Your QR Code Kit: Putting PrepSmart on Your Shelves, Boxes, and Packaging
Heads up — creator sign-up is opening soon. This article describes the QR code kit as part of the designed creator experience — what brand sign-up will look like when it opens. It's a walkthrough of how the kit is meant to work, not a tour of a live product. When your page goes live, your kit is generated for you on the go-live screen.
Email and social reach the people already on your list. But a huge share of your audience meets your brand somewhere your inbox can't — in the aisle, in the box, on the package. The QR code kit is how you turn those offline moments into PrepSmart followers, with every scan tied back to you.
This guide is written for the three brand account types that get a QR kit: grocery stores, kitchen appliance brands, and food brands. (Individual creators invite their fans with a link and a launch post instead — see Best Practices for Promoting Your PrepSmart Page. If you also sell books or products, you can still grab a QR kit to ship with them.)
What the QR Code Kit Is
When your page goes live, the Get kit option on your go-live screen generates a QR code that points to your unique, tracked PrepSmart link — for example, useprepsmart.com/harvestlane.
Anyone who scans it lands on your PrepSmart page, where they can follow you and start cooking from your recipes. Because the code carries your link, every scan is tracked to you — so you can see which placements actually bring people in.
The kit gives you the code in two ready-to-use forms:
- PNG — a clean digital file for emails, websites, and social
- Print-ready — a high-resolution file sized for packaging, signage, and inserts
From the go-live screen you can either Download the kit to your device or Email it to my team (or your printer, or your marketing partner) so the people who handle your packaging and signage have it in hand.
Why a QR Code Beats a Printed Insert
The old way ships a recipe card or insert that gets a glance, then goes in the drawer. A QR code does something a printed recipe never could:
- It's a doorway, not a dead end. One small code unlocks a living library of your recipes — meal plans and shopping lists included — instead of the single recipe a card can hold.
- It's always current. Update your page anytime and every printed code points to the new version. No reprints.
- It's measurable. A printed recipe tells you nothing. A scan tells you a shopper, owner, or customer just walked through your front door.
The goal is the same across every brand type: turn a one-time touch into a weekly habit — the planning, shopping, and cooking routine your audience comes back to.
Where to Put It — By Brand Type
Placement is where the kit earns its keep. Below is the playbook for each account type. You don't need all of them — start with the one or two that fit how your audience already meets you.
Grocery Stores
Your shoppers are already in your aisles every week. Meet them there.
| Placement | How to use it | |-----------|---------------| | Weekly circular | Drop the code beside a featured product — "Scan for the recipe." (Whole Foods runs this on its digital flyer.) | | Aisle shelf-talkers | A small tag on the shelf edge turns any single item into a full meal idea. | | Window cling & entrance | Catch shoppers on the way in — "Plan your week, scan here." | | Receipt footer & bag stuffers | Every checkout becomes an invite to come back and cook. |
Biggest lever for grocery: in-store QR shelf-talkers and the weekly circular — they reach shoppers at the exact moment they're deciding what to buy.
Kitchen Appliance Brands
An appliance that gets used weekly builds loyalty an ad never could. The QR code is how a new owner goes from "unboxed it" to "cooking with it."
| Placement | How to use it | |-----------|---------------| | In-box welcome card | The first thing a new owner sees — "Scan to cook your first meal." (Traeger ships a scan-to-app card in every grill.) | | Manual & quick-start guide | Right where they look for setup — turn the manual into recipes. | | On-pack label or sticker | A small code on the carton turns the shelf into a recipe hub. | | Warranty & registration page | Owners already register here — invite them to cook in the same flow. |
Biggest lever for appliances: the in-box card. It reaches every single new owner at the moment they're most excited to use what they just bought.
Food Brands
Your product is already in someone's cart. The QR code earns it a permanent place in their weekly rotation.
| Placement | How to use it | |-----------|---------------| | On-pack label or sticker | A small code on the package — "Scan for a recipe with this." (Brands like RXBAR print scan-to-content on-pack.) | | Box inserts & thank-you cards | Every shipment becomes a recipe invite ahead of the next reorder. | | Product & checkout pages | Add it where customers already buy — turn a sale into a cook. | | Retail shelf & demo tables | Stand out on a crowded shelf with a scannable recipe. |
Biggest lever for food brands: on-pack. The code rides along with a product the customer already chose, so it reaches them right when they're about to cook.
The Emails That Go With It — From Your Strategist
A QR code gets people to your page. A nudge from you gets them to scan it.
Your Growth Strategist — the real person on your side from day one, and your single point of contact — will send you ready-to-use sample marketing emails you can use to invite your audience: shoppers, owners, or customers, depending on your brand type. They're drafted in your brand voice, the same way they're prepared for every brand on PrepSmart, so you can send them as-is or hand them to your team.
These pair naturally with the kit: the QR code captures people in the aisle or the box, while the emails reach the list you already own. Used together, they're the offline-plus-online one-two of your launch.
Your Strategist is part of the team of experts who build and grow your page — included from day one, no tier to unlock. Have a question about placement, printing, or timing? It's one message, no tickets, no transfers. (Meet the team and your Strategist in Meet Your Growth Strategist.)
How Tracking Works
Every code in your kit carries your unique PrepSmart link, so each new follower can be attributed to the placement that brought them in. Over time, that tells you what's actually working:
- Which placements drive the most scans
- How offline placements compare to your email and social invites
- Where to concentrate the next round of printing
You don't have to set anything up — the tracking is built into the link the moment your kit is generated. The job on your side is simply to get the code in front of people in as many of the right places as you can.
A Simple Rollout Plan
You don't need to do everything at once. A workable sequence:
- Generate your kit on the go-live screen — download it, or email it to whoever handles your packaging and signage.
- Start with your biggest lever — the one placement from your brand-type list that reaches the most people (in-box card, on-pack sticker, or shelf-talker / circular).
- Send the sample emails your Strategist provides to your existing list, so the people who already know you are the first to find your page.
- Add the rest over time — fold the code into more placements as you reprint packaging, refresh signage, or roll out a new circular.
- Watch what scans and double down on the placements that bring the most people in.
The kit is built to ride along with packaging and signage you're already producing — so adding PrepSmart usually means adding one small code, not redesigning anything.
Next Steps
Ready to put your code to work? See where the QR kit fits in your first week (the launch phase of your 90-day plan).
Want the full picture on inviting your audience? Read Best Practices for Promoting Your PrepSmart Page.
Want to know who's drafting your emails and building your page? Meet your Growth Strategist and the team behind your launch.
Questions about your kit, placement, or printing? Contact PrepSmart Creator Support.