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2D Bar Codes Popular In Asia, Europe, Coming To US

By Lana Flowers
Thursday, November 5, 2009
http://www.nwanews.com/news/2009/nov/05/2d-bar-codes-popular-asia-europe-coming-u-20091105/

BENTONVILLE — Japanese students wear T-shirts with 2D bar codes. Their friends scan the 2D bar codes with smart phones, then get links to Facebook pages or see YouTube videos the barcode wearer uploaded.

However, the 2D barcode technology has not taken o◊as quickly in the United States, even among large retailers.

That was the message from Tevian Rose, national account strategist with InnoMark Communications, and Stephen Shannon, InnoMark chief marketing o◊cer and president of enterprise operations. They spoke to about 20Wal-Mart suppliers and others in a lunch seminar Wednesday at the DoubleTree in Bentonville.

InnoMark makes point of sale material and designs packaging for retailers and other businesses.

Japanese businesses began using 2D barcoding in 2002 to track products and get data, Rose said.

“They tend to be quicker to adapt technology and play with it,” Rose said. “Wal-Mart is aggressively working with this in Asia and overseas, but domestically, I have not gotten to the right people who know what the technology is and what the future holds.”

The 2D barcode technology “hasn’t taken o◊yet in the United States,” but 72 percent of advertisers in Asia and Europe use 2D barcodes, Shannon said.

A 2D barcode is separate from the bar code a cashier scans at a cash register to determine the brand, size and price of an item. The 2D barcode can be on a container, label, movie poster or even clothing hang tag that provides additional information when a smart phone user reads the code.

The additional information could include where bananas were grown, coupons for shampoo or a link to a Web site.

Seattle-based Starbucks uses a 2D barcode on an iPhone application. The customer can scan a Starbucks display and put money into an account via the iPhone, then use it like a debit card to purchaseco◊ee and other items, Shannon said.

“I’ve seen more in the past two months than I have seen in the past year on this technology,” Shannon said.

2D barcoding was new to others.

“This is the first time I have heard of this,” said Marissa Whitfi eld of Eastsport, which makes backpacks.

Eastsport could use 2D barcodes to offer deals to customers and meet Wal-Mart sustainability goals, Whitfi eld said.

The 2D barcodes change a promotion or ad campaign without reprinting paper and cardboard material, Shannon said. For example, a 2D barcode on a movie poster in California could provide a popcorn coupon while a di◊erent 2D barcode on the same movie poster in Arkansas could provide a free drink.

The 2D technology is useful in reaching consumers where they are as there are 2.7 billion mobile phones in use worldwide, according to Experian Consumer Research. Only 13 percent of people had a mobile phone in January 2001, expected to grow to 70 percent of people worldwide by December 2010, according to Experian.

The 2D barcode also collects information, such as the city where a customer scans the bar code, in what store and at what time, Shannon said. That helps suppliers know point of sale materials are on the store fl oor without hiring employees to check displays, he said.

Martha Tucci, a senior account manager at Williams Lea, said she wants to learn more about using 2D bar codes for her clients. Williams Lea prints Wal-Mart sales circulars mailed to homes and inserted in newspapers.

News, Pages 1 on 11/05/2009