Customer engagement is key to building and maintaining a loyal client base. While any experienced leader understands that, knowing how to act on it and foster engagement is more challenging. One helpful solution is to turn to technology like near-field communication (NFC) systems.
NFC tech has been around for a long time, but it’s only recently reaching its potential in consumer-facing applications. Now that NFC tags are more widely available, their complementary technologies have matured and most major smartphones support them, it’s time for businesses to capitalize.
Here’s how they can use NFC technology to drive engagement.
Personalized Recommendations
Personalization is an excellent way to engage customers. As many as 71 percent of today’s consumers expect personalized services, and 76 percent get frustrated when they don’t get them. NFC systems can bring the customization and automation guests have experienced online into brick-and-mortar locations.
Clothing retailers can place NFC tags on items that show matching articles when shoppers scan them to help them put together a cohesive look. Businesses with a web and in-store presence can connect to visitors’ phones to tailor suggestions for in-person products or services based on their online activity.
Achieving the same level of personalization and convenience manually would require a level of attention from employees that not every store can afford and not every customer wants. NFC solutions make it easier and faster for all involved.
Smoother Omnichannel Shopping
Omnichannel experiences are another key part of engagement today. Consistent interactions between online, in-app and in-person channels drive 2.9 times more purchases and 2.2 times higher spending. NFC technology streamlines this coordination.
In-store shoppers can scan an NFC tag on a product to pull up its page on the company’s e-commerce site. Alternatively, users can pull up an item in the app and find where it is on store shelves as their phone connects to nearby tags to locate it.
Omnichannel shopping is only effective when it’s seamless. Because NFC systems bridge the gap between the digital and physical, they provide the connections necessary to create a smooth, barrier-free omnichannel experience.
Mobile Payments
A simpler but still impactful way NFC technology can drive engagement is through touchless payment. NFC is what enables things like Apple Pay and Google Pay, which let customers tap their phones against a terminal to make purchases. As small as that seems, it makes a big difference in buyer impressions.
Up to 96 percent of customers become disloyal after a service interaction that requires a lot of effort. By contrast, just nine percent of low-effort interactions lead to a lack of loyalty. People today want quick, easy transactions, and contactless payments are the most efficient way to streamline the checkout process.
Targeted Marketing and Promotions
Another way to boost customer engagement is to ensure all marketing and promotions are relevant to them. E-commerce companies like Amazon recommend products based on past behavior through artificial intelligence (AI), and NFC solutions can bring this functionality to brick-and-mortar stores.
When an in-store NFC tag connects to a visitor’s phone, it can recognize their online shopping profile. Then, it can send them coupons or other promotions based on their web activity to drive sales.
Alternatively, retailers can use NFC systems to gauge which areas of the shop specific people spend the most time in or what products they look at. They can then promote these items to customers online or through email to offer hyperpersonalized marketing.
Enhanced In-Store Experiences
Complementary technologies like augmented reality (AR) can take NFC’s potential even further. Apparel stores could let shoppers scan NFC tags to open an AR app showing how a piece might look on them without needing to physically try anything on. Businesses with members-only areas could use NFC to streamline access, letting members simply tap their phones to enter.
NFC solutions are also a great way to offer more information on a product. Scanning a wine label could provide users with tasting notes or pairing suggestions, and an NFC tag on auto parts could show which cars they fit. In all cases, the technology offers an easy, quick way to take physical store experiences to new heights.
These five use cases only scratch the surface of what NFC tech could do. As the technology evolves and experimentation grows, new, even more engaging possibilities may emerge.
Modern organizations can’t overlook the value of an engaged customer base. Consequently, they must recognize how NFC systems can help them connect on a deeper level.