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Submitted by: Pat Munro
Mobile (or 2D) barcodes are the latest tool for businesses in this new millennium. Developed back in the 1990s as 2D or Matrix codes, patterns are formed by black and white squares arranged on a grid which can encode thousands of alphanumeric and other characters in any language. There are no restrictions in size and capacity for these 2D barcodes. They use your smartphones camera equipped phone to take a picture of the 2D barcode, then using the appropriate application, you can download information directly to your phone. Some of the names of programs which allow a smartphone to read 2D barcodes are QR codes, Data Matrix, Cool-Data Matrix, Aztec, Upcode, Quickmark, Shotcode, mCode and Beetagg.
What is a Mobile or 2D Barcode?
It is a graphical image that stores information both horizontally and vertically, this allows for storage of up to 7000 characters, meaning much greater storage than the old barcode standard. They are used in conjunction with a smartphones camera, and a barcode reader app. Once the 2D barcode is read, you are directed to the businesss web site, and the pertinent information you request. This new technologys capability allows for any company to improve marketing and customer satisfaction, with a tap. These barcodes are (or will be) everywhere. 2D barcodes are now appearing in magazines, signs, buses and on business cards. Also, newspapers are starting to include 2D barcodes on stories which links the mobile reader to the latest updates. Some companies are starting to use 2D barcodes to link to their blogs and social networking sites, like facebook, allowing the businesses to access more people and improve marketing.
This technology is called pull technology. Meaning that it is a permission based way for a consumer to engage with an advertiser or product. It is gaining a lot of attention because of its non-solicited and non-intrusive mobile marketing abilities. This pull effect offers a direct, accountable way of connecting with existing consumers as well as accessing new consumers.
What Can They Be Used For?
Commonly, the use of these barcodes is to request information or a service from a website. Now, these mobile barcodes are being used by any business to perform a multitude of tasks, including product information, promotions, discounts, purchasing tickets and downloading information and services. Art galleries are starting to implement this technology to obtain information for each work of art in its collections on display. Another use for these barcodes for businesses is that any store can advertise products, expirations, quantity, and ingredients with the tap of an app. Barcodes can be placed in store windows, allowing any consumer to see ongoing promotions, menus, store hours, movie listings, and anything else they wish to promote. The advertiser pays the set-up cost of the barcode as well as its operator assistance for per-click, download, view, redeem and sale services.
Who Offers the Barcode Reader?
The act of linking a physical world object to the technological world is called hardlink. Apple has barcode scanner in their newer iPhones, and Googles Android OS is now including a barcode scanner in its newest model smartphones. Nokia has a similar system called Symbian. It is thought that within one year, every cell phone/smart phone device and/or provider will have scanners built into their devices. Advancing the opportunity to scan to everyone.
What Does All of this Mean?
2D barcodes are in the public domain, which means they can be used by anyone without restriction and without payment of a fee or royalty. This public approach gives rise to internationally recognized standards, global interoperability, and creates an economy of scale. This is great for advertisers and consumers alike as both are of the mobile operators customers, only one software client is required to read any code. For the operators, this translates to greater choice and more competitively priced equipment.
It seems that 2D barcodes are the missing link between customers and businesses in the ever growing mobile marketing platform. Companies today must jump on this new wave of technology by allowing the opportunity to add a 2D barcode component to their services. By doing so, they will expand their client bases and create more income to their bottom line.
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