7 ways to utilise NFC in your business

‘Near Field Communications’ or NFC, is quickly becoming a valuable tool in business marketing strategies

What is NFC? In short, NFC is a standards-based technology used to provide short-range, two-way communication between electronic devices. Still unclear? If you’ve ever seen or used the contactless credit card readers offered by some stores and restaurants as a payment method, you’ve already been exposed to NFC technology.

However, NFC technology isn’t just a device-to-device technology. It has since grown to include tags, which allow for even more expanded use of NFC in business. The more commonplace it becomes, the more ways businesses discover NFC can be used in their marketing efforts. Here are seven innovative ways you can use NFC in your business.

1. Contactless payments

This was the initial primary function for using NFC in business, and countless businesses boarded. Contactless payments make real-time payment transactions a breeze, which enhances the UX by speeding up the checkout line. The contactless payment idea extends to B2B as well. Among other NFC ideas, a business could include the technology on their printed invoices, allowing business customers to pay quickly using their mobile devices.

2.Promotional materials

For businesses that maintain a brick-and-mortar store, NFC marketing is a breeze. When printing posters, newsletters, or other promotional materials, you can include an NFC tag that can be read by a consumer’s NFC-enabled mobile device. The phone or tablet can read whatever you insert in the tag, and your customers will reap the rewards. Ideas to embed include a 25% off coupon, bonus rewards points, or even the ability to purchase tickets to an event.

3.Product information

One of the most commonly used NFC ideas, which has taken off within the last two years, involves providing in-store shoppers with easily accessed product and service information. Like promotional perks, NFC technology can be included on product displays so that when shoppers access it, they receive detailed information about the product, a recipe, a craft idea, or other applicable content.

4. Track employess

Here’s another NFC idea for a business that enhances the consumer’s in-store experience. NFC can monitor employees to determine who is available to assist a customer, who is on break, who has clocked in, and where an employee stands with their tasks. When a manager has such vital information available by merely waving a phone over an NFC tag, they are instantly equipped with everything they need to know to help keep their store running smoothly.

5.Social media check-in

NFC tags can be placed at the entrance of stores so that when a customer heads in, they can use them to check social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter. This offers priceless exposure for the business, and the interaction can bolster the customer’s brand loyalty. A business could provide a perk of going online, such as the same visit discount.

6.Meeting of the minds

Business meetings can run more efficiently, and resources such as paper and ink can be saved by incorporating NFC technology. The short-range technology is ideal for situations where information needs to change hands. For example, files and other documents can be shared with co-workers with just a wave of the phone or tablet. That way, everyone has a copy of the item being discussed, and no resources are wasted

7.Free Wi-Fi

Talk about enhancing the customer’s experience. NFC tags can be programmed to allow free in-store Wi-Fi to your customers. By simply waving their mobile device over the strategically placed tags, your customers can access the internet in your store without needing a password.

NFC technology has quietly come into its own, and the list of phones and other NFC-capable devices is getting longer all the time. Even though it is still considered an emerging technology, the use of NFC is multiplying. As is evident by the list, the biggest perk about using NFC in business is its versatility. There are already countless applications for it, and the list keeps growing. Do you already use NFC in your business marketing strategy? If so, how?