There are many different ways to drive engagement with your customers and build a community that focuses around your store, brand or centre but how can NFC tags be implemented as part of that overarching marketing plan?

Given that around 90% of retail customers use their mobile phone in-store (source) and that of those, 60% look up additional product information in store (source) it makes perfect sense to try and engage shoppers through their devices in as easy a way as possible.

NFC labels are a simple and effective way to enable further engagement with your store, brand or centre for the vast majority of customers who use their mobile phone whilst shopping.

As the retail environment continues to evolve in Australia, we can expect savvy retailers and centre management marketers to start using NFC tags and labels to create a greater level of value by implementing NFC touchpoints that launch a digital experience ranging from additional product information, loyalty offers and competitions through to buying guides or even live chat functionality to answer questions (either with a human or highly contextual AI driven chatbots).

NFC labels can boost the entire customer experience – presale, in-store during the sale, and even after-sale giving retailers more opportunity than ever before to engage with customers through their mobile phones.

Ways to use NFC tags to help your retail marketing

Many digital marketing efforts like digital signage, VR, building websites or having tablets etc in-store require a considerable investment whereas NFC tags have an advantage over these methods in that they’re both cheap to purchase (usually less than $1 per label) and incredibly easy to implement (they can be programmed in store or bulk encoded).

Using NFC tags In-store

Using NFC labels in-store gives retailers many different opportunities to interact with their customers. Using their NFC enabled smartphones they can get additional product information by simply tapping on the NFC embedded product and information will instantly appear on their device.

Offer a broader range of products with NFC labels

Given retail space is limited, there are only so many products you can fit in-store. By integrating NFC labels into your products you can drive customers to more options via your online store. If a customer taps on a piece of clothing, for example, they can be directed to the website where complimentary items and other colours are available. Combine that with an in-store discount or competition entry and this can make a big difference to instore and online purchases.

Boost engagement in store with NFC labels

By integrating NFC labels into your products and stores you can boost customer engagement not only with your products but with your brand. For example, if an NFC label is integrated into a clothing label, a customer can simply tap the label to get additional information, matching clothing for that item or additional colour schemes or patterns that might not be available in that store but are available online.

Boost repeat sales with NFC labels

If your retail outlet sells items that have a high purchase price and need to be purchased regularly (a premium cleaning product, organic hair care, top-shelf alcohol, shaving items, etc) NFC labels can be integrated into the packaging to enable users to simply tap the product when it’s low or empty and be redirected to an online store to re-order.

Engage users with video content or social media

NFC is a great way to engage users with video content about your store or your products. Have an item that requires explanation or further instructions for use? Video is the perfect medium to show customers how the product is used. Linking directly to your social media channel of choice gives you the ability to grow your subscriber base to market to.

Drive competition entries or app downloads with NFC labels

Got a new app that easily enables customers to order from you or find out additional information about your brand you want to promote? With a smart poster or NFC label put around your store downloading apps is a breeze as customers simply have to tap on the poster with their NFC enabled phone and go straight to the App Store or Google Play.

These are just a few of the ways that retail outlets and shopping centres can use NFC to engage customers. If you would like to see some great examples of companies using RFID and NFC technology to engage with their customers more, take a look at our article titled How some innovative companies used RFID & NFC tech in 2017.

For enquiries about NFC or RFID labels, please contact us or call us on 1800 077 375.