If you run an operation that needs to keep track of inventory or accept mobile payments, you may wonder about the differences between QR codes vs barcodes. QR Codes and barcodes both make it easy to decipher the information they store, track inventory, and receive payments. When you’re deciding to use 2D barcodes vs QR codes, it’s important to have all the facts. The following information will give you more insight into the different features of each. Read on to learn everything you need to know about barcodes vs QR codes.
What is the Difference Between a Barcode and QR Code?
QR or quick response codes scan much faster than traditional barcodes. They can also hold more and more complex data, such as payment information. Barcodes, on the other hand, are mainly used for inventory, warehouse, or retail management. The main difference lies in the dimensions of each scan-friendly code.
What Is a Barcode?
A barcode is a stretch of data that stores information in a coded straight line. You can only embed as much data in a barcode as you can fit on the series of stripes. The information in the code presents one or two details about what you’re scanning.
Barcodes come in different types, as the stripe patterns and capacity differ for specific uses and industries. This type of technology never stops advancing. The spike in 2D barcoding, for example, makes it simple to scan a barcode directly from a smartphone to obtain information.
Common Barcode Types
There are several common types of barcode:
- Universal Product Code or UPC Code: This is the most common barcode, often seen on retail products. Grocery is one of the main industries that use UPCs. They do this to print receipts and keep track of inventory.
- 2D Barcode: Unlike traditional barcodes that form a straight line, 2D barcodes are similar to QR codes. The 2D barcodes feature horizontal and vertical dimensions of code. Various patterns of squares, dots, hexagons, circles, and other geometric shapes make up the code.
- PDF417 Barcode: This type of barcode is found in IDs, such as driver’s licenses. It is about four times larger than other 2D barcode technology, including QR codes. The Department of Homeland Security and the USPS regularly use this kind of barcode for its advanced features, such as enclosed links that lead to data files.
- Data Matrix Code: A common 2D barcode, the data matrix code is also square. It can encode a lot of information, which makes it useful in healthcare and electronic manufacturing. To read the code, you need to use a more advanced scanner, such as a smartphone.
What Is a QR Code?
If you want to know the difference between a basic QR code vs barcode, it comes down to how the barcodes scan. QR codes do not make up a single line but are three-dimensional squares that a scanner reads vertically and horizontally. As a result, you can store a lot more data in a QR code than in the single line of a traditional barcode.
For example, a general barcode can tell a manufacturer or retailer the location of a product and the item number. A QR code, however, can also show a product’s condition and production information. It might also tell the user more about the product’s features.
QR Code vs. Barcode: Why QR Codes Go the Distance
When you compare a 2D barcode vs QR code, the storage capacity of each is a major consideration. A company can store more data inside a single QR code than it can in a traditional barcode. That is why smartphone applications can use QR codes for payment processing. Barcodes usually record items that are for sale, or which need to go into a store’s, facility’s, or manufacturer’s inventory.
Adaptability
You can easily adapt a QR code for payment processing, as smartphone cameras have scanners, designed technologically to read the technology.
Ease of Use
Because you can easily scan a QR code from any surface, the technology is easy to use. When the user scans a QR code, a notification displays a link that takes him or her to a secure payment site or to wherever they need to go online. When the screen pops up for payment, the user simply uses Google Pay, Apple Pay, or a similar payment method when purchasing a product.
More on How QR Payment Processing Works
The following information shows you, in more detail, the steps for payment processing.
As a store owner or business, you don’t have to set up hardware and several pieces of equipment when you take QR payments. All you need is a smartphone. To use the QR code for in-store or point-of-sale (POS) payment processing, you only need to:
- Open up the app and input the amount you wish to charge
- In response, the phone generates a secure and unique QR code
- Tap the amount you are charging the customer
- Ask the customer to scan the code with their phone’s camera
- When the customer scans the code, a notification appears
- The customer opens the notification, which takes him or her to a screen so they choose how they wish to pay
- After the customer pays, they will automatically receive an email receipt
Speed
The speed of using a QR code for payment processing cuts down on the time people wait in line in a brick and mortar location and enables them to pay for a product online securely and conveniently.
Error Correction
Because the QR code holds all of an item’s information, you don’t have to worry about errors relating to product details and pricing.
Marketing Opportunities
When you take payments with a QR code, you can devote more time to your customers .- answering their questions and providing them with a more pleasant shopping experience. Not only is contactless payment processing, using a QR code, safer, it also makes it possible to focus more on marketing vs taking people’s payments.
Therefore, when you ask “What is the difference between a barcode and a QR code?” the major difference is in the dimensions and the amount of information you can store on each type of code. When deciphering between barcodes vs QR codes, this is important to remember.
Choosing Your Solution: Barcodes vs. QR Code
When it comes to payment processing, you may wonder if you should choose a 2D barcode vs QR code. Since they hold more data and most smartphones today have built-in QR scanners in their cameras, it makes more sense to use QR codes for payment processing.
When reviewing how QR code vs barcode technologies work, it is important to keep their primary purposes in mind. When considering a barcode vs QR code, you need to decide what you need each to do. While barcodes mostly track inventory, QR codes can receive payments with greater ease and efficiency.
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