Customer success stories
Meet HEMA
Revamping picture kiosks across Benelux with mobile-friendly QR Codes
85%
Fewer service repair requests600
HEMA stores use unique QR CodesSay hello to HEMA
HEMA was first established by founders Leo Meyer and Arthur Isaac in Amsterdam on 4 November 1926. Before this, department stores were generally aimed at wealthy people. HEMA, as it would later become known, was the first department store of its kind in the Netherlands. Products were priced at an affordable range, and from day one, the essence of HEMA was defined as: optimistic, unique, clear, reliable, and accessible.
“By working with QR Codes instead of direct inputs, e.g. cables, we have reduced the number of service repairs on our picture kiosks by 85%.”
Marc de Groot, Manager of Direct Print Services at HEMA
Cable malfunctions were causing delays
HEMA has established itself as the market leader in self-service photo printing within the politico-economic union of Benelux. Across their more than 600 stores, customers can order and print digital photographs via in-store picture printing kiosks. Until now, a range of direct inputs, such as USB cables, were used in order to transfer pictures from mobile devices to the printing units. But more often than not, direct inputs would either malfunction or break, causing the store to invest time and money in service repairs. This led HEMA to refashion these traditional outlets with the help of a brand new app and the mobile-friendly tech of QR Codes.
Combining QR Codes and picture kiosks for a smart solution
The Direct Printing team at HEMA decided to work with a kiosk app to allow users to upload their photos for printing without the need for a direct input like a USB cable. In order to connect customers directly to the app, they created unique QR Codes for each of their stores to link scanners to their mobile device’s corresponding app store: the Apple Store, Google Play, or Amazon Appstore. This created a more effortless process for customers to select all their desired photos, whether straight from their phone’s gallery app or the cloud, and print them.
Successful results
By working with QR Codes instead of direct inputs, HEMA saw an 85% reduction in the number of service repairs on their kiosks. They use unique QR Codes for each of their more than 600 stores in order to track with more precision how often each Code is used at each store.
In addition to the successful results from their kiosk QR Codes, they decided to use QR Codes to advertise special in-store promotions, which allows them to measure the success of their coupon campaigns with more accuracy.
Continued service even during the pandemic lockdowns
COVID-19 saw the closure of several high touchpoint outlets across several businesses. But for HEMA, their use of QR Codes made it easy to continue to provide photo printing services while abiding by the strict, COVID contactless regulations. By adding QR Codes to window display posters, they carried on offering fast-service orders and pick-up photo-printing.
The future of QR Code collabs
HEMA is looking forward to their continued use of QR Code technology in optimizing their B2C services, as well as in improving the measurement of their promotional campaigns. The next step they are looking forward to seeing is a comparative system that enables teams to view tracking measurements of all their QR Codes side by side. QR Code Generator is working towards adapting marketing tools into as many languages as possible, including Dutch.