The best place for your QR code is wherever the customer is already looking while they wait: on the front of the counter at eye level, not on the wall behind your staff and not on the table. The same code in two positions gives you two very different sign-up counts.
The only rule: find the waiting moment
Nobody scans a code while walking, while talking, or while pulling out a wallet. They scan in the one moment they are standing still with nothing to do: after ordering and before receiving. In most trades that moment lasts between twenty and ninety seconds, and it is all you have.
So if the code sits somewhere their eye does not land during that particular moment, you have put it somewhere it will never be scanned, however large or handsome it is. That explains why the sign on the back wall fails despite being the most visible object in the shop: the customer is looking at your member of staff, and your member of staff is standing in front of it.
Where to put your QR code: five positions, ranked
| Position | Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Counter front, chest height | Best | In their line of sight while waiting, and nothing blocks it |
| Beside the card terminal | Excellent | Hand and eye are already there at the moment of payment |
| On the cup or the bag | Good | It leaves with them, but usually gets scanned after they go |
| On the table | Fair | Works in restaurants only, where people sit for a long time |
| The wall behind staff | Worst | Your staff block it, and the customer is looking at them |
The third row deserves a note of its own. A sticker on a cup will not match the counter front for scan rate, but it does something nothing else does: it leaves the building. A customer who remembers the card in their car can still join, and that is a completely free second chance.
The artwork: four mistakes that stop a scan
Do
- Print the code at least five centimetres square, eight if it sits an arm's length away.
- Print black on matt white — gloss bounces the ceiling light straight into the camera.
- Put one line above it saying what happens: "Scan to start your card".
- Leave a clear white margin around it at least four modules of the code wide.
Don't
- Do not drop a logo into the middle at more than about a fifth of the area.
- Do not print it on a dark coloured background; low contrast defeats the reader.
- Do not put it behind shiny glass or under a light that rakes across it.
- Do not caption it "Scan the QR code" — it knows what it is, not why it matters.
That last one is both the commonest and the one that is a messaging error rather than a printing one. "Scan the QR code" describes an action, and nobody performs an action because it was described. "Scan and your sixth coffee is free" describes a result, and the result is what moves a hand.
How many codes do you need?
- One code covers every branch The card is not tied to a place, so do not print a code per branch unless you specifically want to know where people join from.
- A copy at every payment point With two tills you need two copies, because half your customers stand at the second one and will never cross to the first.
- A copy where people wait The collection area in a cafe, the next chair along in a salon: long waits are the richest scanning ground after the counter itself.
- A copy your staff carry A small card in a pocket solves the customer sitting across the room, and makes the offer possible at any moment rather than only as they pass the till.
Four copies sounds excessive until you cost it: each one is a few riyals, once, and every customer who joins because of one stays on your list for years. This is one of the very few expenses in your shop that needs no justification.
Common questions
Does anyone need an app to scan it?
No, and neither does your customer. The phone camera on both iOS and Android has read codes natively for years, so opening the camera and pointing it is the whole procedure. That is one of your strongest selling points at the till, and worth saying out loud, because a lot of people still assume otherwise.
Could I use NFC instead of a code?
You can, but make it an addition rather than a replacement. Tapping is faster when it works, but it depends on compatibility and settings that vary between handsets, while a camera works on every phone without exception. Start with the code and add tapping later if you find a reason to.
What share of customers actually join?
It varies enormously with position, with the offer attached, and with how keen your staff are, and any figure quoted without those three conditions is meaningless. The only useful measurement is your own: change exactly one position for a fortnight and compare new cards before and after.