# Amazon SmileCode > Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/amazon-smilecode > research date 2026-06-03 · extracted at 2026-10-06 > Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards Specifications: - [Amazon is experimenting with its own QR code style 'SmileCodes' — TechCrunch, 2018](https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/30/amazon-is-experimenting-with-its-own-qr-code-style-smilecodes/) - [Amazon SmileCodes put a new face on QR codes — Retail Dive, 2018](https://www.retaildive.com/news/amazon-smilecodes-put-a-new-face-on-qr-codes/516083/) ## Overview **Amazon SmileCode** was a proprietary, QR-code-style scannable code from **Amazon** that worked only inside the **Amazon shopping app** and carried Amazon's trademark **smile logo in its centre** [1][1], [2][2]. It functioned like a QR code — scan it and it triggers an action — but, unlike a standard QR code, it could only be read through the Amazon app's dedicated SmileCode scanner [1][1]. The format was a short-lived **2018 experiment**; it was used in print and on shipping boxes for a period in 2018 and is no longer a promoted Amazon feature, making it effectively **discontinued** [2][2], [4][4]. ## History Amazon's SmileCodes were first reported on **January 30, 2018** by TechCrunch, which described them as Amazon's own QR-code-style codes, each with "a big ol' Amazon smile right in its center" [1][1]. Amazon had already been testing them in **pop-up shops and on Amazon Lockers in Europe** (the U.K. and Germany) for several weeks before the U.S. push [1][1], [2][2]. They made their U.S. debut in the **March 2018 issues of *Cosmopolitan* and *Seventeen*** magazines, which reached subscribers and newsstands in early February 2018 [1][1], [2][2]. Like Messenger Codes, Instagram Nametags and Snapchat Snapcodes, SmileCodes were a branded, app-locked alternative to the plain QR code, with the smile logo solving the "ugly Rorschach-blot" aesthetic complaint about standard QR codes [2][2]. In May 2018 Amazon extended the experiment by printing SmileCodes on roughly a third of the boxes it shipped in the U.S. [3][3], [4][4]. After this 2018 run the codes faded from use; subsequent reporting does not show SmileCodes as an active, promoted Amazon feature [4][4]. ## Technical specification Amazon never published an open encoding specification for SmileCodes. What is documented is the visual structure and behaviour: a SmileCode is a **QR-code-like 2D pattern with the Amazon smile (arrow) logo placed in the centre** as a brand marker and differentiator [1][1], [2][2]. Scanning was performed only through the Amazon app: the user opened the app, tapped the camera icon in the search bar, chose the SmileCode scanner, and aligned the camera on the code to trigger its action [1][1]. Codes typically carried a short human-readable label such as "scan to shop" or "scan to watch an exclusive trailer" [2][2]. The bit-level encoding behind the pattern was not made public [1][1], [2][2]. ## Use cases SmileCodes were used as a **scan-to-act bridge from print and physical surfaces into the Amazon app** [1][1], [2][2]. Reported uses include opening a **product detail page** ("scan to shop"), playing **exclusive video** such as movie trailers and product reviews ("scan to watch"), surfacing **recipes**, advertising specific products (for example Bluetooth speakers), unlocking promotions, and — in early European tests — supporting **Amazon Locker** interactions [1][1], [2][2]. The shipping-box deployment additionally turned the printed code and box into a craft/engagement gimmick while still scanning into the app [3][3]. ## Implementations There are **no public, open-source implementations** of SmileCode encoding or decoding. The format was proprietary and could only be generated and scanned by Amazon and its own app; Amazon released no spec, SDK or generator to third parties [1][1], [2][2]. ## Comparison Against a **standard QR Code**, a SmileCode traded universality for brand control: standard QR codes are scannable by any phone's native camera, while SmileCodes were deliberately **locked to the Amazon app**, keeping the interaction (and the resulting traffic) inside Amazon's ecosystem [1][1]. The central smile logo gave it a branded, less "Rorschach-test" look than a plain QR code [2][2]. SmileCodes belong to the same **2018-era wave of proprietary, app-only branded codes** — alongside Facebook Messenger Codes, Instagram Nametags and Snapchat Snapcodes — most of which were abandoned as native QR scanning became universal and the industry retreated to standard QR codes around 2019-2022 [1][1], [2][2]. ## Fun facts Amazon printed SmileCodes on about **one-third of the boxes it shipped in the U.S.** in 2018, briefly turning its everyday packaging into a scannable advertising surface [3][3], [4][4]. ## Status **Discontinued.** SmileCodes were a 2018 experiment (magazine ads, European pop-ups and Lockers, and a one-third-of-boxes shipping rollout) and are no longer a promoted Amazon feature; no source indicates continued active use beyond that 2018 run [2][2], [4][4]. Amazon has not published a formal shutdown date. ## Sources [1] [Amazon is experimenting with its own QR code style 'SmileCodes'](https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/30/amazon-is-experimenting-with-its-own-qr-code-style-smilecodes/) — TechCrunch, 2018 [2] [Amazon SmileCodes put a new face on QR codes](https://www.retaildive.com/news/amazon-smilecodes-put-a-new-face-on-qr-codes/516083/) — Retail Dive, 2018 [3] [Amazon shipping 'SmileCodes' on some boxes to give customers creative cardboard projects](https://www.geekwire.com/2018/amazon-shipping-smilecodes-boxes-give-customers-creative-cardboard-projects/) — GeekWire, 2018 [4] [Amazon Is Slapping SmileCodes on a Third of Its Boxes in the U.S.](https://www.adweek.com/commerce/amazon-is-slapping-smilecodes-on-a-third-of-its-boxes-in-the-u-s/) — Adweek, 2018 [1]: https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/30/amazon-is-experimenting-with-its-own-qr-code-style-smilecodes/ [2]: https://www.retaildive.com/news/amazon-smilecodes-put-a-new-face-on-qr-codes/516083/ [3]: https://www.geekwire.com/2018/amazon-shipping-smilecodes-boxes-give-customers-creative-cardboard-projects/ [4]: https://www.adweek.com/commerce/amazon-is-slapping-smilecodes-on-a-third-of-its-boxes-in-the-u-s/ ## Deployments _No country reports mention this standard by name._ ## Regions / aggregations not mapped to a single country - Universal