QR Code ROI Calculator
Find out whether a QR code on flyers, posters, packaging or table tents pays for its printing. Type what the campaign costs, how many pieces carry the code, the scan rate you expect or the scans you counted, how many scans convert and what a conversion is worth. You get scans, conversions, cost per scan, cost per conversion, ROI and the scan rate at which the campaign breaks even.
- Free
- No sign-up
- Runs in your browser
Result
Type the print cost, the pieces, the scans or the scan rate, the conversion rate and the value per conversion.
The scan rate and the conversion rate are yours: this page does not suggest any. Estimated scans and conversions are averages, so they can show a decimal.
How the ROI is worked out
From pieces to scans
Scans = pieces printed × scan rate. The scan rate is scans per 100 pieces, so 500 flyers at 6% are 30 scans. It is your estimate before the campaign and a measured fact after it, when you have the scan count.
From scans to conversions
Conversions = scans × conversion rate from scan. A conversion is whatever the code is for: a sale, a booking, a sign-up. Value brought in = conversions × value per conversion.
ROI
Result = value brought in - campaign cost, and ROI = result ÷ campaign cost × 100. An ROI of 0% means the campaign paid for itself and nothing more. Below zero it cost more than it brought.
Cost per scan and per conversion
Cost per scan = campaign cost ÷ scans, and cost per conversion = campaign cost ÷ conversions. They let you compare a QR campaign with what you pay for a click or a lead elsewhere.
Break-even scan rate
Each scan is worth conversion rate × value per conversion. Divide the campaign cost by that and you have the scans needed, rounded up to a whole scan. Divide the scans by the pieces and you have the scan rate the campaign needs: a number you can judge before printing.
What this leaves out
Customers who come back after the first conversion, people who saw the piece and came in without scanning, and the scans of the same person twice. A static QR code cannot be counted at all: without a count, the scan rate stays a guess.
Formulas
- Scans
- pieces printed × scan rate
- Scan rate
- scans ÷ pieces printed × 100
- Conversions
- scans × conversion rate from scan
- Value brought in
- conversions × value per conversion
- ROI
- (value brought in - campaign cost) ÷ campaign cost × 100
- Cost per scan
- campaign cost ÷ scans
- Cost per conversion
- campaign cost ÷ conversions
- Scans to break even
- campaign cost ÷ (conversion rate × value per conversion)
- Break-even scan rate
- scans to break even ÷ pieces printed × 100
The scan count is the number most campaigns are missing
A printed static QR code cannot tell you how often it was scanned. A dynamic VISU QR shows its scan count, and you can change where it points after printing, so the same flyers can serve the next offer.
Create a dynamic VISU QRSee the plansHow to use it
- Choose whether you are estimating before printing or already have the scans a dynamic QR code counted.
- Type the print cost, the placement cost if there is one, and how many pieces carry the code.
- Type your scan rate or the scans counted, then the percent of scans that convert and what one conversion is worth to you.
- Read the ROI, the cost per scan and per conversion, and the scan rate at which the campaign breaks even.
Examples
500 flyers for a lunch offer
Made-up numbers to show the maths: $180.00 of printing plus $70.00 of distribution, 500 flyers, a scan rate of 6%, 20% of scans converting and $60.00 per conversion. That is 30 scans and 6 conversions, which bring in $360.00 for $250.00 spent: an ROI of 44%, at $8.33 per scan and $41.67 per conversion.
The break-even before printing
With the same cost, conversion rate and value, the campaign needs 21 scans to pay for itself: a scan rate of 4.17% on 500 flyers. If that looks out of reach for the place where the flyers go, change the offer, the placement or the print run before paying the printer.
The same campaign with the scans counted
Suppose the dynamic QR code shows 18 scans at the end. The scan rate was 3.6%, the 3.6 conversions brought in $216.00 and the ROI is -13.6%: $34.00 short of paying for itself.
Questions
How do you calculate the ROI of a QR code campaign?
Multiply the scans by the conversion rate to get conversions, and the conversions by the value of each one. Subtract the campaign cost and divide by that same cost. With 30 scans, 20% converting, 60 per conversion and a cost of 250: (360 - 250) ÷ 250 = 44%.
What is a good scan rate for a QR code?
There is no number that fits every campaign: it depends on where the code is, how long people stand in front of it and what the offer is. The rate that matters is your own. Count the scans of one placement with a dynamic QR code, divide by the pieces, and compare your placements with each other.
What is the break-even scan rate?
The share of pieces that has to be scanned for the campaign to pay for itself. It is the campaign cost divided by what a scan is worth (conversion rate × value per conversion), then divided by the pieces printed. It is the one figure you can check before printing.
How do I know how many scans I got?
Only a dynamic QR code can tell you, because the scan passes through a short link that counts it. A static code opens the destination directly and leaves no count. If the campaign is already printed with a static code, the scan rate has to stay an estimate.
What should I use as value per conversion?
What one conversion is worth to you. For a ROI on profit, use the profit of the sale and not its price. If a conversion is a lead and not a sale, use the value of a sale multiplied by the share of leads that buy.
Can the scan rate be above 100%?
Yes. The rate is scans per 100 pieces, and one poster or one table tent can be scanned many times. A flyer that goes home with one person rarely is.
Does it count customers who come back?
No. The calculator counts one value per conversion. If the customers the campaign brings buy again, use a higher value per conversion to include what they are worth over time.
Are my numbers stored?
No. The maths runs in your browser. Your costs, rates and values are not uploaded, are not added to the page address and are not saved.