QR codes on packaging with your own domain: print the label once, use it for years

A label is printed once and then used for a long time. The pack sits in the warehouse, on the shelf, in the basket and finally in a cupboard at home. The QR code on it should work through all of that, even if you pick a different service in two years.

Why packaging asks more than a flyer

A flyer is gone after a campaign. Packaging is not: leftover stock gets sold later, customers scan again months after buying, and reprinting a whole run costs money and time. The code therefore needs an address you keep in your own hands for the long term.

If the code points to a provider’s domain, your printed label depends on that provider staying around. If the service disappears or you cancel, every pack leads nowhere. If the code contains qr.yourcompany.com instead, the address is yours. You decide where it points.

Paths per product or batch

With your own domain you choose the path after the address yourself. A code with random characters becomes a readable link that you also recognise later in lists and delivery notes. Three patterns that work well:

• One path per product: qr.yourcompany.com/acacia-honey. The destination stays, even when the label is redesigned.
• One path per batch: qr.yourcompany.com/acacia-honey-l2611. Useful when the batch has its own details, such as a fill date or recall notice.
• A random 10-character path: for cases where the address should reveal nothing about the product.

Keep in mind that each path exists only once per domain and stays taken even after the code is deleted. So plan the names briefly in advance and keep a list of which path belongs to which product. You can change the destination of a dynamic code later, but not the printed address.

Set it up before the label goes to print

You connect the domain once and then create as many codes on it as you like. The order matters: domain first, then the code, then printing.

• In the dashboard, open the “Own domain” window and enter a subdomain, for example qr.yourcompany.com. Never the main domain.
• Set the TXT record _sameqr.qr.yourcompany.com shown there as proof of ownership, and the CNAME to kunden.sameqr.com, at your DNS provider. If you use Cloudflare for DNS, set the CNAME to “DNS only” (grey cloud).
• Wait until the status says “Active”. The HTTPS certificate is then issued automatically.
• When creating the new code, choose your own domain as the address and enter the path.

At Same-QR, own domains are available from the Gastro Pro and Marketing Starter plans, one domain each. The Free plan and Gastro Starter do not include one. Existing codes keep their current address, which matters for labels that are already printed.

Switching providers without reprinting

The domain stays yours. If you change provider later, you point the CNAME to the new service. The printed codes keep working, provided the new provider can serve the same paths on your domain. Ask about that before switching and keep your path list ready.

If you already had short links on your own domain at the old provider, such as go.yourcompany.com/abc, moving to Same-QR works without reprinting: import the codes with the move assistant (dashboard, “QR Codes” tab, “Move from another provider” tile, a file with the column “Old short link”), connect the domain and switch the CNAME.

It is different for short links on the provider’s own domain, such as qrco.de or l.ead.me. Those cannot be taken over. All that is left is to change the destination at the old provider while you are still a customer there, or to reprint the labels.

The test print

Before the whole run starts, print a sample on the real material. Paper, film, gloss varnish or a curved bottle all behave differently when scanned.

• Print on the real material and at the planned size, not on office paper.
• Scan with at least one iPhone and one Android phone, in daylight and under shelf lighting.
• Check that the page opens without a certificate warning.
• Look in the dashboard to see whether the scan was counted.
• Match the path in your list to the product and do not change the test code afterwards.

If you later move to a smaller plan, codes on domains that are already connected keep working. New codes are then possible only on as many domains as the new plan allows, and a domain can be removed only once no codes remain on it.

Frequently asked questions