Microsoft is shutting down its Tag Reader application and system in two years.
How does that affect QR codes you ask? Well, in a broad sense, it signals the death of the mobile barcode in general.
While hot for a while, the open-source nature of the QR code has given consumers a mixed experience. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes 3rd party ads are displayed, sometimes you have to jump through hoops.
And Microsoft had solved all these issues by creating a standard that worked on all devices the same way, and worked every time. Now that the standard is gone, and we are left with the wild west, it surely signals the end.
More importantly what will replace the “Quick Response” codes with something equally as quick but more reliable? It’s already here, and virtually everyone knows how to use it, the SMS.
Text “PERKS” to “DUNKIN” for a free medium coffee. Yep, it’s that easy. But for a marketer, it’s better than an QR code … it’s branded, you can have as many as you want, you get tracking and data, and the best part, users opt-in and you can re-market to them in the future.
To learn how to get setup with an SMS program, contact the experts at Starmark to help you out.
