According to StorefrontBacktalk 2-D Barcode To Hit America In April
A favorite of marketers and retailers for years in smartphone-embracing parts of Europe and Asia, the 2-D barcode is going to make its U.S. debut this April in some New York City consumer electronic and cosmetic retailers, according to the president of a Microsoft-backed company who says he has cut the first U.S. 2-D deal.
The very lengthy URL hidden in that 2-D barcode identifies the exact location of that consumer.
Herve Pluche, president of a company called StoreXperience, said his company will be the first to bring 2-D to the U.S. and that it will debut this April at five locations in Manhattan. Asked if that rollout was definite, Pluche said that no agreement had been signed but "we do have a handshake."
A slide presentation that Pluche was using, though, did identify several companies that the slides said were "already engaged" including Best Buy, the Gap, Nordstrom and Target. Those slides said that all of those retailers—other than Gap—were being recruited in a "joint effort with the Microsoft Retail Group."
StoreXperience has been selected to be a member of a Microsoft marketing support program that has yet to be announced, according to officials working with StoreXperience.
The mobile operating systems to be supported for the April trials will only be Blackberry/RIM and Symbian.
The only way to experience the 2-D interaction with the StoreXperience trial is by downloading a 200K rich client. But consumers who can't do that can go to a web site and select the retailer and key in an eight-to-twelve digit PUC code visible below the 2-D barcode.
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