Ease of use and simple payment methods are among the keys to success with near field communication (NFC) in retail, according to a new study from researcher ROA Holdings.
Providing clear value to consumers is also critical, said the firm, which focused on deployments of NFC by Asian retailers.
“The end user is not interested in downloading the application nor in using NFC to simply make a payment but rather is interested in changing their current lifestyle into a more convenient one,” it said.
This also has benefits for customer relationship management (CRM), ROA suggested. “When the customers recognise the easiness and speed of usage after a period of experience, they will participate naturally in the CRM process, enhancing loyalty.”
But the researcher warned that “in order to gain popularity, the applications need to be very easy and convenient for everyone to use. To provide a payment method that has been already widely used is an important key point for success, and applying the NFC payment method gradually is found to be more effective.”
It expects adoption of NFC to increase, citing the virtual store (pictured) operated in a Seoul subway station by Homeplus – Tesco’s Korean brand – and a Woolworths shopping information service in Australia as examples of projects where smartphone access via QR codes and barcodes would likely soon be replaced by NFC.
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