Change of tactics = focus on the release and resulting support of the end-user phone-based application (no revenue) vs. the back-end infrastructure to connect codes to content (revenue-bearing). Go back to some of CH's comments re: focus on the ecosystem and infrastructure.
Granted that you need readers installed before you get transactions through the back-end system, but the cost vs. revenue (zero for direct-encoded reads) for the end-user, phone-based applications are significant.
Tough call on which tactic will work; get the installed base and capture the back-end transactions or let others do the grunt work with getting the installed base and NEOM captures the transactional back-end revenue as a clearing house for the clicks.