Guide

How QR code scan tracking works

Every scan of a dynamic code creates a record: when it happened, a coarse location, the device and browser used, and where the scan came from. It tells you the code was used — not who used it or what they did afterwards.

Published 28 August 2026 by 123QR

Track scans on a dynamic code

What a scan record contains

Timestamp — the exact time the redirect was requested.
Coarse location — country and city, derived from IP address, not GPS. Accuracy varies and can be wrong for VPN users or mobile networks that route traffic through a distant city.
Device type — phone, tablet or desktop.
Browser and operating system — e.g. Safari on iOS, Chrome on Android.
Referrer — where the scan request came from, when a phone's camera app or a QR scanner app passes that information along; direct camera scans often show no referrer at all.
A hashed version of the IP address — used to help distinguish repeat scanners without storing the raw IP.

What it cannot tell you

A scan record has no name, email, or account tied to it unless the destination page itself separately collects that (a form, a login). 123QR does not attach identity to a scan.

It also can't tell you what someone did after landing on the destination — whether they read the menu, placed an order, filled out a review, or bounced immediately. Scan tracking measures that the code was used, not the outcome of using it. If you need to know conversion (did they buy, did they book), that has to be measured on the destination page itself, separately.

Unique vs total scans

Total scans count every redirect, including the same person scanning twice. Unique scans count distinct scanners over a period, generally identified by the hashed IP and device fingerprint rather than a persistent account, so it's an estimate, not a guarantee against double-counting.

Total scans are useful for raw traffic volume; unique scans are closer to "how many different people used this", which matters more when judging reach of a single placement like one poster or one table.

Bot filtering

Some scans in raw web traffic come from automated systems rather than people — link preview generators, security scanners that pre-fetch URLs, and crawlers. These can inflate a naive scan count if not filtered out.

123QR applies basic filtering to exclude known bot and pre-fetch patterns from scan counts, but no filtering is perfect. Treat scan numbers as a strong directional signal, not an exact head count, especially for codes shared in contexts like messaging apps that commonly pre-fetch links.

Why one code per placement matters

If you print the same QR code across ten locations or ten different flyers, the analytics show you a combined total with no way to tell which placement produced which scans. Creating a separate code per placement — one for the shop window, one for the counter, one for the flyer batch dropped in a specific neighbourhood — is the only way to compare them.

Name each code for where it lives, not for the campaign in general, so the data stays interpretable months later when you've forgotten which code was which.

Reading the numbers sensibly

Look for patterns over time (weekday vs weekend, lunch vs dinner) rather than obsessing over daily totals.
Compare placements against each other, not against an assumed "good" number — there's no universal benchmark for scan rates.
Expect a data lag of a few minutes between a scan happening and it appearing in your dashboard.
Use device and browser data to catch obvious display issues, e.g. if most scans are mobile but your destination isn't mobile-optimised.

Common questions

Can I see who scanned my QR code?: No. Scan records include device, coarse location and time, not personal identity, unless your destination page separately asks for that information.
Why do unique and total scans differ so much?: Total scans count every redirect, including repeat visits from the same person. Unique scans estimate distinct scanners. A code scanned by the same regular customer daily will show a much higher total than unique count.
Does 123QR filter out bot traffic?: Yes, basic filtering excludes known bot and link-preview pre-fetch patterns, though no filtering catches every automated request.
How accurate is the location data?: It's derived from IP address at country and city level, not GPS, so it can be inaccurate for VPN users or mobile connections routed through a distant network hub.

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Track scans on a dynamic code