QR Tracking

QR tracking turns physical placements into measurable channels — every scan on every surface is a data point that shows whether that placement is working.

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Definition

QR tracking is the measurement of QR Code scan activity through the link analytics of the short link encoded in the QR Code. When a dynamic QR Code is scanned, the scan is recorded as a click event on the underlying short link — providing the same analytics data as any other link click, including device type, OS, country and timing.

This tracking capability is exclusive to dynamic QR Codes — codes that encode a short link rather than a destination URL directly. Static QR Codes route the scan directly from the device to the destination with no intermediate recording step, making them untraceable.

What QR Scan Analytics Measures

• Total scans. Every scan event, including multiple scans from the same device.
• Unique scans. Deduplicated count — one per unique device/IP combination within the deduplication window.
• OS breakdown. iOS vs Android — showing which platform dominates the scanning audience for this placement. Important for mobile-specific content decisions.
• Country. Where the scans originate — relevant for QR Codes on materials distributed across multiple markets.
• Scan timing. Hourly breakdown showing when scans peak — useful for understanding visitor patterns at physical locations.
• No referrer data. QR Code scans produce no HTTP Referer header — they always appear as direct traffic in referrer analytics. UTM parameters on the destination URL are the only way to attribute QR scan traffic in GA4.

Using QR Analytics to Evaluate Placement Performance

The most valuable use of QR tracking analytics is placement comparison: understanding which physical surface, location or material is generating the most scan engagement.

A restaurant using QR Code menus at every table with a different short link per table type can see scan rates per table type. A retail chain using QR Codes on shelf labels in multiple store locations can create separate short links per location and compare scan rates across stores. An event with QR Codes on different materials (badge, programme, poster, wristband) can create a short link per material and see which drives the most digital engagement.

This placement-level data is not available from any other analytics tool — it requires QR tracking at the link level.

Attributing QR Traffic in GA4

QR scan traffic arrives at the destination page without referrer data — it appears as direct traffic in GA4 unless UTM parameters are present on the destination URL. To correctly attribute QR scan traffic in GA4:

1. Add UTM parameters to the short link's destination URL: ?utm_source=store-poster&utm_medium=qr&utm_campaign=spring-sale
2. Use utm_medium=qr consistently for all QR Code traffic
3. Use utm_source to identify the specific placement: table-menu, entrance-poster, receipt, event-badge
4. GA4 will then show QR-driven sessions under the correct source/medium rather than direct

Combining Cuttly's QR scan analytics (click-level data: scans, device, OS, country) with GA4's UTM-attributed session data (conversion-level data: sessions, conversions, revenue) provides the complete picture of QR Code campaign performance.

QR Tracking for Multiple Placements

For campaigns using QR Codes across multiple physical placements, create a separate short link per placement — each with a different utm_source value in its destination URL. Each short link generates a separate QR Code image. This enables per-placement performance comparison in both Cuttly analytics (scan count per link) and GA4 (sessions per utm_source).

All placement-specific links can share a campaign tag in Cuttly for aggregated campaign-level scan data alongside the per-placement breakdown.

Related Terms

• Dynamic QR Codes
• QR Codes
• UTM Parameters
• Link Analytics
• Click Tracking