NFC vs QR codes for reviews: which one actually gets used?
QR won the pandemic. Tap is winning the counter. Both have a place — and the reason is about hands, not technology.
· 5 min read
A QR code needs the customer to open a camera, frame a square, and tap a notification. Three actions, and the first one requires them to already have their phone unlocked and pointed at something.
NFC needs one: hold the phone near the thing. On iPhone it works from the lock screen with the screen simply awake. That difference in friction is the entire reason tap converts better in person.
Where QR still wins: distance and print. You cannot tap a poster across the room, or a sticker on a window from the footpath, or the bottom of a printed invoice. That is why every card we ship has a printed QR on the back — not as a hedge, but because they cover different distances.
Rule of thumb: tap for anything within arm's reach of a person, QR for anything they read from further away.
