WhatsApp QR codes for offline leads: a different pre-filled message for every placement

Prakash Hegde makes banana chips and chakli in Udupi with eleven staff and sells through about sixty kirana stores, two exhibitions a year and a counter at the factory gate (an invented example). Every packet carries the business number. Almost nobody types it. When he printed a WhatsApp QR code on the back of the 200 g packet, the first message he received was “hi”. He had no idea which packet, which shop or which town.

A WhatsApp QR code for business is a square drawn from a link, and the link can carry the first sentence of the chat. That sentence is where the source goes. What follows: how to make the code, what to print where, the reply that should follow, and the mistakes that waste a print run.

Three ways to get a WhatsApp QR code for business

The quickest is the one already in the WhatsApp Business app. Tap Tools, then Short link, then View QR Code. WhatsApp’s help centre says the code “won’t expire unless you reset it or delete your WhatsApp Business account”, and lists business cards, storefront signage, product packaging, event displays and email signatures as places to use it. You can set one default message of up to 140 characters, which “customers can quickly edit and send”, and change it any time under Short link. If you have a business username, it is shown on the code. The limit is in the word “one”: a single code, a single message, for every placement.

The second is any QR generator and a click-to-chat link. The help centre’s format is https://wa.me/<number>, where the number is your full phone number in international format with no plus sign, zeros, brackets or dashes; for an Indian number that is 91 and the ten digits. Add ?text= and a URL-encoded sentence to pre-fill the message. Paste the whole link into a QR generator and you have a code, and you can make as many as you have placements. Nothing about it is tied to the Business app, so it keeps working if you later move the number to the WhatsApp Business Platform.

The third is for numbers on the Platform. Meta’s documentation (updated 21 May 2026) says a business phone number can hold up to 2,000 QR codes and short links, each with its own pre-filled message of up to 140 characters, created in Business Manager or through the API. The message is stored with the link, so you can edit it later without reprinting, and the short link “masks the phone number”. Meta recommends the SVG format for print.

	Business app QR code	wa.me link in a generator	Platform QR codes and short links
How many	One per account	As many as you like	Up to 2,000 per number
Pre-filled message	One, up to 140 characters	Any length, fixed in the link	One per code, up to 140 characters
Change the message later	Yes, for the one code	No, reprint	Yes, without reprinting
Shows your number?	No, a short link	Yes, in the link	No, a short link
Scan counts from Meta	No	No	No, by Meta’s policy

Pick the second or the third for anything printed in quantity. Keep the app’s own code for the counter, where you can change it. (Terms such as customer service window and template are in our glossary.)

How to create a WhatsApp link with a pre-filled message

The whole trick is URL encoding. Spaces become %20, commas %2C, apostrophes %27. Any online URL encoder will do it, or write the sentence without punctuation and only the spaces need changing. The number below is a placeholder, not a real one.

https://wa.me/15550100?text=Hi%2C%20I%20scanned%20the%20code%20on%20the%20chakli%20packet

When someone scans it, WhatsApp opens a chat with your number and “Hi, I scanned the code on the chakli packet” already typed. They tap send, and you have a chat, their number and a 24-hour customer service window.

Write the sentence as the customer would say it, in the first person, and keep it under about 80 characters: a long pre-filled message gets deleted and replaced with “hi”. Put the source word where you will see it in an inbox preview, near the start. The customer can edit or delete it before sending, and some will, so treat the text as a strong hint rather than a record. For the web side of the same job, our guide to adding WhatsApp to a website has the HTML for a link and a button, and our scan of Indian homepages found the common mistakes in WhatsApp links, most of which apply to printed codes too.

One placement, one message

Every place a code is printed should pre-fill a different sentence. Here is a working set for a business like Prakash’s; change the nouns.

Placement	Pre-filled text	Print beside the code
Shop or factory counter	Hi, I’m at the counter and want to order for delivery	”Scan to order home delivery”
Bill or invoice	Hi, my bill number is … and I have a question	”Questions about this bill? Scan”
Packaging insert or back of pack	Hi, I scanned the chakli packet. Where can I buy near me?	”Find a shop near you”
Hoarding or shop board	Hi, I saw your board on Court Road	A five-word promise and the code, nothing else
Newspaper or magazine ad	Hi, I saw the newspaper ad. Send the price list	”Scan for today’s price list”
Visiting card	Hi, we met and I’d like your wholesale rates	Your name and the code
Delivery van or auto	Hi, I saw your van. Do you deliver in my area?	Area served, in big type
Exhibition stall	Hi, I’m at your stall at the Udupi food fest	”Scan for the fest offer”
Menu or table tent	Hi, I’m at table … and want to order	”Order from your table”

Three design rules from the field. A hoarding code must be scannable from where people actually stand, which usually means a code at least 30 cm across and a sentence short enough to read at that distance; test it from the pavement before paying for the print. On a packet, the code goes where it won’t fold or crease, and the words beside it say what happens when you scan, because a bare code gets ignored. And every printed code should carry the business name, so a customer who distrusts QR codes can type the number instead.

The reply that should follow

Make the first reply the same for every source, then branch. A customer who scanned the packet in a kirana store in Manipal wants the same two things as one at the exhibition stall: a human-sounding acknowledgement and one question that moves them forward. The source word in their message tells you which branch to take next.

SR Sadia Rahman talking to Hegde Snacks

1. Sadia Rahman:
   Hi, I scanned the chakli packet. Where can I buy near me? 8:12 pm
2. Hegde Snacks:
   Hi Sadia, glad you liked the chakli. Which town are you in? We can send the nearest stockists, or deliver a box to you. 8:12 pm
   • Find stockists
   • Order a box
   • Just the price list
3. Sadia Rahman:
   Order a box 8:14 pm
4. Hegde Snacks:
   The 1 kg mixed box is ₹480, and we courier anywhere in India. Shall I send the order form? 8:14 pm
   • Yes, send it
   • Call me tomorrow
5. Tagged: source = packaging. Opt-in asked after the order is placed.

The reply has to arrive while the person is still holding the packet. On the WhatsApp Business app, the greeting and away messages do the first part; our auto-reply guide covers the wording. On the Platform, a keyword in the first message can start an automated flow. Either way, write the after-hours reply to say when a person will answer (“We’re back at 9 am; your message is saved”), not just that you’re closed.

Then the two rules of the chat. The customer’s message opens a 24-hour customer service window; inside it you can send anything, and from 1 October 2026 those service messages are free only up to 1,000 per business number per month, then ₹0.115 each to an Indian number before GST. And a scan is not an opt-in. Someone who asked where to buy chakli hasn’t agreed to Diwali offers. Ask once, after you’ve answered: “Can Hegde Snacks send you new flavours and offers on WhatsApp, about twice a month? Reply YES to agree.” Meta’s rule is that the opt-in must clearly state the person agrees to receive messages from your business, by name; the opt-in guide has the wording and what to record for India’s DPDP Rules, whose main duties arrive around May 2027.

Measuring by source

Meta won’t help you here. Its documentation says “analytics are not available for QR Codes and Short Links as we limit the amount of data we log to protect user privacy”, and the Business app shows no scan count either. The pre-filled sentence is your measurement.

Once a week, count first messages by source word. For Prakash that is a five-row tally: packet, counter, stall, van, bill. Then two more columns: how many of those chats got a first reply within an hour, and how many turned into an order or a stockist request. A placement that brings forty chats and two orders is telling you something different from one that brings eight chats and six orders. After a quarter you’ll know which print run to repeat.

If you want scan counts, a dynamic QR service that redirects through its own domain will give them, and will let you change the destination after printing. The trade-off is a redirect hop that depends on a third party staying in business, and a customer who sees an unfamiliar domain flash past before WhatsApp opens. For a packet that will sit on shelves for a year, we’d rather have the plain link.

Six mistakes that waste a print run

The code opens a personal number. The owner’s own WhatsApp becomes the brand’s front door, with no greeting message, no second person able to answer, and no way to move the history later. Print the business number, and if staff will answer, use a number that several people can work from; our shared inbox guide explains the options.

The code was printed before the number was settled. A Business app QR code encodes a short link that dies if you reset it or delete the account, and a wa.me link dies if you change the number. Decide the number, finish any move to the Platform, then print.

The sentence is too long for where it’s printed. A hoarding pre-fill of two lines is never read and rarely sent; “Hi, I saw your board on Court Road” is enough.

Nobody answers after hours. Packets are opened at 9 pm and hoardings are read on the drive home. An away message that names the time a person will reply keeps the chat alive until morning.

The customer used the wrong camera. WhatsApp’s in-app camera only scans WhatsApp’s own QR codes, so a code made from a wa.me link is scanned with the phone’s camera app, which opens the link. A personal WhatsApp QR code, the kind under Settings, adds you as a contact rather than opening a chat. Say “scan with your phone camera” beside the code.

The code was reset to stop spam, and every packet went dead with it. WhatsApp notes that resetting stops the old code working and that you’ll have to share the new one again. If a code is being abused, reset the one on social media and leave the printed link alone.

What it costs

The code is free, the chat has a price, and the price is small at this scale. Suppose Prakash’s packets and stalls bring 400 chats a month and the team sends each person three replies. That is 1,200 service messages: 1,000 free, then 200 × ₹0.115, or ₹23 before GST. If 250 of those people say yes to offers and he sends one marketing template a month, that send costs 250 × ₹0.8631, about ₹215.78 before GST. The print run will cost more than the messages. Our cost guide has the full rate table.

Before the next print order, scan your own code from a metre away with the phone camera, send the message, and time how long the first reply takes. If the sentence that arrives doesn’t tell you where the customer was standing, change the code before you change anything else.