Put an offer on a flyer, receipt or package and let customers show it at the register. Brand the code so it looks like part of the campaign.
This encodes the offer as labeled text. It does not check eligibility, count redemptions or expire on its own: the expiry you type is words for a person to read, not a rule anything enforces. For an offer that has to be limited, point a link at a system that can enforce it.
Enter content to generate QR code
This type encodes the offer as plain labeled text — the code, the discount, an expiry and a description — not as a link and not as a redemption. Scanning displays those values on screen; nothing is validated, deducted or reported anywhere. In practice that makes it a machine-readable voucher your staff or point-of-sale system read, rather than a self-enforcing one.
Code, discount, expiry and terms, and the code holds:
COUPON:SAVE20|20% off|2026-12-31|Valid on full-price itemsFour pipe-separated fields and nothing else. There is no server in that string, which is precisely why the expiry date cannot enforce itself; it is text for a person to read.
It carries the offer. It does not check eligibility, count redemptions or expire on its own — the expiry you type is text for a human to read, not a rule anything enforces. If the promotion needs real enforcement, encode a link to a page or a point-of-sale system that can apply it, and treat this type as the offline fallback.
Whoever accepts the voucher sees whatever you typed. "SAVE20 | 20% off | until 31 Dec | Valid on full-price items" is unambiguous at a busy register; a bare code is an argument waiting to happen. Print the same words next to the pattern so a phone is never required to honor it.
A single printed code on a flyer is shareable by design — someone will photograph it and post it. That is fine for an acquisition offer and expensive for a deep discount. For anything you need to limit, generate a unique code per customer from your own list, or point a link code at a page that issues one after a sign-up.
Not from the code itself: it carries text and contacts no server. A dynamic QR code pointing at a landing page counts scans, which tells you reach; actual redemptions are only ever counted by whatever accepts the voucher.
No. The expiry is text inside the code for a person to read; nothing enforces it. Real enforcement has to happen at the register or on a page you control.
The text can list them, but a cleaner approach is to point a dynamic code at a page listing the current promotions and change that page whenever the offers do — the printed code stays the same.
Issue one code per customer, or encode a link to a page that checks eligibility before revealing the discount. A single printed code on a public flyer will be photographed and passed on, and no QR feature prevents that.
A coupon code if it will be honored by a person at a counter and has to work with no signal. A link if it must be validated, personalized or changed after printing.