Mobile payments are predicted to continue reaching record levels, year-on-year for the foreseeable future and the most successful brands will be those that are able to best engage with users on their mobile devices to drive sales.
Until NFC enabled smartphones reached a critical mass, QR codes (or other 2D bar codes) were the most effective option however these required the additional effort for the users of having to download special QR code reader, scan the QR bar code and tap on a link in order to access the content.
Many felt that NFC would emerge on the back of inclusion in the iPhone 5 with early rumours indicating it would be there however Apple chose to go in a different direction at the time and it will be interesting to see if Apple will include NFC on the iPhone 6.
As time has passed, Apple’s grip on top spot as the leading smartphone manufacturer is starting to loosen with Android powered phones winning market share across the World giving NFC the critical mass that it requires to become a consideration for marketing companies and brand promotions.
The added simplicity of NFC engagement will also increase its appeal, despite the added cost of including the RFIC chip on the marketing collateral. As a frictionless technology, when the user sees a piece of media with a call to action, they can simply tap or wave the phone across an area approximately 8 inches away and the chip will automatically interact with the phone. There is no need to download an app or visit a website, all of the content is passed via the NFC chip.
A recent article on Mobile Commerce Daily reported on NFC program pilots undertaken by Kraft in the USA which showed significantly higher engagement levels compared to QR codes.
For their NFC pilot, Kraft used RFID chips that could be read by NFC-enabled smartphones and placed these on shelf signage right in front of their Kraft cheese and Nabisco cookie brands. The shelf-talkers presented a call-to-action which invited consumers to tap their smartphones to access dynamic recipe content, share their experience on Facebook or download the i-Food Assistant app.
Increased Engagement Levels
The Kraft NFC pilot, which was run for one month, was developed to explore the “tap and engage” experience that was on offer with NFC vs QR codes.
The results from the pilot showed that the overall NFC “tap” engagement level was 12 times higher than with QR Codes (which were also included on the signs). More than 36 percent of consumers who tapped the NFC chip, converted into an action, such as downloading the app, saving a recipe or sharing with friends.
Additionally, NFC increased brand engagement with consumers spending 48 seconds engaged when NFC was involved compared to the traditional 5-10 seconds of brand engagement at the supermarket shelf.
NFC chips present a great opportunity for brands to increase engagement using mobile devices.
When compared to QR codes, over 92 percent of the interactions were with NFC during the Kraft NFC pilot which clearly shows that even though NFC isn’t yet supported on the Apple iPhone, it still represents a viable avenue for mobile marketing.
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19 Comments
James
NFC technology seems to be the more streamlined of the two processes. Tapping or moving your phone up and down is a heck of a lot easier than having to snap a picture of a QR Code. Unfortunately, most people have only heard of QR Code technology. To tell you the truth, this is the first I've ever heard of regarding NFC. Until now, I thought it was the NFL conference.
Timothy
You can tell by all of your articles that you are very passionate about technology and the things that are coming out new. You have had a great article on many different subjects dealing with the latest technology today and you have put a lot of work into it you can tell. Thank you for doing this work and making so that people can just read them and be up to date.
Jason
I got involved in mobile marketing early last year and soon learned how quickly the competition exploded within the span of 1 year. All things mobile, such as text message broadcasting, QR Codes and now NFC have become so popular, that marketers are beginning to saturate the market with their services - though I don't think the market is anywhere near becoming oversaturated because of its sheer size and its continuing rate of growth.
Jan
Well I don't know much about NFC but I do know that the QR codes are being used all the time especially sense they have an app for your smart phone that makes scan those QR codes from your home or anywhere a piece of cake. Is the NFC the same thing as this? I loved your post this is a very interesting subject to me.
Lyle
James that is funny I thought the same thing. I have not used the QR codes on anything because to get started you have to download all this stuff to be able to scan it and then like you said you are actually taking a picture of it. So if this NFC will make it so you are actually scanning the information then it is going to explode past QR codes in no time.
Kimberly
It seems that more and more people are using mobile devices. So it should be the priority of any business to develop a mobile friendly website. If you use a decent CMS site such as WordPress, and you buy a decent theme for it, high quality themes do tend to be constructed for mobile devices and for many screen sizes. HTML5 and layers are adjustable for various screen sizes.
Amanda
I was not sure what NFC was until I read this article. I thought this report had something to do with the NFL conference and some deal or project to develop an app. I am all for a built in chip as opposed to making a customer take a photo of the QR Code. But I wonder how big the reach is for NFC platform.
Gussie
Tag, you're no longer it. LOL Microsoft announced that it terminated its Tag service some time in the near future. It was launched in 2009, and Tag tried to outdo 2D barcodes (QR codes) to provide a connector between smartphones and things populating the real world that just cry out for "more info, like magazines or signs in actual store aisles. Now we are seeing new technologies for mobile devices. It's never ending change.
Sonia
With the exception of a few QR codes, I find most are just ridiculous. More often than not, a QR code takes me to a brand's website. About 80 percent of the time, I'm disappointed that I scanned it. Mostly it's just curiosity at this point. I'm not actually expecting anything useful. So maybe this NFC concept for apps will be better utilized by businesses.
Julio
I have been reading more about NFC and how it is challenging eh QR Code, which to me has little value. According to my findings, an initiator (Cell phone or other device that generates an active NFC field) and a target (A widget that has a passive NFC chip embedded in it) + software to process the data. QR - A camera to capture the QR Image and software to decode it.
Lyle
The promise of NFC-based wallets I would think will take some time to be realized given the POS and handset requirements. Many companies are developing innovative approaches to mobile wallets that can be more readily adopted because they do not require NFC for data transmission or a secure element to store the account credentials. Since this is a new technology, I'm sure it is a fluid situation.
Kevin
To be honest, I was a big proponent of QR codes starting somewhere in 2009/2010. I remember putting a huge QR code on the back of some custom t-shirts that my friend and I created to promote a certain launch during SXSW Interactive back in 2011. The big question we should all be asking is, why hasn't something as promising as the QR code gained more traction in the 10 years of its existence?
Lauren
I heard one of the leading developers of NFC phones say that Japan has a 90 percent adoption rate. So they are already ahead of the U.S. and embracing this platform. The most popular way to utilize NFC is for the smart poster. These companies are getting into the publisher world by creating direct mail campaigns and catalogues. This on mobile phones sounds like a very effective tool for getting higher responses.
Tammy
So is NFC supposed to make the apps easier to use on the Android? I can see how the Iphone is still in the first place spot for this because their apps are already easy to use and right at your finger tips where you don't have to search for them. Thank you so much for the work that you have done on this I can't wait to see what actually happens between the two.
Bob
A year or so ago you couldn't attend a digital marketing conference without hearing about the supposed rise of QR codes. Everyone was talking about how these codes would cover our world in a connected layer of digital information. Someone in a social media Google+ Group I'm in asked how the QR code was doing. I think this article provides a pretty good perspective about the present and the future, or fate, or the QR code.
Miguel
It sounds as if NFC is more of a larger enterprise platform. By that I mean that only the large companies are experimenting or adopting this platform. I haven't read any stories about the small businesses and small time developers experimenting with this new tech. I wonder if it is only a matter of time before the masses catch on to NFC. That is how it tends to go with most new products or technology.
William
In the past 6 months a debate has been growing over whether NFC technology will kill QR codes. NFC offers a more user-friendly interaction with simpler and fewer user steps for interaction (just touch two things together). A comparison of the two technologies makes sense because they both offer a way to trigger interactive content on mobile phones. This is a choice that companies must address before moving forward, I imagine.
William
Hold the (smart) phone. (Please excuse my bad pun.) Until recently, Google widely supported QR codes, using them in its Google Places service to allow people to use their smartphones to find business addresses, URLs, hours of operations, and more. Businesses listed on Places would often put Google-supplied decals printed with QR codes in their windows for customers to scan. Google quietly stopped using the code, however, in favor of a new and dynamic technology Near Field Communication (NFC).
Marilee
It is hard for me to tell which of these platforms is winning the war or race. Are they even competing with each other? I don't think one has to compete with the other if each platform is used for different applications or targeted to a different demographic. However, if both platforms are universal, then you have an all out tech war. If you ask some people, they will say that QR codes are a dying technology, but that could be just cause NFC is the new thing.