Shopify | Shopcodes and the Chip & Swipe Reader

The barrier to entry for retail just got a little lower. Yesterday, Shopify announced the launch of a new app called "Shopcodes." This simple solution lets retailers create QR codes for products to drive mobile users directly to their ecommerce shopping experience. 

QR codes have not enjoyed a high adoption rate to date, but the announcement was purposefully timed to coincide with Apple's news conference and the launch of iOS11, which will allow for QR codes to be scanned from within the native camera app on iPhone and iPad.

With a whole new segment of consumers now armed with the right tools, Shopcodes are poised to become a major marketing opportunity for retailers selling goods in a physical space. As customers peruse a store during the investigation stage of the buying cycle, having a QR Code to scan will allow retailers to capture the customer's engagement in the real world and market to them [other technologies required] as they move further down the purchase funnel.

Shopcodes are just one of the many tools in the Shopify retail arsenal. Earlier this summer they announced the launch of their first (completely unexpected) hardware product, the Chip & Swipe Reader. The device is compact, simple to operate with any modern smartphone or tablet, and is FREE (for now) to all Shopify Basic and above store owners.

Simply request your reader from the Shopify Hardware Store and expect to see it in a few business days.

When you open it up you'll find a pack of stickers and everything packed neatly inside the travel case.

Crack open the travel case to find instructions that could only be made more simple if they were outsourced to IKEA.

Pull out the instructions packaging to find everything placed ever-so neatly into the case.

You get the reader, the base, a charging cable and two adhesive "sticky" pads if you want to mount the reader directly to a surface.

Follow the instructions from the purple insert to sync the Reader with your Shopify POS app and you're ready to take credit card payments. 

Pro Tip: Make sure you remove the clear plastic protection from the reader before applying one of the sticky pads. You're welcome.

Assuming you already have a Shopify store and downloaded the POS App, all you need to do is print Price Tags for your products with the Shopcodes attached and you're ready to sell!

Have more questions about running your business on Shopify? Ask Away!