SYDNEY, N.S. — The tap tech and quick response (QR) codes that power a Cape Breton created smart decal could be the next solution for companies looking for new ways to reach their customers.
While the technology is complicated to create, the updated information inside the decals is transferred from business to customer by a simple smartphone scan. That’s technology its creator thinks will be especially useful during the COVID-19 pandemic when businesses need to communicate with customers as efficiently as possible.
“The product is the same type of products we’ve always done,” said Ron Campbell, president of Tapnbe.
“It’s a cloud-based, smartphone engagement system but we are just finding more and more ways to do them.”
The decals can be placed on a door or a window — any place or anywhere. Once scanned by the tech already found in most modern phones, the decals instantly stream updated information on a particular business.
At the Peking Restaurant, for example, the smart decals direct customers to an online menu or a phone ordering system.
Kreative Design and Fully Promoted Powered by Embroid Me Cape Breton are also using them.
“The project is aimed at those that are always using their phone to search for things and kind of relying on that technology,” said Glen Moffatt, owner of Fully Promoted. “It’s just another way to kind of communicate with the millennials and even older people who are using their phones on a daily basis for Google and just about everything else.”
Moffatt has worked with Tapnbe before and said he’s always looking for ways to get the word out on his promotional apparel and ad specialty business, especially in the current business climate.
“He saw my open sign and figured this would be a good opportunity. It was a natural thing to come and offer me to get in on that program to see if it helps.”
The new smart decals give customers information and access to content through an eight-digit code that can be entered at the tapnbe.com website.
There’s also a quick read (QR) code in the big yellow stickers on a smart decal that can be scanned by a smartphone camera. A chip inside each decal can also be tapped by modern phones, using technology similar to that used in credit and debit cards.
A form of the Tapnbe tech has been placed at Open Hearth Park and the port of Sydney for some time, providing a variety of information to visitors.
“In this case, it is about not knowing if businesses are open or closed or if you have to order stuff or go in,” Campbell said, about the current pandemic influenced business climate.
“It is going to be like this for a while. I guess it is about communicating. If they are posting updates on their Facebook, well how does that help you at the door?”
The smart decals are now being offered to local businesses at a discounted rate. Campbell said the related free use of his platform is his way of helping the business community.
“With these decals, it’s our simplest service. It’s a redirect. Basically, we will redirect it to wherever you want. You tell us where you wanted it pointed and we will set it up.”
Tapnbe does offer a subscription service that businesses may be interested in at a later time.
Go online to tapnbe.com for more information.