QR Code based inventory management with QR Snap has a massive positive impact on customer experience and optimizes the salesman’s time. There are many benefits that are discussed in this document so please read it start to finish.
QR Snap links your vehicles to the information you need, and fast.
Here is my experience implementing and utilizing QR codes at a dealership level. This is a high volume motorcycle dealer in the northwest. To remain anonymous ‘MotocycleSports NW’ will be the alias used. For anyone that is impatient I will just throw the summary out there right now. QR Codes by QR Snap are a resounding success and are utilized by multiple groups of employees within the shop. The self plug here is that as of the time of writing my services are far less expensive than anything around and there is not a single product that functions even similarly. Every day I pour my mind, body, and soul into this project to create the perfect solution leveraging a technology that installed in the default camera app on iPhone and Android phones we all carry each and every day.
How can a motorcycle dealership utilize QR Codes to improve inventory management and at the same time dramatically enhance the sales process? The answer to that is simple, the solution was not. The good news is QR Snap takes care of that and makes creating, implementing a QR code showroom easy and cost effecive. QR Codes will take physical vehicles and then link them to all the information needed to sell those vehicles. Through my case study at MotocycleSports NW the benefits are largely in the asymmetry of information presented to customers and staff. Customers scan codes to obtain information about a vehicle they are interested in. Employees also scan vehicles for information but the desired data differs between the two groups. QR Snap utilizes a proprietary secure method to separate employees from customers when scanning QR Codes and will direct each group to the information that they need and capture analytics data during the process.
For some context QR Snap has been implemented very successfully within a high volume motorcycle/powersports dealership with multiple physical locations. Right now this service has not been publicized due to the infancy of the software behind it but the fact is; even being in a state that is at the current time of writing imperfect or buggy. The QR codes continue to get scanned, information is being directed where it needs to be and staff are wasting far less time to determine what something is on the lot.
The proof is in the pudding. There was a moment at one point where QR Snap was discontinued for bureaucratic reasons at my beta testing locating. The end result was that the staff at the store actively made a push back to restore QR Snap services within a week. The results spoke for themselves across the board; this new method of tagging was enhancing the customer experience whilst at the same time empowering the staff to make more sales and reduce friction during the entire process.
One of the starting points for any dealership wanting to implement QR codes is the ability to quickly generate bulk quantities of durable hangtags or stickers. This process must be simple enough low cost employees can perform this task with minimal training and not be time intensive or prone to failure. QR Snap enables physical printing, cutting, application times down to about 15-25 seconds per tag made. The process has actually been described as ‘fun’ which was a big surprise to me.
QR Codes are generated on proprietary readily available materials. Printing can be archived on standard laser copiers found in typical medium businesses. Currently QR Snap supports Konica Minolta Biz Hub series printers for high volume generation.
Tags made with supported QR Snap materials are designed to take a beating, whether it’s out in the sun or rain. Our combination of materials is designed to last. For dealerships dealing with mostly indoor tags it is possible to use thermal printers to generate and apply tags to vehicles quickly and easily. Within the inventory dashboard it’s possible to print to thermal label printers by downloading ready made QR Codes and then printing them in Windows or Mac OS
Notice that this tag has a lot of information that is valuable to the customer and staff in plain readable test. For example the Year, Make, Mode, and VIN number are all included and can be used to identify a vehicle very quickly. The stock number is also included in a very large font to enable a customer or staff member to read it from quite a far distance. The real magic is the incentive structure of the QR Code. The customer must scan the code to get information that is highly desirable. Most of the time that is the price, but can be other things such as financing info, or vehicle specifications. All of which can be found on the VDP(Vehicle display page). As the customer scans the tag a bunch of stuff happens at once behind the scene. First the tag determines if the scan was from a customer or a staff member and directs them accordingly. Next the tag records the time and device info for analysis later. Then the tag emits a ping to all sales staff letting them know that a customer has scanned a vehicle. Each device is given a unique identifier as to let staff know when a user is scanning multiple vehicles. After that a very brief animated loading screen is presented to the customer then lands them at their final destination of the dealers VDP. Note that because of the digital bridge a QR Code provides the price is always taken from your website which can be updated far easier than recreating paper tags. This means all pricing, disclaimers, etc.. are all handled by your website and not a part of the tag.
QR Snap supports 2 types of QR Codes. These will be labeled Basic and Dyna. Lets start with basic QR Codes. These are ‘boring’ yet useable QR codes that are ready to be generated in batches and are plentiful in all QR Snap package levels. A basic QR Code is an uncompressed scannable QR Code that links directly to the desired URL. This is fine for applications such as linking to VDPs or a product page. These codes have 3 major drawbacks though. First no ECC (Error Correction Code), basic codes are not tolerant of any faults such as scratches, rips, runny toner, etc. If a code becomes damaged it will become unusable. Dyna QR Codes have EEC built in that can support a maximum of 33% destruction. That means 1/3 of the total QR Tag can be destroyed and it will still function on any phone. The ability to destroy areas of a scannable tag lets the store put there logo anywhere on the QR tag. This adds to a end users feeling of authenticity and genuineness and builds trust between the dealer and the customer.