You probably own or run a business. It could be a brick-and-mortar store or an online store. And you want to make the most of it.
You would invest in a good staff, business promotions, and customer service. But did you know that the bills and invoices you generate for the customers can help your business do much more than just convey transaction details to your buyers?
Yes, they can help you increase your web traffic, gather customer feedback, get your customers to review you online, and a lot more. And QR Codes can help you do it seamlessly.
For the uninitiated, QR Codes are square-shaped 2D barcodes that can store a lot of information and can be scanned with a smartphone.
Keep reading to know more about how a QR Code on invoice and bill can benefit your business.
A. Popular use cases of QR Code on invoice and bill
Here are some use cases of a QR Code on invoice and bill:
1. Getting customers to follow you on social media
While every business wants to increase its followership, not a lot of them target the right audience. And nothing adds much value to your social media followership as current customers. Why?
Because they have already purchased from you and, hence, are quite likely to follow you.
But you can’t simply put out your social media handles in the hope that they will follow you. That’s because to do it, they’ll have to open the required social media app on their phone, type your account handle, find the right page/profile, and finally follow you. It is a time-consuming and tedious process. While some people may follow it, many won’t.
But Social Media QR Code has got you covered. You just have to print it on the bills or invoices with a suitable instruction statement (called CTA) such as ‘Scan Here to Follow us on Social Media’.
As end-users scan it, they will be redirected to a mobile-optimized page containing buttons that link to all your social media accounts. They can then choose their favorite platform to follow you instantly.
2. Gather customer feedback
Getting customer feedback is important for every business. It helps you know whether your customers are enjoying your services or not. Hence, it reveals what you’re doing all and where do you need to make improvements.
But getting customers to submit their feedback is not easy. But your bills and invoices can help you do it. How?
By adding a QR Code that takes your customers to fill a quick online feedback form.
QR Code simplifies the process of fetching the form to fill it quickly over a printed web link. And the easier the process, the better are the conversions.
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3. Increase traffic to your website
Let’s say you want to take people to your website. It could be for watching a video, checking out your entire product line, or even making a purchase online. And here, you can add a Website URL QR Code to your invoice. When scanned, it will take the end-users to visit your website in a simple scan. It’s that simple.
4. Push App downloads
Do you have a mobile app for your business? Then you’d want your customers to install it on their mobile devices.
Why not use your invoices to get the job done? An App Store QR Code can help you do it in an efficient yet simple way. Just place it on your bills/invoices. When scanned, your customers will be redirected to your app on the relevant app store depending on their phone’s operating system.
5. Promote upcoming events
Say you are going to organize an event. It could be a webinar, seminar, or in-house activity. You want to attract participants. And you want to attract participants and know that current customers will be the best audience for it.
And Event QR Code can help you do it seamlessly. You can put this QR Codes in bills or invoices. Your customers can scan it to see detailed event information including event description, images, timing, and an option to RSVP.
6. Provide coupons and discounts
Nothing beats getting customers to keep purchasing from you than giving them discounts or coupons on their next purchase.
Many companies are already using bills to do it. How?
Simply add a Coupon QR Code to your invoice. When customers scan it, they’ll see the coupon details with an option to redeem. That means no need for them to type the coupon code themselves. All they need to do is—scan the QR Code and redeem the coupon.
B. Some companies/systems using QR Codes on invoices and bills
1. Tata Power
In August 2017, Tata Power became the first Indian power utility company to adopt a QR Code payment system. They added QR Codes to all their electricity bills in Mumbai.
The Tata Power QR Code payment system is linked to the United Payments Interface (UPI). Consumers can just scan the QR Code using their BHIM app or any other UPI-based app to make a payment.
2. Shell Energy
In the UK, Shell Energy has also added QR Codes in their energy bills. These are present at the bottom of the first page of the bill. Customers simply need to scan it to login to their account and see their energy consumption details.
3. McDonald’s
In India, McDonald’s prints QR Codes on their bills to gather feedback from their customers. Consumers can scan the QR Code to access the feedback form and fill it quickly.
4. E-invoicing
From 2017-2018, the Government of India made e-invoicing compulsory for businesses with an annual turnover of more than INR 100 crore.
Hence, all the required businesses have to generate e-invoices for their B2B transactions.
During Invoice Reference Number (IRN) generation, the IRP system generates a QR Code.
This QR Code contains a unique IRN (hash) along with some important parameters of invoice and digital signature. And it is mandatory to print this QR Code under Rule 46 of CGST rules.
C. Benefits of QR Codes
Now that you know how can QR Codes be used on invoices, here are a couple of benefits associated with them:Here are a couple of benefits
1. Editable
Say you have created a Social Media QR Code with links to your profiles/pages. And a few months later, you want to add another profile link to it. A dynamic QR Code helps you do it easily because it is editable. That means you can edit it without having to create a new QR Code altogether.
2. Trackable
QR Codes are trackable. That means you can monitor their tracking activity. For example, how many people have scanned the QR Code, which device they used to scan it, where did they scan it, and when did they scan it.
In relation to the invoices, QR codes can also track when invoice payments were submitted, or if there still is an outstanding payment.
In addition to this, QR Codes also offers a feature called event tracking. It provides valuable insights into how your customers interact with the encoded content after scanning the QR Code. It could be a webpage button or social media sharing button.
3. Customizable
QR Codes are customizable as per your wish. That means you can customize their design by adding your brand’s logo and color or a background image to them. In fact, it is a fact that customized QR Codes attract 50%-200% more scans than generic black-and-white ones.
4. Mobile-optimized landing pages
QR Codes allow you to create a mobile-optimized landing page without even having a website. An Event QR Code is one such use case.
5. Error correction
QR Codes have a feature of error correction. This grants them damage resistance. That means, they scan well by sustaining damage or distortion up to 30%. It ensures that your QR Codes scan well even if they are prone to wear and tear.
D. How to create a QR Code for invoice and bill
1. Decide on the QR Code category
Depending on what content you want the end-user to see, you’ll have to choose the relevant QR Code category.
That means, if you want to drive traffic to your website, you’ll have to create a Website URL QR Code. But if you want to share your tax information, you should go for a Custom Page QR Code or Document QR Code.
Once you have decided on the QR Code category, you’ll need to choose whether you want a static or dynamic QR Code. Dynamic QR Codes are trackable and editable. That means you can edit the encoded content anytime you want. On the other hand, static QR Codes are permanent in nature. You can’t change the encoded content after generating the QR Code.
After you have finalized your requirements, go ahead to find a suitable QR Code generator. To make it easier for you, here is a compiled detailed comparison chart of the best QR Code generator available online. You can refer to it and find the one that suits your needs the best.
2. Create a QR Code
Using Scanova QR Code generator for a demo, here’s a detailed step-by-step guide on how to create a QR Code:
1. Go to Scanova
2. Select the relevant QR Code category
3. Add the content to be encoded in the QR Code and click Continue
4. Now name the QR Code and click Create QR Code
5. Now you’ll see details such as QR Code name, type, and category. On the same page, you’ll see a preview of the QR Code on the right with the Edit Design option
6. If you click Edit Design, you’ll see two design options—Custom Logo Design and Custom Background Design. The custom logo design allows you to add a logo and color to the QR Code. On the other hand, custom background design allows you to add an image as the QR Code’s background
7. Once decided on the design or no design, click Download. A window will pop-up prompting you to sign up for a 14-day free trial
Note: No Credit Card information is required for signing up.
8. Once you’ve signed-up, proceed to download the QR Code. Here you’ll be asked to specify your QR Code image’s format and dimensions
9. Specify these details and click Export
That’s it. Your QR Code for an invoice and bill will be downloaded. It is always advisable to test scan the QR Code before putting it out for your customers.
That is all you need to know about how QR Codes can be used on bills and invoices. You can now go-ahead to create a QR Code for yourself.
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