Offline to app: a QR code that lands on the thing next to it

A QR code in the physical world is the highest-intent click you will ever get: someone stopped, pointed a camera at a poster, and waited. Then they land on the app store, install, open — and get the home screen. The poster was about a specific event, offer or menu. The app has no idea. The moment is gone.

What problem does this solve?

The scan has to survive the install and land on the thing the physical placement was about. And because every placement costs money to print and position, you need to know which of them actually produced anything — the café table tents or the window vinyl.

How do you set the links up?

One link per placement. The QR is generated from the link, which is a Free-plan feature, so this is testable before any budget is committed. The payload carries what the placement is about; the source tag carries where it physically is.

{
  "deepLinkPath": "/events/summer-market",
  "customData": {"placement": "table-tent", "venue": "cafe-north", "offer": "first-drink"}
}

Why does 'one link per placement' matter?

Because the difference between placements is the whole insight. Three hundred scans is nice. Three hundred scans, of which 240 came from the two table tents nearest the till and 60 from the eight posters combined, tells you what to print next time. Sharing one link across every surface throws that away to save thirty seconds.

• Scanning is done with the phone camera, so smart routing has to send iOS to the App Store and Android to Play with no intermediate page a person has to read.
• The install gap is longer offline — people scan, get distracted, install later. The deferred link has to hold across that, which is what the attribution window is for.
• Print the short link under the code. Some people type; some codes get damaged.

Which metric should you watch?

Attributed installs per placement, and the one downstream event that means the placement worked — a redeemed offer, an event RSVP, a first order. Scans alone measure curiosity. The event measures whether the placement was worth the wall.