Technology

Alfi report says retailers will invest more in QR codes

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March 18, 2022

The advertising industry's adoption of digital technologies, such as QR codes, has ushered in strategies experts believe will become vital in connecting with consumers and increasing revenue, according to a research report.

A study from Alfi, an AI enterprise SaaS advertising platform, shows that 99% of senior advertising executives believe the use of QR codes in digital-out-of-home advertising will increase dramatically over the next two years in order to facilitate sales versus support brand awareness. Overall, 88% of senior advertising executives believe accelerated digitization will continue to fuel growth in the DOOH market.

In order to prepare and manage changes in the advertising industry, the vast majority of senior ad executives (85%) expect budgets to increase over the next 12 months, with around 24% of these executives expecting budgets to increase dramatically. In addition, executives say the budget for increased spending on DOOH in 2022 will be taken from traditional channels, such as television, newspapers, magazines and radio. At the top of this spending, Alfi found entertainment and media (66.3%), government (62.4%), retail (61.4%), finance (58.4%) and telecom (51.5%) sectors will be the biggest beneficiaries of the increased use of DOOH advertising over the next 12 months.

"More and more industries are becoming aware of OOH technologies and realizing the benefits of enhanced retargeting, personalization and campaign attribution and measurement to reach the right person at the right time with the right message," Peter Bordes, interim CEO, Alfi, said in the release. "Our cutting edge, market leading technology helps advertisers develop sophisticated, hyper targeted campaigns, and our ability to provide detailed analysis on their effectiveness and reach positions us to capitalize on the shift in ad spend."

When asked about client spending on DOOH advertising in 2022 versus 2021, 41.6% say it will increase between 20% and 50%, and 20.8% say it will increase between 50% and 75%. Compared to the amount spent on DOOH ads in 2020, 38.6% of senior advertising executives said the amount spent this year will increase between 20% and 50%, while 25.7% believe it will increase between 50% and 75%, based on the survey.

Senior ad executives also identified the top four factors for the increase in spend on DOOH advertisements as advances in technology, a growing focus on evaluating advertising, a bigger general spend on digital advertising and a rapid increase in the number of advertising screens available.

"Research shows that the global market for DOOH — estimated at $41.06 billion in the year 2020 — is now projected to reach a revised size of $50.42 billion by 2026," Ron Spears, chief revenue officer, Alfi, said in the release. "Advertisers are investing heavily in DOOH solutions because they offer scalable options for delivering new forms of content at the right time. Alfi is already in conversations with brands looking to marry their existing advertising infrastructure such as kiosks and tablets with our DOOH technology in order to organically collect and interpret consumer shopping habits and behaviors."

Since 2018, Alfi has been developing its artificial intelligence advertising platform for targeted advertising.