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NFC phones to play key role in multi-channel retailing
An emerging mobile phone technology called near field communication (NFC) will play a key role in enabling retailers to create a single view of their customers across multiple channels, according to a research report published today.
Consumers with NFC-enabled phones will be able to simply touch their phone in store to a 'smart' poster or product label containing an RFID chip to sign up for a loyalty programme, collect a money-off coupon, update their Facebook status or go online to read a product's customer ratings and reviews or place an online order.
"NFC technology will be used to replace everything from credit cards to bus and train tickets, library cards, door keys and even cash," says Sarah Clark, author of 'NFC: The Road to Commercial Deployment'. "By providing consumers with the means of interacting with in-store posters and labels via their mobile phones, NFC will give retailers a way to glue together their online and in-store channels and gain a single view of the customer."
The use of smart posters to deliver special offers to customers, especially where those offers are at least part funded by brands, could be an important new addition to a recession-hit retailer's armoury. Early trials of loyalty and promotional services based on contactless stickers attached to the back of mobile phones have delivered coupon redemption rates as high as 50%, compared to just 1% to 2% for paper coupons.
NFC phones are compatible with POS terminals that accept contactless bank cards. "Retailers who switch to the new terminals will be able to take advantage of the advanced mobile loyalty and promotional programmes NFC is set to deliver without having to install any extra hardware," Clark explains.
The first commercial NFC services are expected to go live from early 2011, the report forecasts. Banks and mobile network operators are set to go head to head in a bid to win control of the new business and persuading retailers to sign up for the new services will be key to their business plans. Retailers who educate themselves now about this new technology will be able to negotiate the best possible deal and gain advantage from introducing NFC services as early as possible, the report concludes.
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