Tracking who scans your QR code

The single most useful thing about a QR code is that, unlike a poster or a newspaper advert, it can tell you whether anyone actually looked.

Only dynamic codes can be tracked

A static code has the destination baked into the pattern itself. The phone reads it and goes straight there, and nothing ever touches us — so there is nothing to count. A dynamic code points at a short link that redirects, and that redirect is what makes counting possible. If you want numbers, choose dynamic when you create the code.

What you can see

• Total scans, and how they build up over time
• Roughly where scans happened — city and region
• Whether people scanned on Android or iPhone
• What time of day and which days are busiest

Use separate codes to compare things

This is where it becomes genuinely useful. Point two different codes at the same page — one on the poster, one on the flyer, one in the newspaper advert. Same destination, separate scan counts. Now you know which placement is worth paying for again, instead of guessing.

The same trick works for locations: one code per branch, or per notice board, tells you which spots people actually stop at.