Where to put a review QR code so people actually scan it

A QR code is a lazy way to ask for a review, in the best sense: it asks all day and never feels awkward. But a code nobody scans is just decoration. Whether yours gets used comes down to where it sits, how big it is, and whether people can tell what it is for.

Put it where people wait

People scan when they are standing still with nothing to do and a phone already in their hand. In most shops there are four places like that.

The counter. Next to the card reader, at the height of the customer’s hands, facing them. While the payment goes through they have five idle seconds. A 4 × 6 inch card in a stand is the right size: big enough to read, small enough that it is not in the way.

Tables and waiting areas. A folded tent card works from both sides, so it does not matter which chair someone picks. In a salon, the shelf under the mirror is a table too.

The bag. A small insert with the receipt goes home with the customer, and home is where a lot of reviews get written: on the sofa, after the bread has been eaten or the flowers are in water.

The door. A decal on the inside of the glass, at hand height, on the side people see as they leave. Leaving is a natural moment to look back on the visit.

Make it big enough

A workable rule of thumb is that a code scans comfortably from about ten times its own width. A code one inch wide is fine on a counter card that people hold or lean over. On a door that people read from a step or two away, you want two inches or more.

Leave the white border around the code alone. That quiet margin is part of how a phone camera finds the code; crop it or run a pattern into it and scanning gets unreliable.

Keep the contrast high

Dark code, light background. A QR code in your brand color on a pale tint of the same color looks elegant and scans badly. The designs can be as colorful as you like, as long as the code itself sits on white.

Beat the glare

Glossy paper under spotlights turns a code into a mirror. Ask for matte paper or a matte laminate. For a window decal, look at it from outside at the time of day your shop is busiest; if the sun wipes it out, move it to the shaded side of the door.

Tell people what it is

A bare code gets ignored, because nobody knows whether it leads to a menu, a wifi password or an advert. Give it a headline that asks a question, such as “How did we do?”, and one line that says what will happen: “Scan with your phone camera to leave us a review.” Your name or logo on the card tells people the code is yours and not a sticker somebody else left.

Invite, do not push

A card on the counter is an invitation, and it should stay one. Google’s rules say merchants should not “require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises”. So no standing over someone while they type, no “we will just wait while you do that”, and nothing offered in return. Point to the card, say thank you, and let them do it in their own time.

Print it properly

• Use the full-size file. A 300 dpi file printed at its real size stays crisp. A screenshot blown up does not.
• Print at 100%. Turn off “fit to page”, or folds and cut marks will not line up.
• Use card stock for anything that has to stand up or be handled.
• Print one first. Check the color and scan it before you print fifty.

Test it like a customer

Before you put anything out, scan it yourself, with two different phones if you can, from where a customer would stand. Check that it opens the right page and that the review button on that page goes to your business and not somebody else’s with a similar name.

Then see whether it works

If your code is the only way people reach your review page, you will not know whether the card by the register or the email you sent did the work. ReviewLoop marks visits that came from the QR code, so the dashboard shows walk-in visits separately from the requests you sent. Move the card, watch the number for a week, and keep it wherever the number is highest.

All four formats in this note, the counter card, table tent, receipt insert and window decal, are on the printables page, in your color with your logo.