Polo Ralph Lauren Launches QR Code Enabled Mobile Commerce Site

On the NY Tech mailing list this week there has been a good discussion about the launch of a mobile commerce site by clothing manufacturer Polo Ralph Lauren. Dianne from mocoNews commented on the launch yesterday. Normally a mobile commerce site launch is not that exciting but in this case, Polo Ralph Lauren is using print advertising to drive shoppers to the mobile site via QR codes.

"This is about someone who’s interested in our brand and interested in technology, and wherever the two meet, that’s what’s appropriate," David Lauren, son of CEO Ralph Lauren, said.

The image on the left is of a QR code. If you are new to QR codes, check out our coverage which includes a Japanese perspective where these codes are well received among consumers. You can think of QR codes as upc codes with more intelligence.

RL Magazine has an overview of the QR codes from their perspective which includes, “You’ll be able to walk past fruit at the supermarket, scan an apple, and see when it was picked and where it came from,” says Jonathan Bulkeley, ScanLife CEO. “While buying hair dye, you’ll be able to scan the code on the signage and see instructions. You can create your own code, put it on a T-shirt, and then let people scan your shirt and link directly to your MySpace page."

I still believe that the use of QR codes will change the mobile marketing and ecommerce landscape by allowing consumers to "pull" the marketing we want. That is, once the majority of mobile devices can handle processing the codes.