NFC is definitely a new technology that can contribute to increasing your sales revenue by making your products more attractive.
Beyond the actual integration of the touchpoint to your product and the implementation of NFC technology in your application, here are recommendations that can increase the chances of a successful NFC-enabled product launch.
NFC users expect instant tap connection / interaction with the item they now own. Adding mandatory lengthy registrations might be a showstopper for NFC technology adoption.
Forcing users to start their NFC experience by registering their name and email has proven to negatively impact the user experience of NFC implementations.
It is a good idea to let the user become familiar with your NFC application before asking them to create an account.
Offering a social network login to sign into a website instead of having to create a new one can simplify the registration process.
If you are going to develop several apps for your brand, but for different consumer products, it is a good idea to implement and add NFC connectivity in a consistent way.
Indeed, NFC being a relatively new technology to consumers, consistency on the following points can help:
Because NFC users expect instant interactions with their product, we have observed that associating it with applications using large images, requiring a lot of bandwidth to download could be counter-productive.
Ensuring a higher page loading speed improves application performance and will enhance the NFC user experience.
Give the user an acknowledgement to notify when a tag has been read and when it is safe to remove the smartphone.
In case of long data transfers, a progress indicator will help the user to be patient.
While adding the NFC Technology is exciting, it is important to avoid the “what’s the point of tapping my phone on this NFC touchpoint?" effect.
So, it is important that after tapping on the NFC touchpoint, the consumer will find value in the content they are accessing.
Globally, a closer intimacy with the product or with the brand will be seen as a benefit. Interactions can include activating the product warranty, verifying that the product is genuine, offering VIP access to a brand event, invitation to a private sales event, finding associated products, receiving discount coupons on refills, seeing a video describing the product fabrication process.
If NFC comes with benefits for your customers, they will engage with your brand in an unprecedented way which will increase their loyalty and your brand’s reach.
NFC user experience depends on various parameters.
To take these recommendations into account and avoid forgetting essential topics, a functional analysis with assessments at different stages of pre-deployment can assure a reliable and robust NFC ecosystem.
The main goal of these tests is to verify the NFC tag is properly programmed and it can communicate with smartphones when it is placed on the final product without having any issue.
The complete ecosystem with mobile phones and tag must be checked before products are released on the market.
Checkpoints with prototypes along the development allow to verify how the “product” complies to your specification and expected performance level.
The mobile phone is the cornerstone of the setup. Planning test sessions with a representative panel of smartphones will ensure that the NFC devices will work in all cases.
To be relevant, these verification tests must be performed on the final product, with “in-situ” touch point operating volume measurement and data format behavior check.
Now that your final product, incorporating the NFC new functionality, is manufactured, tested and ready to be launched, it is the moment of truth: will consumers use and appreciate this novelty?
To ensure that the NFC user experience will be optimum, it is useful to assist and accompany consumers using this new technology (in fact as any company would do when launching an innovative product).
An information campaign would allow the new user to discover the NFC technology: its ease of use and learning, its attractiveness, and its benefits.
Education can be as simple as inserting a label in the product box or at the time of purchase, where the consumer can find basic explanations of how NFC works (gesture, touchpoint location, tap & connect key messages etc.).
Education can also be personal assistance, such as dedicated staff in shops, training, and advocating newbies.
The panel of education possibilities is quite wide (videos, billboards, dedicated webpages on brand websites, web support, chat etc.), and is essential to ensure the best user experience, at least until NFC technology becomes more widely used.
Also, users’ feedback about NFC usage, through questionnaire or survey, would help the improvement of the user experience all along the product launch.
A well-educated consumer aware of the benefits of the NFC will be a happy and loyal consumer.
