NFC Forum Makes Case for Near Field Communications Use at Retail

The near field communications technology (NFC) built into more than 500 million mobile phones can be tapped by retailers to boost the in-store shopping experience, the NFC Forum said last week, citing research from Strategy Analytics. According to the study, which included survey results from 1,000 end users, NFC technology was “overwhelmingly” preferred over competing communications technologies, including Bluetooth beacons and QR codes. Among the ways NFC suggested that retailers can implement NFC technology in stores are: for deals, Wi-Fi and rewards accounts; multimedia content and real-time store inventory; information about related products; NFC-enabled on-phone shopping carts; product information; and cartridge/toner refill and one-touch reorder capability.