Connected packaging is a product pack that carries a QR code, an NFC tag or an augmented reality (AR) trigger, which opens an experience on the shopper's phone. The experience might be a recipe, a contest, a video or proof that the product is genuine. Each scan also tells the brand that someone scanned the pack, and roughly where and when.
There are three common ways to connect a pack. A QR code is a square pattern that a phone camera reads. It holds a web address, so the phone opens a page. An NFC tag is a tiny chip and antenna inside the label. NFC stands for near field communication. When a phone touches the tag, the phone opens a page, with no camera needed. An AR trigger is the pack's own design. When the phone camera points at it, digital images appear on top of the pack on the screen. This is explained under augmented reality marketing.
Why do brands do this? A brand that sells through shops usually does not know who its customers are. The shop knows, but the brand does not. A scan gives the brand a direct contact with the shopper. If the shopper also signs up, the brand gets first-party data: data that the brand collects itself, from its own customers. This kind of data has become more valuable because some browsers now restrict the third-party cookies that advertisers used to track people. The Safari browser blocks all third-party cookies by default. The Firefox browser blocks the cookies of known tracking companies by default. It also keeps every other third-party cookie separate for each website. Chrome, the most used browser in India, still keeps third-party cookies.
Consider a dairy co-operative in Anand that prints a QR code on its ghee jars. A shopper in Vadodara scans the jar. A page opens in the phone's browser, with no app to install. It shows the village where the milk was collected, three festival sweet recipes and a contest to win a hamper. To enter the contest, the shopper types her mobile number and agrees to receive offers. The page records the scan: 7:40 p.m., Vadodara, an Android phone. The scan and her consent go to the brand's customer data platform (CDP), which keeps one profile for each customer. Under India's data protection law, the brand must ask for this consent before it uses her number for marketing. This duty applies from 13 May 2027.
The code can be the same on every pack, or different on each one. A different code on each pack is called serialisation. With it, the brand knows exactly which pack was scanned, from which batch. It can then use the code to prove that the product is genuine, through product authentication. The codes and their scan reports are made in a QR code generator.
The code has to be placed in the pack artwork from the start, in graphic design software. It must be large enough to scan, and it must not be printed over a fold or a curve.