QR Codes - In or Out?

[yagoparamo]

ahh... another classic example of "get rich quick and easy" marketing.

For reasons unknown to modern science, all of these players always use the VERY VERY VERY LONG AND UGLY PAGE to work over the morons that fall for this crap.

Its the same layout every time:

1. Start with visualizing wealth
2. Demonstrate the simple business logic of the concept
3. Identify the "lost opportunity" that few see that fits the business logic above (except the seller)
4. Establish the ease to execute the business plan
5. Remind the reader how wonderful wealth is when you execute the sellers plan
6. Introduce the "business package" that the seller offers
7. Reinforce & remind the moron reading this that this has business logic and it's so easy to do!
8. Create lead form, add sense of urgency (offer ends... goes to 1st 13 that sign up... etc)
9. Morons that read this love get rich quick, tell the moron that your plan is different than the others
10. Lather, Rinse, Repeat on down the page

Cha-ching. Fish on.

They screwed up, it is missing one key ingredient:

Hip hop music on the site!

 

[kellycarson]

First post here - hello all!
I come to automotive from the real estate industry, where QR codes worked well for us as an "unlock this house" feature outside of our model homes when they were closed. The codes linked to a mobile-friendly page with details and a video tour of the inside of the home.
I ALWAYS make sure that the QR code comes from a shortened URL (nothing more frustrating then a ridiculously complicated QR code!) and use bit.ly so that I can track the total number of scans.
I can see a lot of use for car dealers (especially here in CO when we're closed Sundays) to provide an incentive-based system behind the QR codes. (Thanks for coming by! Scan this QR code for an extra $100 off your car when you come back!).
Are QR codes clunky and limited to a tiny subset of people who use them? Sure. But taking them for an imperfect medium, they still offer a great opportunity to remotely engage with shoppers that's worthwhile.

 

[joe.pistell]

First post here - hello all!
I come to automotive from the real estate industry, where QR codes worked well for us as an "unlock this house" feature .../snip/...
I can see a lot of use for car dealers (especially here in CO when we're closed Sundays) to provide an incentive-based system behind the QR codes. (Thanks for coming by! Scan this QR code for an extra $100 off your car when you come back!). .../snip/... QR codes still offer a great opportunity to remotely engage with shoppers that's worthwhile.

kelly,

We are somewhat similar to real estate, not all marketing/merchandising tools will work in our space. Be cautious about the "unintended consequences" of QRs. I'll give you a couple to think about.

#1). What Day is it?
A Window sticker w/QR intended to deliver a $100 discount for "Sunday Shoppers" needs to link to a page that knows what day it is and can present 2 offers. If TODAY = Sunday, then display Sunday Offer. Otherwize, present offer #2.

#2). Beware Stimulating "Showrooming" behavior.
It's brought Best Buy to its knees. cisco online buy offline - Google Search

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Uncle Joe, I've been following the effects of "showrooming" for some time now. I'm not sure how this would fall into the same category with purchasing a car and what Kelly is referring to.

Showrooming is when the consumer uses a brick-n-mortar retail store as nothing more than a place to physically research out a paticular product while then going home (or from their phone) to compare pricing and then purchasing online from an online retailer for the price savings.

Am I missing something here?

Also - didn't you have some numbers around testing QR's at Used Car King?

 

[joe.pistell]

Uncle Joe, I've been following the effects of "showrooming" for some time now. I'm not sure how this would fall into the same category with purchasing a car and what Kelly is referring to.

Showrooming is when the consumer uses a brick-n-mortar retail store as nothing more than a place to physically research out a paticular product while then going home (or from their phone) to compare pricing and then purchasing online from an online retailer for the price savings.

Am I missing something here?

Also - didn't you have some numbers around testing QR's at Used Car King?

I used the term showrooming to broadly describe the new phonemom. In the Best Buy scenerio, it is one example of showrooming. To me, showrooming is simply a shopper in ANY retailer's store that is smart-phoning to a competitor's site to compare prices. Several times I have opted out of buying high ticket items over the net in favor of the local store's "close enough" price to ensure I had some one to strangle incase it blew up I use the net to keep the local merchant honest.

When it comes to car shopping, customers are left alone for great periods of time. IMO, introducing a merchandising stimulus for the shopper to pull out their smartphone... ain't smart.

If showrooming is just about a one way path where the bricks and mortars are demo'ing products and the internet commerce sites are getting their biz, then the story has missed the width & depth of the impact of the smart phone on show rooms in nearly every high ticket store, all across the USA.

 

[joe.pistell]

Here it is Jeff:

I wanted to test QR's, so I made window stickers to see if people would use it.

They're placed at the footer of the window sticker (on the outside) I've got 1100 out there now.

.../snip/...3 stores, 1,000 used units on the ground. 40 scans per month.

Can you equate 4 scans per 100 units? I doubt it. Every store is different.


We have a gigantic traditional campaign that drives foot traffic.
We dont have prices on the cars

 

[joe.pistell]

A few months more of data and the QR scan rate dropped to 2.5% of units in stock. http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/f14/window-sticker-2012-dr-art-project-2238-2.html#post19364

Do the math:
-1000 11" four color stickers at $0.50 ea (incl's misc costs)
- 25 visits to mobile site
COST PER VISIT = $20

2.5 visits per 100 cars on the ground p/month. OUCH... SOMEONE HIDE THIS ROI FROM THE BOSS.

 

[yagoparamo]

A few months more of data and the QR scan rate dropped to 2.5% of units in stock. http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/f14/window-sticker-2012-dr-art-project-2238-2.html#post19364

Do the math:
-1000 11" four color stickers at $0.50 ea (incl's misc costs)
- 25 visits to mobile site
COST PER VISIT = $20

2.5 visits per 100 cars on the ground p/month. OUCH... SOMEONE HIDE THIS ROI FROM THE BOSS.

Dear fellow vendor,

The cost of the window stickers is already in the photo package (unless you just didn't do window stickers). To "print" a QR Code on them is free. The cost of the mobile site is free, to have more traffic doesn't make it more expensive.

The argument from many of us hasn't been whether QR Codes will change the fate of the car dealership but that they can be added on top of a lot of stuff you already do and enhance its usability. Problem is that like many Internet things it is hard or impossible to measure just like adding your URL to a TV commercial, what is the ROI on that? Can you significantly measure it? Yet common sense dictates we do it. Why not? The commercial will cost you the same.

Secondly, QRC have been tremendously helpful when we added them to off the wall things like for example your outgoing feeds and to places like (yes you know is coming) Craiglist.

 

[joe.pistell]

Yago,

Agreed. If QR is fully automated, costs nothing to create and is off-site (it's out on the net), then I really like the concept. I especially like your teaser "Like What You See?"

I don't like a QR on the car.

Managers should train their reps to "put on your happy face and go mix it up" when the shopper is "showrooming". Keep that damn phone in their pocket!

 

[yagoparamo]

Yago,

Agreed. If QR is fully automated, costs nothing to create and is off-site (it's out on the net), then I really like the concept. I especially like your teaser "Like What You See?"

I don't like a QR on the car.

Managers should train their reps to "put on your happy face and go mix it up" when the shopper is "showrooming". Keep that damn phone in their pocket!

There is one interesting usage for QRC in the car;

For dealers that are very price competitive that use for example vAuto every-day to fine tune their inventory and for those in areas where you must sell the vehicle for the lowest advertised price, the QRC allows you to have something in the window label along the lines "Scan it to get our latest web released pricing". Customers can't complain then that you are not being as transparent as possible.

We went a step forward and created a small gizmo so the salesperson can pull the price for the customer if/when they ask (so customer doesn't have to figure things out) then ask the customer: Can I email you or text you the price with the vehicle? The information goes into the CRM as a "on the lot" lead (I'll bet you don't have those currently logged in the CRM).