15 QR Code Ideas to Boost Sales on New Year’s Day 2026

By: Roselle V.Update: December 30, 2025

New Year’s Day means one thing for like-minded business owners: a fresh opportunity to start beginning-of-year sales.

After the Christmas season, consumers tend to buy items at big discounts to maximize their budgets. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals that shop sales in the UK increased by 3.4% in January 2024, following a decline in December.

E-commerce platforms, mobile shopping apps, and social media marketplaces, where you often find deals and products at their lowest prices, contribute to this spike in purchases during the first month of the year.

QR codes are the ideal tools to pair with these mobile-first platforms as well as offline campaigns, enabling you to execute promotions that will boost your sales.

Learn how you can use the best QR code generator solutions in 15 different ways to launch jaw-dropping surprises, discounts, events, and new products in 2026.

Table of Contents

15 ways to use a QR code for New Year’s Day promotions
How to create a QR code for New Year’s Day campaign
The best QR code type to use for New Year’s Day sales
Create New Year’s magic through the best QR code generator
People also ask

15 ways to use a QR code for New Year’s Day promotions

Holidays always provide companies with a chance to boost sales and generate revenue, and the New Year is no exception.

Ride along with the holiday enthusiasm and create a QR code to manage promotions on the first day of the year smoothly and effectively. Here are the ways to use QR codes to increase your New Year’s Day sales:

1. Offer a New Year’s gift guide

Get out with the old and in with the new by providing your customers with a digital gift guide experience.

Turn your usual PDF to QR code to make it easier to distribute.

A sleek QR code on displays or in newsletters lets customers scan to instantly access your digital gift guide showcasing top products.

It’s a quick and convenient way to present your best offers right on their screens.

2. Share New Year special offers

Bring on your New Year sales with QR codes. When running seasonal campaigns, such as for the start of a year, the URL QR code is the way to go.

With a QR code generator with logo integration, leading shoppers to a customized page for 24-hour discounts, exclusive January deals, or coupons is as easy as pie.

You can use the same QR code to send customers straight to your “New Year Refresh” collections or post-holiday clearance page to move leftover December inventory faster.

Display the QR code on storefronts, at checkouts, or in ads to instantly connect customers with your latest promotions, making it easy and convenient for them to save on their purchases.

3. Raffle entry or giveaway

Host a raffle or giveaway to ring in the New Year. This encourages engagement and gives participants a fun incentive to interact with the brand.

Let your purchasing customers participate by instructing them to scan the entry form QR code and submit their details.

Place copies of it at the venue entrance or on tables, where guests can scan to enter a New Year’s raffle for a prize.

Aside from collecting contact information and raffle entries, you can also track engagement via analytics to see how many people participated.

Since it’s a dynamic QR code, you can set an expiration for it and then reuse it for future campaigns.

4. Promote New Year events and activities

If you are a store owner or an event organizer planning to begin the new year with a banger event, try not to print and hand out hundreds of flyers.

Instead, create an event QR code to make it more accessible to everyone, whether they are offline or online.

People can simply scan the QR to access the most current details about your New Year’s Day event.

It’s highly recommended to use the dynamic kind so you can update the details when needed and let people see the changes immediately.

5. Event registration and admission

Managing the registration process is just as important as promoting an event, whether it’s a New Year's Day football game or an exclusive party.

Use a custom QR code landing page to create a check-in page accessible from any device. This will make the entry process for pre-registered guests simple.

All they have to do is scan the code to check in quickly. You won’t be seeing lines of people; just a great guest experience.

Make sure to place the QR code at the entrance so guests can immediately find, scan, and register to confirm their attendance.

6. Extend seasonal contests and challenges

Still not over with your seasonal contests? Extend it until the last day of January to gather more participants and, of course, customers.

Offer compelling challenges, scavenger hunts, contests, or sweepstakes to let shoppers win prizes or discounts this holiday. You can even make these challenges one of many New Year’s Day traditions to keep customers coming back.

And to streamline customer participation, use the Google Form QR code to let it handle all the manual registration processes.

7. Streamline restaurant menu access on New Year’s Day

Bars and restaurants can use menu QR codes to share New Year's Eve or New Year's Day food and drink specials, limited-time menus, or mixology videos for signature cocktails.

With its dynamic feature, you can update the menu to match changes in drink availability or last-minute additions without needing to reprint the QR codes.

The tech will not only keep the menu accessible, but also add a digital edge to the dining experience.

8. Photo booth for branded keepsakes

QR codes aren’t just for showcasing your New Year's Day dinner ideas. You can also encourage your customers or guests to explore their fun sides through photobooths.

Place the QR codes on photo booth props or the booth itself. This will lead customers or guests to a custom photo album or a branded filter they can use in their photos.

Use a dynamic URL QR code to link to a downloadable album or collection of digital photo filters branded for New Year’s.

Plus, with its tracking features, you’ll see how many guests access and share your branded content.

9. Facilitate fundraisers and donation drives

Encourage charitable donations in your event or shop. It’s a simple way to promote giving as part of the New Year spirit, and customers can donate directly from their smartphones.

You can create a payment QR code from your mobile bank or wallet and place it on ads, social media posts, storefront posters, and point-of-sale counter displays.

For direct donations, please include the donation QR code provided by your partner charity or organization.

For instance, if the New Year's Day countdown event supports a charity for children, customers and guests can scan to contribute on the spot, spreading the spirit of giving.

Make sure to be transparent with your customers about the status of their donation. It’s one way of keeping their trust in your brand.

10. Design New Year’s Day message cards

When the biggest brands in the world take part in sending New Year’s greetings, you know it’s a big deal.

Don’t miss out and design a more unique way to let customers send New Year’s Day greetings to their loved ones.

Add a video greeting QR code card to your New Year special gift bundles. This unique add-on allows customers to upload and save a personal video message.

When the recipient scans it, they will be able to view the video greeting and directly share it on their social media or make the QR code a keepsake.

11. Launch a January loyalty booster program

Encourage repeat purchases during this very special occasion through a QR code loyalty program.

Display a multi URL QR code to redirect customers to different landing pages when scanned after purchase. Each scan doubles their points, which they can then claim at the end of the month.

Induce an even greater feeling of missing out by making this 2D barcode expire at the end of January, a feature only available through dynamic QR codes.

12. QR codes for New Year’s gift card redemption

To bring in even more sales during the holidays, why not give your customers a reason to come back to your storefront?

During the December shopping spree, give your customers QR code gift cards that can only be redeemed in January.

Using QR codes in this manner makes redeeming the offer quick and easy, spreads the gift-giving cheer, and generates more sales.

13. Year-round feedback collection

Higher ratings mean more sales momentum for the new year.

Start the month right by encouraging customers to leave some feedback about your business.

You can create a Google Review QR code, making it easier for them to rate and share their thoughts with the public.

Keep this going until the end of the year and see what your customers have in mind!

14. Immersive AR experiences

QR codes and augmented reality (AR) are two technologies that complement each other exceptionally well, working in harmony when combined.

Give your customers an immersive welcome to the New Year by connecting them to an AR app using QR codes.

You can paste them all over your marketing channels, from product packaging to social media promotions.

15. Exclusive in-store discounts

QR codes are a great tool to increase the number of visitors that show up at your business.

Simply create exclusive discount QR codes that are only redeemable at your physical store locations, and watch customers flock in to boost your sales in the New Year.

How to create a QR code for New Year’s Day campaign

Easily create QR codes for your start-of-the-calendar-year campaigns and enhance your business operations. Here's how to generate a QR code:

1. Open QR TIGER and log in or sign up for a free account.

2. Select a QR code solution for your campaign.

3. Set the QR code to Dynamic.

4. Enter the required information.

5. Generate the QR code.

6. Customize your QR code according to your brand’s identity or the color of the year.

7. Choose a file format (PNG, SVG, PDF, or EPS) before you click “Download.”

Reminder: Always double-check the scanability of your QR codes on different devices and formats.

The best QR code type to use for New Year’s Day sales

Adobe’s 2025 seasonal forecast on holiday spending predicted that $243.4 billion would be spent on shopping from November until the end of the year.

To keep the shopping hype going until the start of the new year, consider using QR codes. Specifically, you should use dynamic ones.

What exactly are dynamic QR codes?

Usually, QR codes permanently embed links to the data patterns, making them static.

Dynamic ones, on the other hand, use a short link that redirects to your actual content instead.

This means they offer advanced tools that can help with sales, especially during the holiday shopping season. You can:

Access cost-efficient solutions. A dynamic QR code generator offers different QR code types for different purposes.
Modify your QR code’s content. Easily update your content without getting new codes.
Monitor scan metrics. Track scan numbers, locations, time of scans, device types, and other key metrics for enhanced insight.
Set expiration periods. Create timed deals with expiring QR codes.
Protect with passwords. Make your content exclusive to your loyal customers with codes only they know.
Send targeted ads. Bring customers back by showing them ads on Facebook and Google.
Enhance your interactive content experience. Link interactive content to your QR codes, such as AR, audio, and videos.
Integrate geofencing. Give customers a reason to visit your store by locking QR code content to a specific area around your store.
Receive email reports. Keep an eye on your QR code scans through reports sent to your business email.

Create New Year’s magic through the best QR code generator

As we welcome the new year, these creative QR code ideas will help you add a modern twist to your campaigns, driving sales from the very start!

Ring in New Year’s Day 2026 with QR codes as part of the memories and moments that make this celebration truly unforgettable.

Cheers to a fresh start and endless possibilities!

15 QR Code Ideas to Boost Sales on New Year’s Day 2026