How to Stand Out from the Crowd with NFC

Aug. 5

A man holding out his iPhone to pay with Apple Pay

If you used to forget your wallet and panic when you're out shopping, you probably don't worry about how you’re going to pay anymore — as long as you have your phone with you to pay with Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Ever wondered what the name of that magic is?

That's called NFC, also known as Near Field Communication.

But NFC can also be used for more than making payments, and that’s what we’re here about today.

Let’s dive into first understanding what NFC is exactly, and how you can use it to stand out from the crowd when it comes to marketing your business.

What is NFC and why is it important to me as a business owner?

As mentioned above, NFC stands for Near Field Communication, and the technology works by allowing two NFC-enabled devices (within a proximity of 4-10cm) to wirelessly transmit data to each other.

It was first invented in 2002 by Sony and Phillips, and within a span of 10 years, there were soon over 51.6 million NFC-enabled mobile devices worldwide in 2012.

Number of NFC-enabled mobile devices worldwide from 2012 to 2018

Source: Statista

By the end of 2020, researchers estimate that there will be at least 2.2 billion NFC-enabled smartphone devices in use around the world.

That's like comparing the population of South Korea (51.2 million) to the combined populations of North, Central and South America, the Caribbean, all of Europe, Oceania, Japan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka AND Malaysia (2.2 billion)!

With increasing adoption of NFC-enabled devices, it's likely that NFC will eventually become a way of life — and being an early adopter means a competitive advantage over your peers.

How does NFC work?

There are many ways NFC can be used, and we'll break them down into their three main categories.

Touch and Connect
Touch and Connect enables peer to peer transfer of data such as downloading music, exchanging images or synchronizing address books.
Touch and Go
Touch and Go works by bringing the device storing the ticket or access code close to the NFC reader to pay for goods and services or buy transit tickets, etc.
Touch and Read
Touch and Read allows you to share your business cards or read a smart poster with the tap of your mobile phone, amongst many other applications.

Examples of NFC in use

Beyond just being a great technology for making purchases, NFC can provide extra value after the sale through the use of the item.

Being small, lightweight and inexpensive, NFC tags can be embedded into physical products and drive users to online content with just a tap, transforming a previously physical-only product into something more.

Enhance Consumer Experience Through Brand Positioning

In the case study video below, you'll see how a simple journal from a bank is transformed into a digital launchpad through the embedded NFC tags.

Far from only taking visitors to their brand's website, each NFC tag can be customized to bring users to different pages.

So if the user wanted to find where the nearest bank location was, all they had to do was tap their mobile device against the "Location" NFC tag.

In-Person Event Experience

Another example features the art gallery Lévy Gorvy, who used NFC tags embedded in cards that visitors could take away to extend their experience from the "Warhol Women" exhibition.

When they tapped an NFC chip next to a specific artwork, visitors were able to get more information on demand about what each woman meant to Warhol, watch videos of Judy Garland and Elizabeth Taylor, and check out behind the scenes images.