A QR code on your product packaging
A QR code on packaging should be a dynamic code. Then, when your website moves or the page for that product changes, you change the link and leave the boxes already printed as they are.
Pick a look. Each one is drawn with your own link.
Look: Rounded
More shapes and colours
Optional. Your logo stays on your device. Nothing is uploaded.
Scan it with your phone before you print.
A static code can never be changed. Need to edit the link later or track scans? Create a dynamic QR
Packaging lasts longer than web pages
A print run of packaging is often 20,000 units or more, and it sells for a year or two. Then it sits in a cupboard, a garage or a second-hand listing for years after that. Someone who wants the manual for a heater they bought three years ago will scan the code on the box.
Web pages rarely last that long. A shop changes platform, a product page is renamed, or the brand is sold and its site folded into another one. Each of these breaks the addresses printed on every box still out there. Nobody on the team notices, because nobody scans their own old packaging.
Reprinting is not an option for boxes that have already been sold. The code on them has to keep working with whatever you print next.
Why packaging is a dynamic case
A dynamic code keeps the address on the box fixed and moves the page behind it. When the site is rebuilt, you change each code's destination in your account, and every box already printed opens the new page. Scan counts also show which products people scan most, and when.
A static code from the generator above is free. It can work on packaging if it opens an address on your own domain that you are sure you will keep, and redirect when the page moves. It costs nothing, but it depends on someone remembering that address years from now.
Count the products before you count the codes. 5 dynamic codes come with a subscription, one each for a short range. A brand with a longer catalogue should ask us for more before the artwork is signed off.
Be clear about the commitment, too. A box in someone's cupboard is still scanned years from now. Those scans only reach your page while the subscription runs. Once it ends, after 7 days of grace, they reach a notice that the code is not active.
| Static QR code | Dynamic QR code | |
|---|---|---|
| Change the link after printing | No. The link is part of the pattern. | Yes, as often as you like. |
| Scan tracking | None. Scans never reach us. | Count, country, device and browser. |
| Cost | Free, for good. | $49 a year or $5.90 a month, after a 7-day free trial. |
| Needs an account | No. | Yes. The trial needs no card. |
How it works
- Create. Make one dynamic code per product page and point each at the page as it is today.
- Print. Send the SVGs with the packaging artwork, and scan the printer's proof of each one.
- Update anytime. When the site moves, change the destinations. Every box on every shelf follows.
What it costs
Static codes are free, with no account. Dynamic codes cost $49 a year, which saves 30% against paying monthly, or $5.90 a month. We recommend yearly. Tax is included. Every account starts with a 7-day free trial that needs no payment details, and a subscription covers 5 dynamic codes. Cancel anytime and keep access to the end of the period you paid for.
If you stop paying, your dynamic codes stop resolving once the paid period and a further 7 days of grace have passed. Nothing is deleted: the codes, their links and their scan history stay in your account, and every code starts working the moment you subscribe again. Static codes never depend on us. They keep working as long as the page they point to does. We never switch one off, but we cannot bring back a page that has gone.
Questions
One code per product, or one for the whole range?
One per product when each one needs its own page, such as instructions, ingredients or a recall notice. One for the range when every pack opens the same place. A subscription covers 5 dynamic codes, so a long range needs more, and the question below says how to get them.
What if I need more than 5 dynamic codes?
Ask us. The ceiling is set per account and we can raise yours — email [email protected] with a rough idea of how many you need and what for.
Is a static code ever right on packaging?
Yes, if it opens an address on your own domain that you promise to keep, and you can redirect that address when the page behind it moves. Plenty of brands do this. The risk is the day the site is rebuilt and nobody remembers the address on the box.
Can I turn a static code I already printed into a dynamic one?
No. They are different images, so anything already printed goes on pointing where it always did. This is the one decision worth making before a print run rather than after: if there is any chance the destination will move, print a dynamic code.
Need to change the link later?
7 days free, no card needed. Make a dynamic code and edit it whenever you like.