Nissan’s QR Marketing Enables ‘After Hours’ Shopping

In yet another sign that Japanese auto brands aren’t just sitting on their hoods waiting for vehicle supplies to return to normal, Nissan has pioneered the use of Quick Response (QR) codes among auto retailers in the U.S. market.

The codes perform functions for Nissan, its dealers and products similar to the information and communication assistance they lend shoppers at the supermarkets, department-store chains  and other brands that quickly have flocked to using QR. Recently, Toyota disclosed its own innovative mobile-information apps using SpyderLynk's SnapTags.

Launched in June with the 2012 Nissan Altima and Sentra models, Nissan’s QR codes are found on individual window stickers of the vehicles along with standard equipment, options, mileage, price and other information that is there by law. Smartphone users can snap a photo of the code and access specific vehicle information such as key features, available accessories, incentive offers and even dealer inventories.

The program “puts important decision-making information at shoppers’ fingertips while on dealership lots, helping sales personnel make a more effective presentation, as well as providing customers with a ‘silent salesperson’ if they are shopping the lot after hours,” stated Jon Brancheau, vice president of marketing for Nissan North America. “It’s a true mass-market effort across all products and all Nissan dealerships nationwide.”

Brancheau said that initial consumer response based on early purchasers of QR-equipped Altimas “has been extremely encouraging, with consumers viewing multiple pages and requesting follow-up information regarding current offers and inventory.”

Nissan’s is an interesting innovation given how much more competitive the U.S. auto market is expected to grow in the second half as it and other Japanese brands return to full supplies on dealer lots. In that kind of environment, you never know exactly what edge will help move the metal.