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Retail Top 100 2012, No. 53: Quick Response (QR) codes

July 26, 2012

At first glance, QR codes seemed a sure bet to be the next big thing. So why aren't they? They're everywhere: on billboards, magazine ads, business cards, T-shirts, shop windows, every variety of signage — even on trees and playground equipment in public parks. Yet, according to a recent survey conducted by Archrival research group, nearly 80 percent of college students across the U.S. had no clue how to scan a sample QR code when presented with one. No clue and little interest. Nearly 75 percent said they were unlikely to scan a QR code in the future. Go off campus and QR's prospects are a little brighter. A recent survey by Prosper Mobile Insights found that nearly one-third of general-population smartphone and tablet users have scanned QR codes to access in-store coupons. But unless someone comes up with an application that will catch fire with the cool kids, the only place you may see those now-ubiquitous do-hickeys — often described as barcodes on steroids or a checkerboard on LSD — will be in the next millennium edition of Trivial Pursuit.

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