How to Make a QR Code for Coupons and Discounts

A coupon QR code does two things a printed "SAVE20" cannot: it removes the typing, and it tells you how many people were interested. What it cannot do — and what most write-ups quietly skip — is stop one person from sharing the offer with the entire internet.

One code means one offer for everybody

This is the constraint everything else follows from. A QR code is a picture of a link. Every copy of that picture points at the same link, so every person who scans it gets the same discount, as many times as they like.

For a general promotion that is exactly what you want. For anything with a real margin attached, understand what you have published: a photograph of your flyer posted to a deals forum is an unlimited discount, and the code cannot tell the difference between a customer in your shop and a stranger three countries away.

If each voucher must work once, you need a different code on each one. That is bulk generation — one code per voucher, each pointing at its own link — and it is a different job from making one code well.

Containing the damage on a shared code

Assuming a shared code is right for you, a dynamic one gives you the controls that make it survivable.

You can end it. When the promotion closes, or when the scan count does something implausible, the destination becomes an "offer ended" page within seconds — without which a printed coupon advertises last spring's deal indefinitely. You can set an expiry in advance, so a seasonal offer closes itself. And you can watch the numbers: a coupon that has been shared somewhere large does not trickle, it spikes, and a spike from the wrong country at three in the morning is the signal to pull it.

None of this is possible with a static code. Once printed, the link is the link, forever, for everyone.

Where to point it

A landing page carrying the offer and its terms is almost always right. It states the conditions, which a printed square cannot, and it is a page you can edit when the legal wording turns out to be wrong.

Revealing a discount code to type at checkout works when the redemption happens online and your till system needs a code. Sending people into a WhatsApp or DM thread works when redemption is a conversation — bookings, quotes, anything negotiated.

What does not work is pointing at a PDF. It is the most common shortcut and it produces a document nobody can read on a phone without pinching.

Do not print it on a receipt

Receipts are the single worst substrate you can choose, and coupon advice recommends them constantly.

Thermal printers produce low contrast to begin with, the heads wear, and the paper is designed to fade — sometimes within weeks, faster in a wallet or a hot car. Your own packaging guidance applies here with extra force: a code that scans on the day it was printed is not evidence of anything if the point of the coupon is a return visit next month.

If it has to go on a receipt, print it larger than feels necessary, keep the payload short so the modules stay fat, and scan one that has been in somebody's pocket for a fortnight before you commit.

What the numbers actually say

Scans are interest, not redemption. The gap between them is the useful part: a high scan count with few redemptions means the offer is attractive and the landing page or the checkout is losing people, which is a completely different problem from nobody scanning at all.

Both numbers matter and they come from different places — scan counts from the code, redemptions from your till or checkout. See how to track QR code scans for what the scan side can and cannot tell you, and redirect rules if you want to run two offers against each other from the same printed square. There are more placement ideas in QR code marketing.

Frequently asked questions

Can a QR coupon be single-use?

Not as one shared code — every copy of the image carries the same link, so the offer is available to everyone who scans it, repeatedly. Single use requires a unique code and a unique link on each voucher, generated in bulk and tracked individually.

What stops people sharing my coupon online?

Nothing prevents it. What you can do is limit the exposure: set an expiry, watch the scan pattern for a sudden spike, and use a dynamic code so the destination can become an "offer ended" page the moment something looks wrong.

Can I see how many people redeemed, not just scanned?

Not from the code. It counts scans, which measure interest. Redemption is recorded by your till or checkout, and the difference between the two numbers is usually the most informative thing about the campaign.

Can I change the offer after the flyers are printed?

With a dynamic code, yes — the square stays identical while the destination moves to a new deal or a closing page. A static code has the URL fixed in the pattern, so the only change is a reprint.

Is a receipt a good place for a coupon code?

It is the worst common choice. Thermal paper is low contrast when new and fades with heat and time, so a code meant to bring someone back next month may well be unreadable by then. Print it larger than you think necessary and test an aged receipt. Create one free to try the sizing before a full run.