With the news that Apple’s latest iPhone offering will include Near-Field-Communication (NFC) capabilities, it is clear that Apple views this technology as both the current industry standard and the future of contactless communication and secure payments.
iPhone 6 users will also be able to benefit from the rich offerings provided by Pricer’s digital retail platform – thus taking their in-store experience to the next level.
Pricer pioneered NFC-enabled labels in 2012, together with the leading French retailer Casino. With Pricer’s SmartTAGs, customers with NFC-enabled smartphones can interact with the product at the shelf-edge – allowing them, with just one tap, to immediately access a wealth of extra information such as ingredients, online reviews and much more. They can even ‘like’ a product as they would on social media, after which the label will display the total number of ‘likes’ a product has received.
These NFC capabilities allow the customer to be fully connected to stores – a necessity for today’s smartphone carrying customers – improving the store’s brand image and customer loyalty. Furthermore, with this latest generation of ESLs, the shelf-edge is transformed into a hugely effective additional sales tool, with the potential to significantly boost store revenue.
French retailer Carrefour’s new flagship store in Paris, is also using NFC to enhance their service-offering, having become the first store worldwide that allows customers to benefit from Pricer’s digital retail platform using indoor navigation, mobile shopping and NFC enabled SmartTAGs.
For Carrefour, Pricer’s solution enables a better understanding of customers’ behaviour both in-store and digitally, while the improved customer experience ensures they will return again. The success of this project has meant that it has been shortlisted for both a prestigious World Retail Award and a Retail Systems Award.
