We have just released the latest ScanLife Mobile Barcode Trend Report for Q4 2011. This edition takes a closer look at the busiest quarter of the year for mobile barcodes and some year-end growth comparisons to 2010.

One of the report’s highlights shows the “hockey stick” growth of scans by quarter dating all the way back to Q1 2009. Last year saw a 300% increase compared to 2010. Looking at the chart below, its pretty amazing to see just how far mobile barcode scanning has come these past few years.

The holiday season proved to be another huge period for engaging new users as people are searching for product information and millions of new Smartphones were activated.

Other key takeaways from this report:

• Q4 2011 saw more scans than all of 2009 and 2010 combined
• Over 3,000,000 new ScanLife users were activated in Q4 2011

• Among marketers using the ScanLife platform, the Consumer Packaged Goods industry saw the most scans for the first time ever
• Half of our users report being 18-34, and 60% are male which is consistent with the previous report

A HUGE thank you to everyone to everyone who made these numbers possible!  This data is compiled from our platform users, app users, and other 3rd party apps/code generators.

You can download the full report here.

Be a fan, and scan for your team to win the Big Game!

The codes above use ScanLife smart code technology which processes the number of scans per code and converts them into voting results.

ScanLife 4.0, includes a couple cool new features to make barcode scanning a bit more fun for the holiday season.  One feature allows users to customize the scanner screen by selecting from themes like “Top Gun” and “Holiday Cheer”.  Just go to the Settings screen in the app to change it any time!

Current theme examples from our app:

Now we want YOU to design the next custom Scanner Theme and be seen by millions of ScanLife users around the globe!

So whether you’re a Photoshop expert or just have a knack for basic design, we want to see your ideas.   Make it fun, make it cool, make it colorful – whatever you want!  Just remember to leave some open space in the center of the screen so you can see what you’re scanning…

What do you get?

The winner will receive a $200 Gift Card and have their personal Scanner design embedded in the next release of the ScanLife app for iPhone and Android!

Rules to Enter

1. Create any kind a visual representation of your idea – can be a rough representation or a finished design, but we need more than text.
2. Upload your design to our Facebook wall – www.facebook.com/scanlife
3. Get as many Likes as you can which will influence the final judging

Entries will be taken until January 1st, 2012.

Now get creative and good luck!  If you don’t have the current ScanLife app, just go to www.getscanlife.com from your mobile device.

Black Friday to Christmas is always the busiest time for retailers, and it is for us also!   Now that the dust has settled (a bit) from the opening party (aka Black Friday, and now “Cyberweek”), we wanted to share some interesting stats.

First we should say that the 10 days from 11/24-12/4 were record breaking days which saw scan rates as high as 8 per second.  We also recorded our biggest single scan day ever on Black Friday which was very exciting!

Some other fun facts:

• Scan rates were up 158% versus year ago (both 1D & 2D), with QR Code scanning up 263%.  This just shows how many more QR Codes are in the market versus a year ago.
• The top 5 US cities scanning were:  Orlando, Houston, San Antonio, New York, & Chicago
• Scans by OS were dominated by Android (47%) and iPhone (43%) with BlackBerry and others making up the remaining 10%
  
• Black Friday by Time of Day:
  • Biggest spike was at 1:00 AM EST as doors opened for Midnight sales in the Central Time zone.  Apparently those hard core shoppers are using all the tools to find the best deals!
  • Busiest time block was from 12-2 EST with 18% of all scans that day
• Top 3 electronics products being scanned (from UPC codes):
  • iPhone 4Gs (16 GB)
  • Nikon Coolpix
  • Garmin Nuvi GPS

Thanks to all of our users for being part of these momentous numbers, and keep scanning!

If you don’t already have the ScanLife app, check it out from www.getscanlife.com. 

We’ve been working hard on some cool features to make your ScanLife app experience better than ever.  We’ve packaged it all up to give you ScanLife 4.0  right before the holiday shopping season to make it easier and more fun to scan QR Codes, UPC codes, and more.   It is now available for Android and iPhone as of today!

Here’s what you’ll find:

• View a Live Feed of products being scanned around the world in real time.  Click a product to view more info just like you scanned it.
• Ability to choose themed scanners such as a “Top Gun” or “Holiday Cheer”
• Delete individual items in History, or clear all (new for Android)
• Access to additional product reviews from retailers like Best Buy and price comparisons from Buy.com
• Access to nutritional facts and ingredients directly from brands like Coca-Cola, Kraft, and Pepsi (US only)
• Capability to share deals and products on Facebook and Twitter
• A completely redesigned user interface when reviewing product information
• Even faster scanning for UPC and QR Codes

Live Feed:

Product Results:

You can download the app from your stores, or even better just scan this code and we’ll send you to the right store using our OS Detection filter!

We’re thrilled to announce the release of the ScanLife Mobile Barcode Trend Report for Q3 2011. This edition marks the one year anniversary of the inaugural report, so we have  focused on how far mobile barcodes have come in the past 12 months.

One of the report’s highlights is the total number of scans processed by ScanLife to date. Through September, we’ve seen over 20 million scans, representing a 400% increase from 2010 during the same time period. This massive number shows just how explosive growth has been for mobile barcodes.

Other key takeaways from this report:

• 2D code activity continues to rise at an impressive rate, as 44,653 2D codes were generated from the ScanLife platform in Q3 of this year.

• Another demonstration of scan growth is around our single largest customer campaign.  A year ago the largest campaign saw 65,000 scans and in Q3 a customer completed a 6-week campaign that netted over 400,000 scans.
• The number of countries scanning in a single day also increased from 77 to 128, a 66% increase.

• Female scans increased by 13% and now represent over 40% of the ScanLife mobile app audience.
• Over the past year, the Grocery (food & drink) category jumped from 14% to 40% in all 1D products scanned.

A big thank you to everyone who made these numbers possible!

You can download the full report here.

Frito Lay just launched a brand new program to get people using their products in a whole new way – by scanning the bag!  All you need to do is pick up a current bag of Lay’s Original, Sunchips, or Tostito’s Scoops, open up the ScanLife app, and scan the UPC code right on the back of the package.

After you scan, you can learn more about “Our Promise” from Frito Lay which is “the belief that all can benefit from doing good.”  The barcode will show a video of how the potatoes are grown by local farmers to how the chips are made in an all natural ways.  It will also give you some great recipes to try at home.

Many of our customers use a QR Code to take people to this kind of content, but you can’t forget that 1/3 of our scans come from UPC codes, and it is already on millions of products so you don’t have to change a thing.  They are also doing a great job by sharing this new feature through their social networks, and it doesn’t hurt to have 2.1 million fans!

Don’t forget that you have to have the ScanLife app with any AF phone like iPhone 3GS and above, any Android, and most newer BlackBerry’s – pretty much this describes a majority of our users.  Just go to getscanlife.com from your device if you don’t have the app already.

Happy scanning – and snacking!!

Every quarter we publish data showing the significant growth in mobile barcode scanning.  This edition is a little different as we are now sharing some hard numbers that really show what we see every day.  Information like how frequently consumers are actually doing this, what are they scanning, and how many marketers are really publishing codes.

For example, in the time you read this blog post, 60 unique scans were processed through the ScanLife system!  (Maybe some of you are speed readers, but we are now processing more than one scan per second and a year ago it was 10 per minute). 

That comes from both our app, other apps, our codes, and other codes.  Bottom line is that a lot of people are now scanning codes from all over the world.  In fact, we believe there are roughly 45 million people in North America alone that have a code scanning app on their device today.

Why is this happening?  People are buying Smartphones in droves, they need easy ways to get more information, tens of thousands of QR Codes are being published in the market, and millions of UPC codes are already on products.  Once you add all of this together, barcode scanning is taking off.

Some other key takeaways from this report:

- Scans come from over 125 different countries every day.

- 2D barcode scanning is currently outpacing the growth of 1D barcodes, a major shift from 2010.

- Over 45,000 2D barcodes were generated from the ScanLife platform in the 2nd quarter, a 300% increase from a year ago.

- Over 400,000 unique UPC codes, or products, were scanned by the ScanLife app in a single month.

- The number of females scanning increased 13%, and the 35-44 age-group increased 8% from the last quarter showing a continued trend toward the mainstream.

You can download the full report here.  We hope that this information provides a little insight as to what’s happening in the space, and keep scanning!

Due to the enormous growth of mobile barcode technology, thousands of marketers are turning to QR codes to engage with their audience. While great news, we’ve found that many codes are providing a poor user experience simply because the codes were published incorrectly. Some codes are not scanning at all, making them useless and discouraging to potential customers. 

As a perfect example of “when QR codes go wrong”, we were sent a recent issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Inside just one section alone, we spotted three different cases where each of the marketers published a QR code that didn’t even work!

To help you avoid this issue, let’s take a quick look at what these particular codes did wrong;

- Lack of Quiet Space: Every QR Code should be surrounded by at least 2 module sizes of ”quiet” or “white” space (modules are the tiny black squares within the code).  The code below lacked this requirement, and was unable to scan as a result.  

- Too Much Density: It’s critical to ensure that your code isn’t too dense. Density becomes a concern when your code includes lots of data and is shrunk down to a smaller size. The code gets too cluttered in a small amount of space, which makes it more difficult or in this case, impossible to read.   

- Poor Dimensions: A QR code has to be square. It cannot be circular, triangular, or anything in between. Square or bust, period.

All of these issues are common risks when using free generators because you lack consistency and quality control over your codes.

Just remember, whatever code generator you choose, please, please (please) test it first across several apps and devices. Merely one bad user experience can turn a customer off QR codes forever!

So consider these tips as step 1-A of “QR Codes 101”, as the single most important thing to remember is “does the code work?”

You know QR Codes are moving fast when the The U.S. Postal Service® gets in on the fun!

Last week, they officially announced that they will be offering a 3% discount on any Standard and First-Class Mail that includes a mobile barcode (QR Code) for marketing purposes. The savings will be offered from July 1st to August 31st, 2011.

ScanLife has also entered into a Business Alliance with the U.S. Postal Service® and to show our support for this fantastic effort, we will be offering a 10% discount to any customer that uses our platform as part of their 2D barcode/mail campaign!

Combining the mail with 2D barcodes has seen amazing results with some response rates at 7-10%!

This package will include:

• Up to 5 unique codes
• Unlimited scans
• 3-month activation period
• Complete tracking analytics like unique scans and location
• Optional: A custom mobile landing page

We will also ensure your campaign meets the requirements of the USPS incentive when you use the ScanLife system.

Choose from a variety of code actions that can make your mail more engaging in seconds – link to the Web for demo videos, load a pre-filled Email for opt-ins, or link to right to a phone number to order your product. We can even help you build a custom landing page.

So How Do You Get Started?

If you already have a ScanLife account, just contact us for more info.

If you don’t have an account, just follow these simple steps:

1. Register here for your ScanLife account
2. Enter “SummerMail” in the Invitation Code field
3. We will contact you to discuss the pricing plans

To qualify, just show your ScanLife representative that codes were used on direct mail via the actual creative or the postal statement. Campaigns must be launched during the USPS promotion dates.

Here are a couple links from the USPS to provide additional detail:

FAQs – USPS Mobile Barcode Promotion Rules Final

FAQs – USPS Mobile Barcode Promotion Fact Sheet

How to use codes on mail?

QR Codes are a fantastic way to make any piece of mail, from a postcard to a catalog, a more engaging and trackable marketing tool. A small 2D barcode can quickly link a mobile device to exclusive offers, video demos, social networking and much more.  See how Target used ScanLife codes to convert their catalogs into a digital store.