How to make a professional QR code for your shop

1. Choose the right link

1. Use the cleanest version of your shop address. Copied links often carry tracking bits (like ?ref=… after the address) — remove them. Shorter links make simpler, easier-to-scan codes.
2. Point to a page that makes sense on a phone: your shop homepage, a specific collection, or a link-in-bio page — not a desktop-only page.
3. Use a link you control. If the shop address might change, use a page on your own website that you can redirect later.
4. If it's your own website, you can add campaign tags (UTM parameters) so your analytics show how many visits came from the code.

2. Static vs dynamic codes

A static QR code stores your link directly in the pattern — it works forever, with no account needed. A 'dynamic' code from an online generator stores a short redirect link owned by that service, which lets you change the destination later and see scan counts. The catch: if the service closes or you stop paying, every printed code can stop working. For anything you print in quantity, a static code pointing at a link you own is the safer choice.

3. Design rules that keep it scannable

1. Contrast: a dark code on a light background scans most reliably. Light-on-dark codes look stylish but some older scanner apps struggle with them.
2. Quiet zone: leave a clear border around the code (the standard is four 'modules', the little squares, wide). Don't let text or patterns touch the edges.
3. Logos: a small logo in the middle works because QR codes have built-in error correction — the code can lose part of its pattern and still scan. Use a high error correction level and keep the logo small and central.
4. Don't stretch or squash the code, round off its corner squares heavily, or recolour it in low-contrast pastel shades.
5. Add the address in text underneath for people who'd rather type it, and a short instruction like 'Scan to shop'.

4. Get the size right

A useful rule of thumb is that a code can be scanned from about ten times its own width. A 2.5 cm code on a parcel insert is fine at arm's length; a sign on a market stall that people read from a couple of metres away needs a code around 20 cm across. For print, export the code as a vector (SVG) or a high-resolution PNG — never a blurry screenshot or a compressed JPEG.

5. QR codes in videos

There's a catch with QR codes in TikToks and Reels: most people watch on the same phone they'd scan with, so they can't point their camera at it. They can still screenshot it and scan the image (Google Lens and the iPhone Photos app both read codes in screenshots), and viewers watching on a laptop, TV or stream can scan directly. So in videos, always show the web address alongside the code, and keep both on screen for several seconds. QR codes shine on live streams watched on a computer, in YouTube videos watched on a TV, and on anything physical.

6. Test before you print

1. Scan it with an iPhone camera and an Android camera (or Google Lens).
2. Test it at the real size and distance — print one copy before ordering a batch.
3. Test in poor light, the way it'll be scanned at a market or under a desk lamp.
4. Check it opens the exact page you expect, logged out, on mobile data rather than your home Wi-Fi.

Our Scan to Shop QR animation builds a real code for your link with your logo in the centre, shows your address underneath, and every code is test-scanned before delivery.

Where to use it

1. Thank-you cards in every parcel, linking to your shop or a review page.
2. Market stall and craft fair signs.
3. Business cards, swing tags and packaging.
4. The end of product videos and live streams, alongside your shop address.