2011 saw solid growth in U.S. QR code adoption, especially in print magazines. We are excited to share a review of the latest QR stats and summarize the most important takeaways from 2011 in this two-part blog series.
Executive Viewpoint: What you need to know
QR Adoption
- Smartphones reached 100 million users in the United States in December 2011 – According to comScore’s video, The Future of Mobile.
- 14 million users, or 6.2% of the mobile audience, scanned a QR code in June 2011
- Smartphone adoption reached 2 in 5 mobile Americans by December 2011, up slightly from emarketer’s August 2011 year-end projection of 38% of mobile phone users
QR Use
- 58% of smartphone owners used a smartphone to shop while in a retail store
- Nearly 1 in 5 consumers who have scanned a QR code made a purchase after scanning
- Print magazines and newspapers are the leading sources of QR scans
Source of QR Scans as Reported by comScore June 2011 Study (n=14.45 MM)
Print magazine/newspaper
49.4%
Product packaging
35.3%
Website on PC
27.4%
Poster/flyer/kiosk Business card or brochure
23.5%
Business card or brochure
13.4%
Storefront TV 11.7%
12.8%
TV
11.7%
Source: comScore Press Release. August 2011. n=14.45 MM consumers, ages 13+
Mobile Action Code Frequency in Print Magazines
Source: Excerpts from Nellymoser.com
Given that print magazines and newspapers are the leading sources of QR scans in the studies we’ve reviewed, the following statistics recapping 2011 mobile action code frequency in print magazines are especially compelling.
- Out of the 4,468 mobile action codes published in the Top 100 U.S. print magazines (by circulation) in 2011 – including 2-D barcodes, QR codes, Microsoft Tags, and Digital Watermarks – QR Codes were the most prevalent.
- Of the codes published in Q4 2011, 72% were QR codes, while Microsoft Tags represented 25%.
- The frequency of mobile action code placements in the Top 100 U.S. print magazines increased by 439% from Q1, 2011 to Q4, 2011 (352 codes published in Q1 vs. 1,899 in Q4)
- Mobile action code placements in print magazines are dominated by advertising use with the following engagements after the scan:
Mobile engagements after the scan
Engagement
2011
Q4 2011
Video
54%
44%
Opt-in/sweepstakes
30%
23%
Social Media
23%
16%
E-commerce
19%
19%
Store Locator
13%
11%
Coupon
11%
9%
Photo Gallery
11%
8%
Recipes
5%
4%
Voting
1%
0%
Concluding thoughts
A review of the above studies and statistics demonstrates promising applications for QR codes as a conduit for online purchasing and QR code dominance as the leading mobile action code used in print magazines.
We hope you’ll find the above benchmarks for QR applications and the picture of actual consumer scanning behavior to be helpful guidelines for integrating QR codes successfully into your marketing promotions strategies in 2012. Did we include any data that particularly surprised you? How will you adjust your QR code usage based on these statistics?
Stay tuned for our second blog of the series, which will provide additional insights on QR code adoption and usage.
Tags: QR Codes
