Case Study: How a DTC Brand Proved $340K in Offline-to-Online Revenue with QR Codes

Ember & Oak Home sells premium candles and home fragrance direct-to-consumer. Like most DTC brands, their problem wasn't online performance — it was proving the ROI of offline marketing. How much of their digital revenue came from someone who saw a flyer, picked up a product at a pop-up, or received a package?

The Tracking Setup

They created unique ShortLink short links for each offline channel: packaging insert (scan for 15% off next order), trade show booth (scan for product catalogue), print magazine ads (scan for editorial feature), and event sampling bags (scan for full product range).

Every link had a consistent UTM structure: utm_medium=offline, utm_source=[channel], utm_campaign=[quarter]. The short URLs were then embedded in QR codes — AI-art themed to their brand aesthetic.

Results Over 90 Days

• Total offline-attributed revenue: $342,000
• Packaging insert: $198,000 (58% of total) — 23,400 scans
• Trade show booth: $94,000 (27%) — 4,100 scans
• Print magazine: $31,000 (9%) — 2,800 scans
• Sampling bags: $19,000 (6%) — 1,600 scans

“Before this, we were spending $80K per quarter on trade shows and genuinely didn't know if it worked. Now we can show the exact revenue line.”

— Marcus Webb, CMO, Ember & Oak Home

Key Finding

The packaging insert had by far the highest conversion rate — 8.4% of scanners made a purchase. This led to a 3x increase in packaging insert budget for the following quarter and a new loyalty programme triggered at the scan point.