QR code scanning rises 218% in Spain

Across Europe, as smartphone adoption increases, more consumers than ever are using their mobile devices to interact with QR Codes, according to recent figures from comScore.

by Helen Leggatt

QR codes are becoming more commonplace in magazines and outdoor advertising across Europe. Within the EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), more than 17 million smartphone users scanned a QR code in the second quarter of 2012, according to comScore. That's a healthy year-on-year growth of 96%.

The growth in some countries is huge.

In Spain, 16% of the population scanned a QR code in Q2 2012, up a whopping 218% in twelve months. In the same period, the number of smartphone owners scanning QR codes in Germany rose 128% and, in Italy, 75%.

The country with the highest percentage of smartphone users scanning QR codes is Germany with 18.6%, higher than the EU5 average of 14.1%.

QR codes represent a "new and exciting" opportunity for marketers, said Hesham Al-Jehani, European mobile product manager at comScore.

"By offering more detailed product information or related content, QR codes bring consumer vital information in their consideration of a particular product or service," added Al-Jehani. "With smartphones now in the majority of consumers' pockets, access to the sort of information they might get on their computer when researching a product online can help retailers improve their conversion in-store."

Tags: barcode, Europe, mobile marketing, qr code, scanning, statistics

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Nick Hando

As companies continue to face the challenges of economic
uncertainty, innovation is now absolutely essential. And that sense of
creativeness and engagement starts with technology that brings people together:
a catalyst for communication and the free exchange of ideas, where businesses
can increase their visibility online (particularly on Facebook) and attract new
customers. Accomplishing that goal starts with the right application - a tool
that harnesses the power of QR codes, while introducing a new element of
"participatory marketing" - something that makes it easy for
companies and customers to unite. GrapevineQR is that application, breakthrough
means of exponentially increasing he way brands interact with the very people
who can popularize a product or service through the power of social media.

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