QR codes for your shop: Wi-Fi, links and contact cards

What a code can hold

• A link: your store, a menu or a product page.
• A Wi-Fi network: the phone joins when the code is scanned, with no password typing.
• A contact card: name, number and email go straight into contacts.
• An email, an SMS or a phone number.

Example: a Wi-Fi code for your shop

A Wi-Fi code holds text in a special format. For a network called Shop-Guest with the password coffee2026 using WPA, the text becomes:

WIFI:T:WPA;S:Shop-Guest;P:coffee2026;;

The tool writes this format for you and handles special characters in the name or password, such as a semicolon, so the format does not break.

The Wi-Fi password is stored inside the code as readable text. Anyone who photographs the code can read it. Only publish it for a network you mean to share with everyone, ideally a guest network kept separate from your till.

How to do it

1. Open the QR code generator and choose the type: text or link, Wi-Fi, contact card, or another.
2. Fill in the details.
3. Choose the size, colors and error-correction level.
4. Download the code as PNG or SVG, and scan it with your phone before printing.

What makes a code easy to scan

• Clear contrast: dark modules on a light background. The tool warns you below a 4 to 1 contrast ratio, and treats anything under 2 to 1 as probably unscannable.
• Do not invert the colors. Light modules on a dark background are refused by many readers even at high contrast.
• Leave a clear margin around the code and do not put text or images over it.
• The less text inside the code, the bigger and easier to read its modules. The maximum at level M is 2,331 bytes, but a short link is always better.

A code that opens WhatsApp

First create a chat link with the WhatsApp link generator, then put that link in a QR code and print it on your thank-you card. If you want to know how many people scanned a printed code, add tracking parameters to your store link with the UTM campaign link builder before creating the code.