A/B Testing via QR Code: One Code, Multiple Destinations—and Why QRown Doesn’t Pick a Winner

Online, A/B testing is commonplace: Two versions of a page are created, and half of the visitors see Version A, while the other half see Version B. After two weeks, you have more data. Until now, this wasn’t possible on paper, because a printed QR code always has only one destination. The new “A/B Test” code type changes that: one code, up to six destinations, and a distribution you determine.

Here’s how it works

Here’s how it works: You create an “A/B Test” QR code and set up two to six variants. Each variant is either an external URL or a custom QRown page—for example, two versions of the same landing page. Each variant is assigned an identifier (“Poster,” “Offer B,” or simply A, B, C) and a weight.

You can either choose an even distribution—in which case QRown handles the math—or set weights manually in percentages, for instance, if the new page should initially receive only 20% of the scans. The total must equal 100; the form calculates this for you.

When a scan occurs, a random selection is made—weighted according to your percentages. Whoever gets variant B will see it again on their next scan. A small cookie containing nothing but the variant number ensures consistency—for 30 days, without an identifier and without tracking. Otherwise, a test might seem like an error (“there was a different page yesterday”).

The printed code remains exactly as it is. Whether you change variants, adjust proportions, or end the test—the pattern on the poster never changes.

UTM Parameters: The Path to Analysis

Upon request, QRown appends UTM parameters to external URLs, one per variant:

1. Automatically: utm_source=qrown, utm_medium=qr, utm_campaign from the code’s title, utm_content from the variant’s ID. This way, Google Analytics, your online store, or your booking system will know which variant the visitor came from with every visit.
2. Manually: Your own query string, such as utm_source=poster&utm_campaign=summer. QRown only accepts “utm_*” parameters.
3. None: If the destination URL already contains everything.

Parameters already present in your URL remain unchanged. An anchor (#prices) survives the appending process.

Why QRown Doesn’t Declare a Winner

Let’s be honest here, because this is important: QRown doesn’t tell you which variant is better—and that’s by design.

QRown distributes the scans according to your specifications. If you set it to 50/50, you’ll get 50/50—meaning the scan counts per variant prove nothing, but merely confirm that the distribution is working. Whether variant A or B performs better is determined after the scan—that is, at the time of purchase, sign-up, or reservation. This happens in your store, in your analytics, in your booking system—in other words, where QRown doesn’t look and isn’t supposed to look.

That’s why the statistics show the scans per variant as a control figure (is the distribution correct? Is the sample size sufficient?) and not as a “select the winner” option, which pretends that QRown knows more than it actually does. You can find the answer via the UTM parameters in your analytics. Then you edit the code, set the better destination to 100% and the other to 0% – and the test is over.

Why it’s worth it

Two versions of a landing page: short vs. detailed, image vs. video, one button vs. two. The variants are separate QRown pages that can be created in just a few minutes without needing a website.

Two offers

Discount vs. free shipping, monthly vs. annual subscription. Same promotion, two destinations, one scan.

Gradual rollout

The new page initially receives only 20% of the scans. If it works, you ramp it up to 100%; if it doesn’t, back to zero—without a single new print run.

Multiple landing pages for different groups

Trade show, club, branch: distribute rather than decide.

A few rules from real-world experience

1. Change only one thing. If you swap text, image, and offer all at once, you won’t know in the end what worked.
2. Run the test long enough. Twenty scans are a fluke. A hundred per variant is a good start.
3. Keep conditions consistent. A test run over a weekend measures the weekend, not the variant.
4. Measure conversions, not scans. See above—you distribute the scans yourself.

What you need

An A/B test is only possible as dynamic code, since hard-coded content cannot be distributed. That’s why a QRown account is required. Whether it’s included and in which pricing plans is shown on the features page A/B Test via QR Code. If you want to build the variants as separate pages, you’ll find the builder under Landing Page via QR Code.