Way back when
About 6 years ago or so, a customer approached us about making QR codes for their business. That sounded like a really cool request. Our first task was learning exactly what a QR code is and how it’s used because we were really unclear.

As it turns out, our graphic designers fairly easily figured out how to create the code once we did a little research and got a handle on things. In fact, the creation of QR codes was easy enough that we created one for our own website and started using it for marketing purposes. We thought this idea was a cool as sliced bread.

Problem, what problem?
As it turned out back then, few folks – if anyone – seemed to feel the same as we did. Using our QR code as an educational moment was an uphill battle…  the biggest obstacle was that smartphones weren’t as smart as we needed them to be because at the time, a special app was required. Or maybe those smartphones suffered from operator error; either way, it didn’t work well and we abandoned the idea.

Fast forward to today
What we know now is that QR codes are back in fashion.

With COVID restrictions, many businesses are using QR codes to direct clients to their website (duh, our original intent!). The restaurant industry is a great example – many have created QR codes for their menus.

As an aside, this writer was totally unaware of the QR code resurgence until going to brunch on New Year’s Day. I patiently waited for a menu wondering why it wasn’t forthcoming. Fortunately, the two twenty-somethings who joined me quickly assessed the situation and showed me how it’s done.

Where did QR codes come from anyhow?
We wondered the same thing so decided to do a little digging on their history and found this informative url. Take a look. Turns out QR codes date back to the 1990s. . . imagine our surprise.

http://www.mobile-qr-codes.org/history-of-qr-codes.html

Isn’t this counter intuitive since we’re printers?
That’s a great question!
At a glance, one might think that producing QR codes, which require less paper and printing, isn’t a good business model for a local print shop. But dig a little deeper. We can easily design them for you and save you money on reprints … as an example, with COVID rules and regs prone to frequent updates, doesn’t it make more sense to make a smaller investment in an updated QR and a handful of copies (of something like a menu) rather than requesting for us to print full orders that get tossed into the recycling bin because they’re outdated?

There are all kinds of industries that might appreciate the usefulness of QR codes, such as the already-mentioned restaurant industry, nail salons, tourist attractions, municipalities, medical offices . . . generally any business that needs/wants to quickly direct their clientele to their website for additional information.

Why Copycat?
As an unofficial member of your team, we strive to bring you value-added options as often as possible. Your time is valuable, so it makes sense for us to create your QR code for you. What we’re saying is it’s more important to us to help you achieve your end goal than make a few extra dollars selling you something you don’t need. If you’re really not interested in easily driving traffic to your website, forget we mentioned this but if you think a QR code is exactly what you, give us a holler. We’ll hook you up in a jiffy. In fact, scan our QR code for additional info.