The monthly catalogue magazine Hotspot will feature QR coding from next month that will allow readers to access product information online.

Using their smart phones, readers will also be able to purchase the advertised product in what the company calls smartbuy.

The innovative development was announced yesterday at the signing of a €1.7 million deal between Hotspot Enterprises, its printer Progress Press and door-to-door distributor Maltapost.

The agreement will ensure the three-year-old magazine will continue to be printed in Malta.

Marlor Caruana, managing director of Hotspot, said the smartbuy concept will give advertisers a 24-hour selling platform.

His business partner, strategy director Kenneth Pullicino, said the concept was a natural step forward for the company as it embraced new technology.

The service agreement with Progress Press and Maltapost is the largest commitment in volume for the two entities.

Overseeing the signing of the agreement, Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness Edward Zammit Lewis said Hotspot’s initiative showed that they viewed technology as an opportunity rather than a threat.

He said this was similar to the Government’s vision of encouraging businesses to use technology as a tool to remain competitive.