Near field communications (NFC) has become integral to the mobile device industry. Consumers are quickly adapting to the role that near field communication technology plays in the average buyer experience. This growing connectivity enabler allows anyone to use their smart device to conduct an action.
Simply put, NFC technology makes it possible to transfer data between any two devices without any physical contact. It provides a secure connection between mobile devices and Tap-equipped systems. If your brick and mortar store isn’t leveraging NFC technology on your premise, it’s time to consider it. Here’s why:
Contactless Payments
The most common application for near field communication technology is contactless payments. In March 2020 alone, 31 million Americans used a Visa card to make a contactless payment. Contactless payments allow your customers to make real-time transactions at the checkout counter, speeding up your lines and allowing you to process more customers quicker. Although the United States is further behind other developed countries in terms of contactless payments, the trends suggest this will change over the next couple of years.
Product Information
In-store shoppers can use NFC technology to learn more about products. This can both save you time and money on customer service and help deliver value-induce information to your consumers. Place your NFC tag on product displays to offer product details that your customers should know. You can be as creative with this as you’d like. For example, you might offer easy access to relevant content like recipes or craft ideas. Or, you might simply offer specs and use cases.
Promotional Materials
The ability to offer promotions through easy access is a great marketing tool. Any promotional material—from posters to newsletters and flyers—can include an NFC tag that consumers can use to obtain deals, promotions, and discounts. Use these promotional materials to not only provide value to potential customers, but to build and reinforce your brand identity.
Like any use case for NFC, you’ll also be able to learn more about how consumers are interacting with your promotional materials through useful data. Use this data to create statistics about how your materials have been utilized. And of course, another great benefit is that promotional materials can be customized, which means you have an endless arsenal of marketing potential.
Offer Free WiFi
There are many benefits to offering free Wifi in your store. First and foremost, as a business owner, your goal is to provide the best customer experience possible. By offering easy Internet access, you’re one step closer to delivering a memorable shopping experience. Studies have shown that more than half of businesses have reported that customers spend longer amounts of time in their establishments when wifi was offered.
Furthermore, free wifi allows you to step up your marketing game with promotional splash pages. And if you’re worried about customers using wifi and not spending money, think twice. Half of all businesses in one survey reported that customers spent more when wifi was available.
Track Employees
You may not realize it, but you can run your store much more efficiently when you utilize NFC technology. Business owners can leverage NFC to monitor employees and maximize their in-store potential. For instance, employees simply need to wave their device near an NFC sticker to show their location and/or begin tracking time.
This high level of location tracking allows businesses to better service their customers with a high-level overview of where their entire team is within a particular location. It can also provide valuable data as to which areas of your store are being serviced the most. This type of technology is valuable in all types of industries, from construction and manual labor to warehouses and manufacturing plants. Even smaller businesses with retail locations or department stores can use NFC for a variety of employee use cases.
