How to Use QR Codes on Liquor and Wine Bottles?

From Leyda in Chile to Laughing Jack Wines in Australia to Chateau des Charmes in Canada, winemakers worldwide are putting QR codes on their bottles. And not long ago, various state governments in India decided to put QR code labels on liquor bottles to enable tracking, eliminate fraud, and fight counterfeiting. 

If you’re a liquor brand, you can put QR codes on the bottle packaging to offer engaging digital experiences and cultivate customer loyalty. 

Here’s how to use QR codes on liquor bottles, and some brands are doing it right. 

How to use QR codes on wine and liquor bottles?

Imagine walking into a liquor store to buy a bottle of wine for your wedding anniversary. If you want to try a new wine, chances are you’d pick a bottle by looking at the wine label. In fact, a survey of 437 wine drinkers revealed that the label had the biggest influence on the buying choice. 

QR codes make your wine label more engaging and actionable, resulting in better customer engagement and more wine sales. 

Here are some ways to use QR codes on wine bottles.

Prove originality and battle counterfeiting

What’s the biggest enemy of the $1.45 trillion (2022) alcoholic beverages market? 

Counterfeiting.

Of the 42.3 million hectoliters of alcohol produced across 24 major alcohol-producing countries, 25.8% is illicit and generates over $19.4 billion in sales each year. And counterfeit and illicit brands are responsible for 30% of illicit alcohol.

Alcohol brands can use QR codes to fight counterfeiting. 

You can create a QR code that, upon scanning, will verify the product’s unique serial number. The step can be performed only once. If someone duplicates the product and the QR code, the QR code won’t display the serial number, indicating that the product is counterfeit. 

Provide in-depth product details

Product transparency is vital, especially in the alcoholic beverages industry. With the distribution of illicit alcohol on the rise, alcohol brands must share in-depth product information. 

QR codes can help you with that. 

For instance, you can put a QR code on the bottle to bring people to a video showing a behind-the-scenes video of your winery or distillery and how the product is made. 

Alternatively, you can send consumers to a web page containing in-depth information about your product, from its ingredients to how you source the materials. 

Bring consumers to your website 

Brand loyalty in alcohol brands is underrated but significant. If you notice all the top alcohol brands worldwide, you’ll notice that their consumers are significantly loyal. 

In most cases, Johnnie Walker drinkers won’t touch other whiskeys, and Absolut Vodka drinkers won’t look at other vodkas. 

And when it comes to distilled spirits like whiskey, rum, and vodka, the taste doesn’t really matter. The reason for loyalty is how a brand positions itself. 

Take a look at the slogans of some of the top alcohol brands to get an idea.

In this digital era, your website is crucial to your branding. 

Look at the website of Johnnie Walker. 

You can also use your site to share your product range, share your brand story, and sign up people to your email list. All you need to do is create a QR code for your website and put it on the bottle. 

Promote your social media profiles

Social media is another integral part of marketing alcoholic beverages. 

Johnnie Walker, for example, has about 500k Instagram followers. On Instagram, Johnnie Walker shares offers, recipes, and other stories to keep their followers engaged.

If you want to increase your social media following, QR codes can help. Create a QR code for your social media profile and put it on the bottle label. Consumers can scan the QR code to reach the profile and follow your brand. 

Share amazing recipes

A majority of alcohol drinkers consume it directly or with some solvent like water or soda. However, many people like to mix distilled spirits with other drinks to make cocktails and other alcoholic beverages. 

You can use QR codes on your bottles to share such amazing recipes and help your consumers enjoy your product to the fullest. Use a QR code for a web page, video, or image gallery, depending on your requirements. 

Collect product feedback

QR codes are an excellent tool for collecting customer feedback. You can create a QR code for a feedback form and put it on your bottle packaging to collect consumer feedback and improve your product. 

Upon scanning the QR code, consumers will reach a feedback form. This makes the feedback submission process fast and hassle-free. 

Share your brand’s story and vision

Every brand has a story. Alcohol brands especially have a story to tell. Here’s an example of Jack Daniels sharing its story “How Jack Daniel Came to Make Whiskey” on its website. 

If you, too, have a story to tell, you can share it with a large audience using QR codes. If you want to share your story as a video, you can upload it on YouTube or Vimeo and create a QR code for it.

Now, put the QR code on your bottle label to allow users to view your story and know your brand better.

Use cases: Examples of alcohol brands using QR codes

Wineries and alcohol brands have been using QR codes on bottles for over a decade. Let’s check out some alcohol brands using QR codes on bottle packaging. 

Twisted Oak’s QR code for offline to online onboarding

The Twisted Oak Winery in the USA put up QR codes on its wine bottles to bring consumers to a mobile-friendly eCommerce site and engage them better. The team also created a dedicated mobile-friendly site to make the QR code experience remarkable. 

Marchesi Antinori’s anti-counterfeiting with QR codes 

Marchesi Antinori, a 700-year-old wine brand, used QR codes for anti-counterfeiting. The brand used a combination of QR codes and serialization to enable consumers to verify the originality of its products. 

Chateau des Charmes’ QR code to share product information

Chateau des Charmes, a Canadian winemaker, used QR codes on its wine bottles to send consumers to its website containing in-depth product information. This included black label info and details about the tasting notes. 

Budweiser’s Track Your Bud campaign

The global beer brand Budweiser introduced QR codes on its bottles to share its brand story. Consumers could scan the QR codes to learn about the history and origin of the brand and its beers. 

Glenlivet’s Spectra product packaging with QR codes

Scotch whiskey brand Glenlivet put QR codes on the packaging of its Spectra whiskeys to share information about the ingredients and tasting notes. The brand integrated gamification in QR codes. Customers would receive cryptic hints about the product and put their product knowledge to the test. 

Final thoughts

QR codes on liquor bottles have many applications, and alcohol brands can use them to provide a better experience to their consumers. Whether you want to fight counterfeiting, share product information, or simply bring consumers to your website or social media, QR codes help you do that. 

QRCodeChimp is the best QR code generator and management platform for creating QR codes for liquor bottles. Choose from our 35+ QR code solutions and pick one that aligns with your requirements.