QR Codes on Stationery

Invoices: the code that actually pays

An invoice QR code is the highest-return placement on this page, and it is still rare in most markets.

• A payment code opens the payment page with the amount and reference pre-filled, which removes the two things that cause late payment: retyping the reference and finding the portal.
• Payment references entered by hand are wrong often enough that reconciliation is a job. A scan makes the reference exact every time.
• Put the code beside the total, not in the footer. The eye goes to the amount.
• For recurring billing, a code that opens a direct debit or card-on-file setup converts far better than a link in the covering email, because the invoice is the moment the payment is on someone's mind.

Letterheads and compliment slips

• A vCard code in the footer means the recipient saves the sender rather than filing the letter.
• A multi-link page suits firms whose next step varies: book a call, read the case studies, or reach the support desk.
• Compliment slips are the natural home for a campaign-specific code, since they are reprinted often and cheaply.

Envelopes: the one that gets opened

Direct mail is measurable for the first time when the envelope carries its own code. Print a distinct code per mailing batch and the response rate stops being an estimate.

• Keep the code away from the address block and franking area, or the sorting machinery will print over it
• 20 mm minimum, since envelope stock is often textured or recycled and both spread ink
• On kraft and recycled paper, contrast falls. Print a white panel under the code rather than trusting brown paper as the background

The document rules

• 15 to 20 mm on any A4 document held at reading distance
• Black on white, in vector, placed in the same position on every template so recipients learn it
• Test after the office multifunction printer has photocopied it twice, because that is how internal documents actually travel
• Keep the code out of the binding margin, and out of the bottom 10 mm where printers clip

Say what it does

"Scan to pay this invoice" and "Scan to save our details" both outperform an unlabelled square by a wide margin. On a business document the reader is cautious by default, and a caption removes the hesitation about what the scan will open.

Keep the codes editable

Stationery is ordered in quantities that outlive bank details, phone numbers and staff. Dynamic codes mean a box of five thousand letterheads survives a payment-provider change, an office move and a change of contact without a reprint.