Goals:
Please click the [ Mark Complete ] button at the bottom of this page when you’ve achieved these goals:.
- Understand and be able to clearly differentiate between Static and Dynamic QR code functionality for a customer who asks you for advice.
- Understand and be able to explain these terms relating to Dynamic QR codes: Unlimited Scans, Lifetime Redirection, “Fair use allowed”.
- Be able to briefly explain to a customer how to improvise a Static QR code redirect if the customer has editing control of the QR code’s encoded target URL (so, the customer controls a web page and has a QR code pointing to that web page, and you need to be able to explain how to redirect that web page to a different URL).
- Explain why we think it is better to set up the Static and Dynamic QR code products on a single page rather than have them on separate pages.
- Be able to set up a functioning web product page with both Static QR Code and Dynamic QR Code ordering options on that page.
Static and Dynamic QR codes
The similarity between Static and Dynamic QR codes:
Both use a QR image that never changes – each QR image is encoded (hard-coded) to point to a single website URL.
The differences between Static and Dynamic QR codes:
- Static QR codes can perform various actions, whereas Dynamic QR codes can only load web pages.
- Static QR code purchasers are only able to improvise their QR code to be “dynamic” if they can edit the target web page, whereas Dynamic QR code purchasers have a redirection service where we (IBN) can always make them dynamic because the target web page is ours and is editable by us.
Redirect
If they have editing control of their target web page, Static QR code purchasers can set a “redirect” in their website page setup.
A scanning device scans the QR image, which directs it to load the hard-coded web URL, but when it starts loading that URL, in a split second), the redirect says “No, don’t load me, load this redirect URL instead”, and the user is never aware of the redirect because it happens so fast.
Dynamic QR code purchasers pay us to
- Encode the QR image with a target URL that we manage,
- Create the URL redirects for them as-and-when needed, and
- Offer further services around this redirection service.
Please watch these videos with the above Goals in mind…
143 – Introduction to Dynamic QR Codes – what they are and how they work
Available from Sep 2020 – see a separate video on how to set these up for your website | To date we’ve only had Static QR Codes that encode the direct URL that a customer specifies | There is no capability to change the target URL, it is hard-coded | We’ve always advised customers to create their own URL-redirects – see Video 112 for details on this | Starting in 2020 we had increasing interest in Dynamic QR Codes | Dynamic QR Codes are configured to take the scanner to an intermediate site that we manage on our own website, and from this site we customise whatever redirect the customer wants | On the web sales page, customers must choose between purchasing a static or dynamic QR Code (see barcodes.co.nz or internationalbarcodes.com for examples) | Example of how this is set up on our website and automated, and how we can edit the redirect | IMPORTANT: We are only redirecting to web pages | Prices are the same for Static and Dynamic QR Codes | Unlimited scans and lifetime redirection (with footnotes to qualify) | “Fair use allowed” means that we have leeway if our “unlimited scans” results in problems with our server | “Lifetime redirection” for a one-off cost was too much commitment. Most competitors charge monthly or offer free but trick customers into later payments. We’ve structured it to be more attractive than that, and this includes a cost for us to edit the redirection, at half of the initial cost | User tracking option to be worked out | You can set this up for your own site – please edit the text but ensure that people know there will be future costs and be sure to specify 2 years (because we state “no annual fees”. To test it, put an order through for your own website, and be sure that it works. You may want to make your own video for your customers. We think this is going to be a good service due to the world uptake of QR codes |
144 – Creating Product Variations Dynamic QR Codes
You can set up Static and Dynamic codes as 2 different products, but this video shows how to set them up as product variations; more complex to set up, but likely better for customers, who can choose clearly on one page whether they want a static or dynamic QR code. NOTE for WPML users (other languages): there is a new text for QR codes, for selecting the product and for the information box at checkout – you will need to find and translate these.
How to set up the QR Codes (a product with variations – example site) | How to choose the variation for a variable product and add it to the cart | Live example from internationalbarcodes.com | We are using a simpler pricing structure with less discounting | How to set up this Product… make a copy of the QR product (Products>All products>Find QR code and duplicate), edit the Name to remove “Copy”, edit the text (make up your own), set up the pricing discounts, test, edit the page text, change the product number on the page, test the page | Changing the product to a variable product… set up the Attributes… Detailed Setup | Important to add the text “Always test your QR codes before doing a final print” and make this clear | See it Live as a product with a dropdown for choosing static or dynamic | With variation set up, you need to create a NEW pricing and discounts plugin rule via WooCommerce > Pricing and Discounts – we’ve simplified the pricing for these | The pricing setup is a bit odd and may clash with Discount tab functionality… you may need to clear the cart as adding multiple times to the cart can cause problems | Test the product | Inserting the product number [product id= ] | Editing the page text to be correct and testing the page |
Information
Knowledge Base:
https://internationalbarcodes.org/kb/dynamic-qr-codes/ 
https://internationalbarcodes.org/kb/creating-product-variations-with-dynamic-qr-codes/
https://internationalbarcodes.org/kb/create-custom-qr-codes-for-customers/
Lessons:
https://internationalbarcodes.org/topic/qr-codes/
https://internationalbarcodes.org/lessons/qr-codes-2/
https://internationalbarcodes.org/lessons/sell-customised-qr-codes-to-customers/
https://internationalbarcodes.org/lessons/add-static-and-dynamic-qr-code-products-to-your-website/