NOTE: This post originally appeared on interlinkONE.com
In case you were too busy drinking coffee yesterday, you may have missed the news that Starbucks is expanding its mobile payments program.
The news was picked up by a couple of big sites, including Mashable and Mobile Commerce Daily.
The program allows users pay for their coffee by holding up the 2-D barcode on their smartphone to the scanner at the counter. They have previously tested this program on the West Coast; well, it’s been successful enough that they are now rolling out this program to New York.
Below is a picture of one of the 2-D barcodes on the smartphone:
Image Source: http://cdn.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/starbucks-card-mobile-iphone.jpg
If you are thinking of using QR Codes for your business, or have already started, a story like this should absolutely be encouraging. Here are three reasons why:
- It helps demonstrate the growing success of QR Codes (The Starbucks program was successful in the test markets, and is being expanded)
- Big brands are using them and promoting them! (If I had to bet, I’d say that you have been to a Starbucks at least once in the last month)
- The use of QR Codes is expanding — some drive people to videos, others to websites, some to contact information; now, they are being used for mobile payments.
Just as a reminder, if you are looking to create QR Codes and track their success, feel free to try out our application – QReate & Track.
