a scavenger hunt promotion
What better way to build hype and excitement for your Black Friday offers than through scavenger hunts?
Create a QR Code scavenger hunt by embedding codes that link to different finds throughout your store or website. Link them to images, videos, or even simple texts, and ask participants to download and save whatever they find to stand a chance to win special deals on Black Friday—you can offer special prizes, coupon codes, or increased discounts for those who finish the hunt.
Adding gamification to your promotion can increase customer engagement and the time spent on your website or store, potentially boosting sales. After all, you never know—some participants may come across items they may have otherwise missed when playing.
Use QR Codes for real-time inventory updates
Products tend to sell out fast during Black Friday. While this is a good thing, it means there’s a high chance you may run out of products unexpectedly, impacting customer experiences.
Link Dynamic QR Codes to your inventory management system to allow warehouse employees to update product availability as they restock and ship orders. With an up-to-date inventory management system, you can keep your ecommerce website current, letting customers see whether an item they’re looking for is in stock. This can reduce frustration and improve the shopping experience, especially for high-demand items.
Use Bitly QR Codes for your Black Friday promotions this season
Black Friday QR Codes can drive engagement, allow customers to access special holiday deals quickly, and provide insights to help improve future marketing campaigns. For the best results, use Dynamic QR Codes and edit their destinations to direct customers to new deals throughout the holiday. Also, remember to choose the right QR Code generator.
With Bitly, you can seamlessly create and customize Dynamic QR Codes for your upcoming Black Friday campaign. In addition to our user-friendly generator, you get access to analytics tools that provide real-time QR Code scan data, showing you what resonates the most with your target audience so you can optimize your promotion.
Get started with Bitly today to create Dynamic QR Codes that improve the Black Friday shopping experience!
