Back in 2015, Flipkart sent 5 lakh snail mail postcards to its registered users, to invite them to participate in the Big Billion Day sale. Besides a LOT of print, online and TV advertising, this idea was seen as a unique and highly personal way to reach potential customers. After all, it used a tactic that was considered to be outdated. Also, this sale was app-only, a brief period of madness Flipkart was in, trying to kill it’s mobile web and desktop versions and go app-exclusive.
Flipkart followed it through in 2016 too, but this time, they sent ‘plantable postcards’. People who received it can plant the card in the soil, water it for 2 weeks and see it grow!
Here’s Amazon trying something to up the ante – sending a printed toys catalog, called A Holiday of Play!
But, in true Amazon-style, the print catalog is tech-enabled. Each page has a QR code that you can scan using your Amazon app – the camera icon next to the search bar! I tried it and it worked flawlessly.
The full catalog is online (PDF).
A question, though. The effort of getting your phone (always with you, of course), opening the Amazon app, clicking the camera icon… considering we have already done all this, why would we not simply type a keyword (which is also helpfully added in the catalog!) and search? What extra value does the QR code provide, for us to opt for it?
I can understand if this was a billboard or a poster on the road – and we’re walking past it. Quickly open your phone, the app and scan the QR code to get the details. But, with a print catalog, we aren’t even on-the-move – we receive it at home (for the kids) and browse through it probably in leisure.