Forrester

Why Read This Report

Only 1% of US mobile phone owners have used a 2D bar code scanner in the past three months. It would be hard for any product or service company to claim an urgent need to implement 2D bar codes, but now is a great time to experiment by using them in marketing campaigns to offer promotions as well as on product packaging and displays to "extend" these with more in-depth content. The 2D bar code market is highly fragmented today by both codes and readers, so product strategists will have to take some risks when choosing codes and vendors. Low entry-level pricing for services and low consumer expectations make experimentation for the purpose of learning low-risk today. Consumer product strategists should temper both their spending and expectations while tapping into the expertise of vendors and existing partners. Finally, product strategists should trial the readers and technology to understand what is working well — and should recognize that (too) many experiences will fail to meet consumer expectations.