QR Codes in Retail Stores is a study on the use of QR codes by major mall retailers. It is intended to take a snapshot of the market.

1. ™
QR CODES IN RETAIL STORES
HOLIDAY SEASON 2011
By Ann Carver, Analyst, and Roger Matus, Executive Vice President, Nellymoser, Inc.
P1
QR codes are appearing in shopping malls and retail locations across
the United States. During the 2011 holiday season, shoppers likely
encountered at least one code. Our findings show that one out of 14
stores incorporated QR codes as part of a mobile strategy that extends
beyond the brick-and-mortar store location.
7.2% of retail stores
contained at least To understand which retail segments are using QR codes and how
one QR code dur- they are used, Nellymoser examined more than 700 stores in the five
largest shopping malls in the greater Boston area during December
ing the holiday 2011.
season.
Nellymoser walked every floor of each mall and entered each store.
We examined materials outside of stores, front window displays,
interior retail displays and the fitting room areas of all stores within the
malls. We did not include stores not attached to the main building or
restaurants. We also scanned every code and launched every mobile
experience.
Overview
Nellymoser discovered that 23 of the store brands, or 7.2% of the total,
contained at least one QR code. This is approximately one out of every
14 stores. None of the stores used a 2D barcode other than a QR code,
such as a Microsoft Tag or a Spyderlynk SnapTag.
Nellymoser, Inc. | 11 Water Street, Arlington, MA 02476 | t: 1-781-645-1515 | questions@nellymoser.com

2. More than 700 retail locations were visited, 21, Gap, Journeys, PacSun and Sephora.
including national anchor stores such as: Mobile electronics stores using QR codes
included AT&T, Best Buy Mobile, Sprint,
•Best Buy T-Mobile and Verizon.
•J.C. Penney
•Lord & Taylor Anchor stores had a low rate of QR code
•Macy’s use, with only Best Buy and Macy’s
•Nordstrom featuring them in store.
•Neiman-Marcus
•Saks Fifth Avenue Placement
•Sears
There was substantial variation in the
The five malls were selected based on the ways stores displayed QR codes. However,
number of stores and total retail square trends emerged. Many codes were placed
footage, not including out buildings. (See in the front window as a way to entice
table below.) As three of the malls in our people into the store. We also found many
sample would have been operated by the codes in fitting rooms and at the register.
same mall management, we substituted
The Shops at Prudential Center for Front window
the South Shore Plaza, which, like The
Burlington Mall and The North Shore Mall,
is managed by Simon Malls.
After de-duplicating stores and removing
stores that do not serve as retail outlets
P2 (such as food court locations), a total of 318
unique store brands were identified.
Shoppers looking for teen and young
adult fashion, beauty products or mobile
electronics were more likely to encounter
a QR code than those shopping in other
Shoppers stores.
for teen
and young Store brands aimed at teens and 20s that
used QR codes included aerie, American
adult fash- Eagle, BCBG Max Azria, Express, Forever
ion, beauty
products or
mobile elec-
tronics were Front window decal at Express invites shoppers
to “Download the App” from “Express Mobile.”
more likely to
A majority of the QR codes found in retail
encounter a stores appeared in the front display of
QR code. the store. Most commonly, QR codes
were applied in the form of a decal, but,
they were also found on freestanding
signage. The size and placement of these
codes varied to some degree, as did
the accompanying text. However, they
generally appeared in the lower register of
the window and off to either the far left or
far right sides.
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3. Surprisingly, QR codes appeared in fitting rooms of several stores. From left: Madewell, PacSun (on the
mirror) and aerie.
Stores that displayed codes in this way the App before resuming their shopping.
included Express, Johnston and Murphy, In the case of American Eagle, the codes
BCBG Max Azria, and Gap. linked to the same location as the codes
in the front window. In the case of PacSun,
Frequently the QR codes led to a branded the code inside the fitting room resolved
store app download. In the case of the Gap, to a unique page linked to app downloads,
the code linked to a mobile optimized gift and the code outside of the fitting room
card purchase site. Other links led to social linked to a sweepstakes entry page.
media, a video, or a sweepstakes.
Register displays
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Fitting Rooms
In several stores, materials posted at or
We were surprised to find QR codes in a near the register also took advantage of a
significant number of fitting rooms. In moment in the shopping experience when
American Eagle, PacSun, Madewell, and the shopper pauses and can direct their
aerie, QR codes appeared on posters in attention to printed material. At Forever 21
We were
the space outside of the fitting rooms, as and Journeys, posters featuring QR codes
surprised well as on the mirror and posters inside the
to find QR fitting room.
codes in a
These codes either led to app downloads
significant or to sweepstakes. In both cases, the codes
number took advantage of the privacy of the fitting
of fitting room to allow the user time to experience
rooms.
Credit card scanner at aerie invites shoppers to Sign above register at Journeys encourages
download the aerie app. shoppers to use the QR to share via social media.
Nellymoser, Inc. | 11 Water Street, Arlington, MA 02476 | t: 1-781-645-1515 | questions@nellymoser.com

4. appeared at the checkout counter. At aerie, product hang tags, although that was not
a code linking to the mobile app appeared seen during the survey.
on the screen of the credit card scanner
while it was idle between transactions. Advertisements
Product displays In some cases, stores replicated existing
print ads with QR codes. Wall signs and
In some cases, retailers use QR codes to advertising boards that included ads with
provide additional information about a QR codes appeared for Sketchers, T-Mobile,
specific product as opposed to the brand. and Rosetta Stone. These advertisements
This is helpful in situations where the generally mimicked print advertisements
product is featured on a display, as seen used by the companies, and the codes
at Sephora. This also can be applied to resolved to video or a web page.
QR Code Placement In Mall Stores
Register
Front Store Product Fitting
or Other
Window Entrance Display Room
Scanner
Aerie P P
American Eagle P P
AT&T P
BCBG Max Azria P
Best Buy Mobile P
P4 Brookstone P
Cultural Survival
Bazaar
P
23 of the store Express P
brands, or 7.2%
Forever 21 P
of the total,
Gap P
contained at
Johnston and
least one QR Murphy
P
code. Journeys P
Lane Bryant P
Macy's P
Madewell P
PacSun P
Pottery Barn Teen P
Pretty Young Thing P
Rosetta Stone P
Sephora P
T Mobile P
Under Armour P
Verizon P
Nellymoser, Inc. | 11 Water Street, Arlington, MA 02476 | t: 1-781-645-1515 | questions@nellymoser.com

5. How QR Codes Are Being Used promotes this reciprocity, but enables the
transaction to occur in one step.
In almost all cases, QR codes are delivering
shoppers to mobile-optimized sites Sweepstakes and discounts are both
instead of the regular corporate site. While common ways to provide a potential value
there was considerable variation in the to the user with limited sacrifice on the part
destination of the QR codes found, five of the retailer.
types of destinations continually recurred.
This approach was utilized by Madewell,
App download Pottery Barn Teen and PacSun.
Many stores have designed their own Social Media
iPhone and/or Android apps. While signs
could just publicize the apps, the QR codes
make it quick and easy to acquire the
app. In most cases, these apps go beyond
providing basic product information and
include styling advice, loyalty programs,
social media or check-in incentives and
location-based discounts. Some include
the ability to scan product bar codes and
QR codes within the app.
Stores who have harnessed QR codes for
this purpose include American Eagle, aerie,
P5 Express, and PacSun. Part of the social media strategy of many
stores involved sharing as well as checking
Sweepstakes and Incentives in on FourSquare or Facebook. A check-in
explicitly endorses a product or brand to
A common QR A common practice was to incent shoppers those connected to a user’s profile.
code practice in to interact with the brand using a mobile
phone by offering discounts, special Stores and brands that used QR codes to
retail is to pro- connect to social media included aerie,
offers and opportunities to win prizes or
vide incentives gifts with purchase. A QR code not only American Eagle, and BCBG Max Azria.
to shoppers.
Product information
While not a common practice with teen
and young adult fashion or beauty
products stores, electronics stores such as
Best Buy and mobile retailers employed QR
codes to provide additional information
about products offered in store. These
codes often appeared on shelf talkers or
pricing tags.
QR codes provided the opportunity to add
much more technical data than can fit on
a the retail package. The code may link to
more information than could be obtained
from a retail salesperson, but that was not
tested. Codes at Best Buy link the user to
Some store apps offer location-based user perks the specific mobile-optimized page for the
and discounts product.
Nellymoser, Inc. | 11 Water Street, Arlington, MA 02476 | t: 1-781-645-1515 | questions@nellymoser.com

6. Stores such as Sephora used QR codes apps, get discounts, enter sweepstakes and
to offer demonstrations and instructions share via social media with their mobile
for cosmetics, which often require some device even when away from the mall.
introduction. Videos provided this
information and could engage the shopper Instructions
if a sales person was not available.
Almost all codes appeared with text that
The best retail campaigns witnessed this explained how to read a code or what
year employed some combination of these would happen if a code was scanned.
techniques. QR codes appear to be part of
an overall mobile strategy. QR codes are a There is considerable variation in the detail
way to encourage shoppers to download provided in the text supporting QR codes
Mobile Engagement Linked To QR Code
Mobile
App Site or Social
Sweeps Video Other
Download Product Share
Pages
Aerie P
American Eagle P
AT&T P
BCBG Max Azria P P P
Best Buy Mobile P
P6
Brookstone P P
Cultural Survival
Bazaar
P
Express P P
QR codes ap-
Forever 21 P
pear to be part
of an overall Gap P P
mobile strategy. Johnston and
Murphy
P
Journeys P P
Lane Bryant P
Macy's P
Madewell P
PacSun P P
Pottery Barn Teen P P
Pretty Young Thing P P P
Rosetta Stone P P
Sephora P
T Mobile P
Under Armour
Verizon P P
Nellymoser, Inc. | 11 Water Street, Arlington, MA 02476 | t: 1-781-645-1515 | questions@nellymoser.com

7. in retail. Express, for example, posted their Madewell reach a slightly older group,
QR code with the instructions “Download primarily between 18 and 30, and a slightly
the app, Express Mobile.” In contrast, the higher price range. Sephora, Forever 21,
QR codes posted in the American Eagle Gap, BCBG Max Azria, and Pottery Barn
and Madewell fitting rooms appeared on Teen reach the same audience as well.
posters with instructions for downloading
scanner apps. Further, Journeys included These retailers like to be seen as being on
an SMS option to reach their link as well. trend. QR codes are a way to demonstrate
being on trend and an edgy way for the
Conclusion consumer to connect with the store, while
receiving some benefits.
While there is a great deal of variety in the
retailers using QR codes, it is clear that both The benefit to the retailer is greater. App
a key demographic emerges and that QR downloads and social sharing, a key part of
codes are part of an overall mobile strategy, the mobile strategy to drive a longer-term,
not an end to themselves. measurable connection with the brand are
being driven by QR codes.
The stores that targeted shoppers aged
from 14 to 30 with moderately priced While adoption of QR codes in retail may
merchandise were more likely to use be a new trend, the nature of the stores
QR codes. Teen retailers such as aerie, using it and the emphasis on lasting
American Eagle, and PacSun cater primarily engagement with customers indicates that
to customers between the ages of 14 and it is a leading indicator of future QR code
20 at a middle price range. Express and growth.
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QR codes are a
way to demon- About Nellymoser Tags, Digimarc watermarks and NFC.
strate being on Nellymoser’s customers include leading
Nellymoser, a mobile marketing and publishers, advertisers, retailers, and
trend and an
technology company, creates instant, consumer packaged goods companies.
edgy way for interactive consumer “engagements” and
the consumer rich media apps on mobile devices, such as Nellymoser was founded in 2000 and is
to connect tablets and smartphones. headquartered in Arlington, MA.
with the store Nellymoser’s engagements and apps Scan To See Nellymoser In Action:
while receiving range from contests and product videos
some benefits. to interactive multimedia engagements
that can be shared on social media (e.g.,
Facebook, and Twitter) and include
e-commerce for instant product purchases.
Many of Nellymoser’s clients use us
for responding to action codes, such
as 2D barcodes, QR codes, Microsoft
Copyright 2011 by Nellymoser, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Not responsible for errors and all information is subject to change without notice. Nellymoser and the Nellymoser logo are
trademarks of Nellymoser, Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.
Nellymoser, Inc. | 11 Water Street, Arlington, MA 02476 | t: 1-781-645-1515 | questions@nellymoser.com