We keep seeing QR Codes popping up all over the place – in our favourite magazines, on storefront windows, boarding passes, and real estate signs… we can’t escape them! You don’t even need some fancy device to scan them. These days, most of us can just download a free barcode app onto our smartphones, iPads, or other internet-connected mobile devices and scan the QR code the minute we see one. More often than not, the scan will bring you to a webpage containing new information or special offers. The days of typing in long urls to get to a website have practically vanished.
So, you’re probably still wondering what makes QR Codes so different and special from barcodes of the past. One-dimensional linear barcodes are encoded with thick and thin lines and are read (aka scanned) in only one direction—usually from left to right. Two-dimensional barcodes like the QR Code are encoded with square dots called modules, in a square pattern to be read in two directions ― horizontally and vertically. This allows the QR Code to pack in a ton of information (up to 7,089 characters) and hold virtually any kind of data, not just alphanumeric digits.
The marketing industry is running fast and hard with QR Codes. When you consider using a label with a QR Code on your advertising materials, they can be swapped out as quickly as your promotions change. You could add a QR code label to your sales slips leading your customers to new products or put a QR Code on your business cards that leads to a special discount coupon.
They aren’t limited to just marketing applications though. In fact, they started out in the manufacturing world tracking high speed industrial processes. QR Code labels would be perfect placed on the back of a home improvement item that sends a customer to installation instructions or a place to find replacement parts.
Clothing going digital
If the apparel industry gets its way, small labels with QR codes on them would replace the bulky clothing tags that offer washing instructions and other information. Digital product labels — which brands like Ralph Lauren are already starting to use — could provide a lot more information to consumers, who could scan them for a library of details about the garment they’re wearing (or might buy).
The move would come at a time when the broader retail industry is transitioning to “2D” barcodes, which will unlock reams of online extras about everyday products. Garment manufacturers have been lobbying Congress and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for permission to replace physical clothing tags — which must include care instructions, fibre content, country of origin, etc. — with digital labels, most likely in the form of a QR code.
A consumer could scan that code to get the legally required information and more — such as recycling instructions, supply chain information, product recalls, the sustainability practices of the manufacturer and more. The landing page could be updated in real time as circumstances change or the manufacturer wants to present new info.
For example: “Sometimes we produce garments knowing ‘this much’ about the material when we launch it, but three years down the road, something that was not recyclable is recyclable,” Jennifer Patrick, global packaging and branding director at Patagonia, said. A move to digital clothing labels would allow manufacturers to make the tags much smaller — and thus less itchy and annoying, says Jason Berns, head of product and manufacturing innovation at Ralph Lauren.
It would reduce “label mangling,” or the tendency of consumers to hack off clothing tags — keeping them intact for the next person who buys or inherits the item. It would also combat “label creep,” the growing list of legal requirements from governments around the world that have forced clothing makers to sew in ever-more-complicated (and cumbersome) care labels full of arcane laundry symbols. “If you’re able to eliminate the entire label package and have a smaller, less noticeable single point of access, then it’s much less likely that someone will need to cut them out,” Berns tells Axios.
The FTC currently requires garment labels to include “fibre content, the country of origin, and the identity of the manufacturer or another business responsible for marketing or handling the product.” Those rules have been around since the 1960s, though other countries tack on other requirements that add length and complexity, said Stephen Lamar, CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association. The trade group has been pushing for the option to substitute QR codes for the existing clothing tags, making the case for what it calls “label modernisation.”
“Fashion is constantly evolving and changing, and yet we’ve got this labelling system that’s kind of mired in the Eisenhower administration,” said Lamar. The volume of information that needs to be put on labels has “grown out of control over the years,” he said. “The end result is that you now have these garments with these really long labels,” he said. “Consumers have been craving more information, and regulators have been saying, ‘Hey, what else can we squeeze onto this little, tiny label?”
Pushback
Pushback has come in the form of concerns from regulators and lawmakers about internet accessibility, and whether some consumers would be cut off from the required information. Not everyone has broadband access or a smartphone.
Lamar contends that digital labelling could be a boon for accessibility. People sometimes struggle to read the teeny symbols on current label tags — particularly folks who are sight-impaired. As our clothing habits increasingly go “circular” — with people thrifting, recycling or composting garments instead of tossing them — digital labels will offer a more robust way for future users to access information about items, proponents say.
Ralph Lauren has “a little north of 220 million units with QR codes in the market today,” Berns says. (The garments also have standard tags in them, to comply with current regulations.) “From a data perspective, we see some amazing things,” he said. “We see a spike every weekend” in traffic to the sites linked to the QR codes. “We see a spike every holiday — a doubling or tripling of scans on, say, Christmas day, when people are opening gifts. We see people engaging with our website and our marketing.” Ralph Lauren’s takeaway? “People are absolutely willing to scan right now,” Berns said. “We’re averaging 13,000 scans per day, which is big.”
Of note is a copyright lawsuit filed by fast-fashion brand Zara accuses a California business of swapping out its labels for bootleg replacements — something that could be tougher to do if digital labelling takes hold.
More modern?
At the end of last month, Jennifer A. Kingson reported for Axios on the clothing industry’s push to switch from printed labels to QR codes. The idea behind moving to an ostensibly more “modern” tag would be twofold: it would reduce bulk and the QR code could give buyers important information such as washing instructions and other details. “Digital product labels—which brands like Ralph Lauren are already starting to use—could provide a lot more information to consumers, who could scan them for a library of details about the garment they’re wearing (or might buy),” Kingson wrote of QR tags’ purported benefits.
Kingson added garment manufacturers have been busy lately lobbying Congress and the Federal Trade Commission in efforts to persuade lawmakers on adopting digital tags. Companies argue consumers can get legally-required information (size, care, country of origin, etc) simply by scanning a QR code. Additionally, moving to a more digital-first approach means knowledge can be added to the landing page as it becomes available. “Sometimes we produce garments knowing ‘this much’ about the material when we launch it, but three years down the road, something that was not recyclable is recyclable,” Patagonia’s global packaging and branding director, Jennifer Patrick, told Axios.
While the industry is pushing for physical labels to be replaced for modernity and practicality’s sake—people often bemoan tags being annoyingly itchy—there is another obvious benefit: accessibility. Clothing labels are notoriously hard to read even for someone with eagle-eyed vision, and the sensory issues around itching can very much be a problem for those who cope with certain sensory motor conditions. Moreover, while it is possible to use the Magnifier app on the iPhone, for example, to read a physical tag, finding the tag can be troublesome in terms of cognition and, crucially, fine-motor skills. Physical tags also can be hard to find, as well as hold steady enough to read. Not to mention not everyone has a smartphone; shifting to digital labels may signal a status symbol not all people have the means (or desire) to attain.
Accessibility
While the industry is pushing for physical labels to be replaced for modernity and practicality’s sake—people often bemoan tags being annoyingly itchy—there is another obvious benefit: accessibility. Clothing labels are notoriously hard to read even for someone with eagle-eyed vision, and the sensory issues around itching can very much be a problem for those who cope with certain sensory motor conditions. Moreover, while it is possible to use the Magnifier app on the iPhone, for example, to read a physical tag, finding the tag can be troublesome in terms of cognition and, crucially, fine-motor skills. Physical tags also can be hard to find, as well as hold steady enough to read. Not to mention not everyone has a smartphone; shifting to digital labels may signal a status symbol not all people have the means (or desire) to attain.
From a disability point of view, the switch to QR codes is a net positive overall. The shift is reminiscent of the push by restaurants and other eateries to provide their menu via QR code at the pandemic’s zenith (or nadir, if you prefer). The move was ostensibly done for health and safety reasons, but the truth is it had enormous accessibility gains as well. Like with articles of clothing, it’s very possible to use the iPhone’s Magnifier app to zoom in on physical menus—I do this all the time—it’s much more accessible (and expedient) to scan a QR code and peruse it virtually.
Broadly, what both scenarios show is that people have a penchant for conflating convenience with accessibility. It’s undoubtedly more convenient to go all-in on digital clothes tags because real ones are itchy. There is validity to that sentiment, but what is convenient to one person is accessibility to another—both close cousins, but both entirely distinct concepts. It’s also more accessible for legions of disabled people to use QR codes because of access and usability. That viewpoint matters.
With so many aspects of life going “phygital,” it seems likely that we’ll soon get used to scanning our shirts and skirts the way we do restaurant menus.
