A Guide To Boost Sales During Christmas With QR Codes

For any business with an offline store, it’s a given that the holiday season calls for decor and deals that attract footfall. 

But if you think that the customer journey starts with their entry to your store and ends with a purchase—we’re here to tell you otherwise.

In fact, your customers tend to go offline after browsing social media and online marketplaces for more options. And once they vet the deals offline and online, they finalize and buy.

That’s how customers are expected to spend $1530 on average in gifts, travel, and entertainment in 2023, according to a report by PWC.

And when you don’t make it easy for prospects to access your offline and online channels, you miss out on the opportunity to convert their interest into revenue 💰. 

If you have an offline and digital marketing strategy, it’s your cue to use Christmas QR Codes as a competitive advantage: 

1. To provide offline prospects easy access to online content (offers, e-stores, videos, etc.) that converts
2. To attract new customers and reward existing ones with a QR Code
3. To shorten buying journey with “Scan to buy” links from offline touchpoints
4. To derive first-party data from offline campaigns
5. To measure offline campaign results and develop better future strategies, and more

Let’s dive in and discover how you can use the power of QR Codes to brighten your holiday season sales.

Table of contents

1. How to use QR Codes to boost your sales during Christmas
2. How to create a Christmas QR Code 
3. How to stand out from your competitors during Christmas with QR Codes
4. Brands that nailed their Christmas campaigns with QR Codes
5. Frequently asked questions

How to use QR Codes to boost your sales during Christmas

Let’s understand how you can use QR Codes during in multiple ways to drive more purchases and user engagement. Read on!

1. Share Christmas offers, flash sales, and coupons

Offers and flash sales: Christmas offers are an excellent opportunity to convert your target audience into customers. 

You can coax your offline audience to your flash sale sites with QR Codes.

For instance, place a website QR Code on your store windows and displays and redirect people to view limited-period offers (make sure to state it clearly). This is an enticing way to attract them to your stores or buy online. 

Christmas coupons: You can create coupon QR Codes for the Christmas sale and distribute them at your stores or other strategic locations. 

Upon scanning, the QR Code could redirect people to a landing page with Christmas offers. This way, even people who leave your physical store can buy products from your online store and use the coupon code later, prompting repeat purchases.

2. QR Code Christmas cards and interactive product packaging

If your business sends text-based Christmas cards every season, make this year’s memorable with a personalized video message. Recipients can scan QR Codes and view the content.

You can also attach QR Codes to your product packaging, shopping bags, and gift wraps to easily share engaging audio-visual content. 

For instance, if you have a toy store, consider attaching QR Codes to the gift packaging. 

When children and their parents scan these, they can receive personalized offers or video messages from Santa Claus, elevating a regular gift-giving experience to new levels. You can really take the gifting experience to the next level by using a corporate gifting platform to intelligently choose automated gifts for everyone, and then deliver them as well. Nothing beats personalized gifting!

Related: How to create a video QR Code

3. Drive donations for charity during the holiday season 

Hosting Christmas charity events or markets? You can place QR Codes on physical donation boxes, containers, and standees. 

Guests can scan these QR Codes to access a secure payment gateway or the non-profit/charity website for quick donations.

4. Enhance customer experience

During the holiday season, people are not only buying gifts but also indulging in Christmas-themed experiences. 

You can use QR Codes to share relevant content, offers, and coupons and improve customer experience on various touchpoints. 

For instance, if you own a bakery, you can have a menu QR Code that shows exclusive baked goodies for Christmas. Your prospects can smoothly place orders after viewing the menu.

In the same way, you can convert any content—text-based, videos, audio, and landing pages—into QR Codes and attach it to physical collaterals you share during the holiday season. 

Scanning the QR Code to access content adds an element of mystery and surprise to otherwise bland sharing methods such as via emails, text, and others. This helps improve the overall customer experience during the holiday season. 

Also read: Our guide on how to create a multimedia QR Code

5. Increase participants in your events and games

Events: Similar to attracting people into your store, you can attract people to Christmas events with QR Codes. 

For instance, you can create calendar QR Codes for your event and include them in your promotional materials, such as flyers and posters. 

When people scan these QR Codes, they can instantly add the event to their calendar as a reminder.  

Fun games: You can use QR Codes to make online and offline gaming experiences more accessible. 

Here are three common ways to use it:

1. Use Christmas QR Codes to redirect game winners to a website to claim prizes or coupons
2. Use it to redirect offline participants to a website to play online Christmas-themed games
3. Conduct scavenger hunts with QR Codes where participants can find clues through QR Codes

How to create a Christmas QR Code 

You just saw how to use Christmas QR Codes for multiple cases and host different content types, from text to videos. Here’s how to create Christmas QR Codes in five steps (details below):

1. Log-in to the Uniqode dashboard
2. Choose the campaign type based on your use case
3. Add the destination URL or file
4. Customize the Christmas QR Code
5. Download the Christmas QR Code

Let’s consider that you want to embed a website into your QR Code. 

Here’s a detailed description of how you can create a Christmas QR Code for your website using the Uniqode dashboard:

Step 1: Log-in to the Uniqode dashboard

💻 Before you proceed… Sign-up for the free trial on Uniqode to create Christmas QR Codes for any content.
Customize the QR Code design: add Christmas colors, logos, background, etc., and save them for future use. No credit cards are required. 

Log-in and navigate to the top right of the dashboard. Click “+CREATE” and then “QR Codes.”

Step 2: Choose the campaign type

Select “Website” from the list of dynamic campaign types. 

✍️ A point to note: You can choose from different QR Code types, based on what content you want to share. 
For instance, to create a menu QR Code, you must choose “Restaurant Menu” to share a podcast or music, choose “MP3,” and so on. 

Step 3: Add the destination URL or file

Paste the URL of the website or landing page and click “Next.” 

🔥If you use Uniqode  Catering to multiple markets with QR campaigns? You can turn on multi-language support to automatically redirect your audience to translated pages of your website based on their devices’ language settings. Please note that you must make the multilingual sites available on Uniqode dashboard (as shown below) for this feature to work.
Read more: How to create multi lingual QR Codes

Step 4: Customize the Christmas QR Code

Customize the QR Code with any Christmas color scheme you choose. You can also customize the following:

1. The QR Code pattern (dots)
2. Eye shape (three big dots on the sides)
3. Add a background image, or a solid color, or keep it transparent
4. Add a logo at the center of the QR Code
5. Change the QR Code pattern, eyes, and frame colors

Step 5: Download the Christmas QR Code

From the preview, perform a test scan on multiple devices to ensure the QR Code is working. Then, download the QR Code in the desired format per your use case. 

You can use PDF, PNG, SVG, EPS, and JPEG formats. Click the desired format and download the QR Code.

Read more: How to download a QR Code and which format to download in

How to stand out among your competitors during Christmas with QR Codes

✨Now that you know how to create and use Christmas QR Codes, here are some tips to help you have an edge over your competitors:

Tip 1: Opt for dynamic Christmas QR Codes 

You cannot edit, track, and extensively customize static QR Codes. It means you cannot differentiate the QR Codes much from competitors.   

Dynamic Christmas QR Codes offer distinct advantages over static QR Codes in this regard. 

1. You can edit the URL at any time 

You can modify dynamic QR Codes in real time to update content, offers, or information as frequently as needed. 

For instance, if you accidentally insert the wrong URL, you can change it, which will instantly reflect in the Christmas QR Code. You don’t have to create and print a new QR Code.

2. You can extensively customize 

With dynamic QR Codes, you can customize the QR Codes in red, white, and green themes. You can also customize the shape of the QR Code, such as creating a circle QR Code, embedding a picture in the background, or adding your business or holiday-themed logo.

All these customizations can make your Christmas QR Codes visually relevant and more engaging compared to a static black-and-white QR Code. 

3. Track your QR Code performance 

You can monitor scan data, including the number of scans, exact scan locations, and the devices used to scan your Christmas QR Codes. 

With dynamic QR Codes, you can track these offline campaign metrics, which is impossible with static or free QR Codes. 

For instance, you can place different Christmas QR Codes at multiple locations in your store and track which QR Codes perform best. 

You can also track how many people scanned your Christmas QR Codes and compare it with the store’s footfall. This way, you can measure your store conversion rate. 

Tip 2: Place your QR Code strategically for high visibility 

The effectiveness of your Christmas QR Code campaign relies on its design, content, and strategic placement. 

Strategic placement ensures high visibility and maximizes customer engagement during the holiday season. Here are some strategic places to place your Christmas QR Codes: 

1. In-store displays

Place QR Codes near high footfall locations within your physical store. Ideal spots include entrances, product displays, checkout counters, and fitting rooms.

2. Marketing collateral

Ensure you give prominent space for Christmas QR Codes on flyers, posters, standees, or any marketing material. Make sure to give some white space around the QR Code to make it prominent. 

If you use QR Codes for package marketing, we suggest you place them on top of the package/box and avoid any corners or folds. 

3. Websites, emails, and social media

Make Christmas QR Codes a part of visually appealing graphics and content. Use it on your websites, email signatures, and social media posts to redirect your audience to different web pages and content. 

For Instance, you can use QR Codes on your email signature to encourage people to follow your social media channel for the latest Christmas updates.

Tip 3: Get the QR Code basics right

Ensure that you have the fundamental elements of your Christmas QR Code campaign in place. Here are the key steps to get it right:

1. Secure public access to your cloud or online file

Ensure that the content (hosted on third-party platforms) linked to your Christmas QR Code, such as a website, coupon, video, etc., is accessible to the public. 

Otherwise, when people scan, they will be redirected to a 404 error page, limiting the success of your campaign. 

To avoid this, scan your QR Code with mobile devices before you deploy the QR Code. 

2. Avoid pixelated QR Codes

Pixelated or skewed QR Codes hamper scannability and make scanning difficult for people to scan. Download the QR Code in a suitable format for specific use cases to avoid this. 

For instance, download the QR Codes in PNG to use on websites, social media, and coupons where you don’t have to resize the QR Code. 

If you use Christmas QR Codes on standees or displays where you want a bigger size, high-resolution QR Code formats such as SVG or EPS work best as they won’t pixelate when resized.

3. Include a compelling Call To Action (CTA)

Incorporate a clear and enticing Christmas QR Code Call To Action (CTA) that provides users a preview of what the QR Code leads to and encourages users to scan. 

For example, “Scan for holiday deals” or “Scan for Christmas greetings,” etc.

 4. Opt for contrasting background colors

Select contrasting background colors for your Christmas QR Code to enhance visibility and scannability. 

The QR Code should ideally stand out against its background, making it easy for users to scan.

If you already have a printed background and require a transparent QR Code, you can download it in PNG and use it on your marketing materials. 

Brands that nailed their Christmas campaigns with QR Codes

Here are three instances where popular brands such as Swarovski, The Salvation Army and Pepsi spread the holiday cheer via QR Codes. 

1. Game-based coupon QR Code by Swarovski  

Swarovski, a popular jewelry brand, used Christmas QR Codes to increase engagement with their customers. Upon scanning, customers had to enter details to play a game. 

Additionally, the winners of the game got a voucher that they can use to make a purchase. These vouchers in turn, helped increase sales volume.

2. Donation QR Codes by The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army’s annual Kettlebell campaign involves its workers ringing bells outside grocery stores to raise donations. 

In addition to asking for donations in the form of physical coins or cash, they installed Christmas QR Codes.

People could easily scan the QR Code and donate to the cause digitally. 

3. Pepsi’s game-based QR Codes for increasing holiday sales

Pepsi, a global beverage brand, used Christmas QR Codes on product packaging that consumers can scan and play a game to win a gift.

To win the gift, people have to buy at least three cans of Pepsi, starting from a specific date. This marketing campaign perfectly helps their sales strategy during the holiday season.

Get closer to your holiday sales target with Christmas QR Codes

QR Codes are a valuable addition to your holiday marketing strategy to increase your sales. 

Streamline your offline campaigns with Uniqode. Get a user-friendly dashboard where you can create, edit, and track Christmas QR Codes at scale.

Uniqode is a secure SOC® 2 Type 2 certified and GDPR-compliant platform. It means all the data and interactions of your Christmas QR Codes, end-to-end, are safe and private.

Wondering how to create a Christmas QR Code this holiday season? Get started by creating one below👇 

Frequently asked questions

1. How do you put a QR Code on a Christmas card?

Follow these steps to put a QR Code on your Christmas card:

1. Sign-up or Log-in to the Uniqode dashboard
2. Click “+CREATE” and then “QR Codes”
3. Choose the campaign type as “Website”
4. Paste the URL of the content (Greetings video, image, etc.) you want to add to the QR Code
5. Customize and download the QR Code in the desired format

2. Can I change my QR Code after Christmas is over?

Here’s what you can do after Christmas is over:

1. You can create a new QR Code and replace it.
2. You can edit or update the destination URL/content of the existing QR Code (Only if you have created a dynamic QR Code). However, we don’t suggest it, as the QR Code will carry the scan data from the previous campaign. You cannot change without reprinting if you have printed and shared the QR Code with Christmas-specific customization. 

3. Will Christmas QR Codes expire after Christmas?

Christmas QR Code will expire after Christmas if:

1. You have set an expiry date on the Uniqode dashboard for your QR Code 
2. You are on a trial or a paid plan on a QR Code generator, and if it expires, then the QR Code also will expire

Otherwise, static and dynamic QR Codes don’t expire.

• Author Details

Author Details

Sravya Narayanan

Sravya is a content marketer specializing in QR Code security and technology. Sravya’s content spans around QR Code security, and how it enables business to securely interact with customers. Her passion to break down tech for readers with blogs and e-books comes from her love for teaching. You can find more on Sravya’s work here.

shravz.qwerty@gmail.com