Catch the review while the customer is still happy
A QR code at the point of sale asks for feedback in the one moment a customer will give it — right after they've paid, while the experience is fresh. Scan, and a short survey or review page opens on their phone: no card to hand back, no email they'll ignore. The timing turns 'we should get reviews' into actual responses.
The overlooked lever is friction. Every extra tap between the scan and the first question loses people, so where the code points matters as much as where it sits. Send them straight to the question, not a homepage, and a survey they'll finish beats a longer one they abandon.
Fill the form to generate a QR code
Placement at the moment of payment
Put the code where the transaction ends: on the card reader, the receipt, the counter edge, the table folder that holds the bill. That's the window when the customer is standing still, satisfied and not yet out the door. A code by the entrance is scanned by nobody, because arriving customers have nothing to say yet and leaving ones are already gone.
Add a single line of context — 'How did we do? Scan to tell us' — so it's obvious what the code is for. An unlabelled square at a till reads as marketing and gets ignored.
- On the card reader or receipt, caught at payment.
- On the table folder or bill holder, not the entrance.
- Labelled with a plain ask, not a bare code.
Incentives that lift response without buying fake praise
A small reward raises completion — a discount on the next visit, entry into a monthly draw, a free coffee. Tie the reward to submitting the form, not to leaving a positive rating; paying for good reviews breaches the review platforms' rules and gets listings penalised. The incentive should thank people for their time, whatever they say.
Keep the survey genuinely short. One rating and one open comment gathers most of the value; every extra question after that shaves the completion rate. If you want a public review too, offer that as an optional next step after the private feedback, not instead of it.
Send them straight to the question
Point the code at the first question of the form itself, or the review box, not a landing page with a menu of choices. Each intermediate tap sheds respondents. Encode a short link you control so you can repoint it — to a new survey, a seasonal question, a different review platform — without reprinting the counter signs and receipts already in use.
Make the form mobile-first: big tappable rating buttons, no pinch-zoom, no login wall. A form that demands an account before the first question loses almost everyone at the till.
How to set up a feedback code
- Build a short, mobile-first form. One rating and one comment covers most of it. Every extra question after that cuts your completion rate, so resist padding the survey.
- Link straight to the first question. Point the code at the form's opening question via a short link you control, not a homepage. The mistake is an extra menu step that sheds respondents.
- Place it at the point of sale. On the card reader, receipt or bill folder — where the customer pauses after paying — with a plain one-line ask beside it.
- Offer a fair incentive. Reward submitting the form, not a five-star rating. Tying rewards to positive reviews breaks platform rules and can get your listing penalised.
Technical details
- Maximum characters: 2953
- Recommended error correction: Q (quartile) — counter signs and receipts get handled, splashed and creased, so higher recovery keeps the code scanning at the till.
- The code carries a plain URL; a short link you control lets you repoint it to a new survey without reprinting counter signs.
- Link to the first question, not a landing page — each extra tap drops your completion rate.
Frequently asked questions
- Where should a feedback QR code go in a shop or café?
- At the point of payment — the card reader, receipt or bill folder — where the customer pauses after paying and the experience is fresh. Placing it by the entrance fails, because arriving customers have nothing to say yet and leaving ones are already out the door.
- Can I offer a discount for leaving a review?
- You can reward completing the form, but not a positive review specifically. Incentivising five-star ratings breaches the review platforms' guidelines and risks your listing being penalised. Thank people for their time whatever they say, and keep any public review an optional step.
- Why do people scan but not finish the survey?
- Usually length or friction. Every extra tap and every question past the essentials sheds respondents. Send the scan straight to the first question, keep it to a rating and one comment, and drop any login wall that blocks them before they've started.
- Should the code go to a survey or to a review site?
- Start with your own short survey so you catch every opinion privately, then offer a public review as an optional next step. Sending everyone straight to a review site surfaces the unhappy ones publicly and loses the quieter, useful feedback in between.
- Can I change the survey without reprinting the signs?
- Yes, if the code points at a short link you control. Repoint it to a new survey or a seasonal question and every printed sign and receipt follows. Encode the form URL directly and you'd reprint the counter every time the questions change.
- How do I get honest feedback and not just complaints?
- Ask at the right moment and make it effortless. Catching people right after payment, while satisfied, brings balanced responses; leaving feedback only easy to give when angry skews it negative. A quick rating plus one open comment lets happy customers answer in seconds.