Electronic labels and NFC technologyFrom mass retailing to precision retailing

What would you say if, simply by reaching your arm towards the label, you could get all kinds of information on the product (ingredients, price, recipes, nutrition and allergy warnings, etc.), as well as manage your shopping list and even pay online?

That is what SES is offering, thanks to NFC technology.

• Increase in sales

• Greater customer loyalty thanks to better and more personal service

• Enhancement of the store’s image

• Electronic payment

• A cost-effective alternative to traditional self- scanning

• Dynamic sales and promotional activities

• Increased productivity

• Extension of packaging: Interaction with shoppers

• Management and control of the brand image

• Monitoring of promotional events and of customer interaction

• Possibility of conducting publicity campaigns • Detailed product information (special offers, technical data sheets, comparative information, ratings, etc.)

• Nutrition and allergy warnings

• Creation and storage of a shopping list

• Product recommendations and advice (recipes for example)

• Secure payment

NFC technology and electronic labels

Advantages for retailers

Advantages for brands

Advantages for shoppers

AN

SESBREAKTHROUGH

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NFC (Near Field Communication) is a very short-range, wireless data transmission technology. Thanks to this technology, price labels are now able to communicate with shoppers’ smart phones.

All you have to do is place your mobile phone close to the label to obtain additional information on the product; you can manage your shopping list, control your spending, etc. You can also create a personal profile so that you will receive a warning if a product contains a certain allergen.

Mobile phone operators are now making phones with NFC-compatible readers and SIM cards. According to Gartner Inc., 144.4 million smart phones were sold across the world during the first quarter of 2012.

Consumers, henceforth known as «consum’actors» (or proactive consumers), have new expectations regarding proximity, speed and service. This is largely due to the rise of e-commerce, which not only allows Internet users to buy online, but also provides a whole host of product information.

The current trend is towards the digitization of sales outlets. To keep their customers happy, retailers are trying to combine the advantages of e-commerce (product information) with those of a physical store.

In the past, shoppers could obtain product information by scanning a QR code. Now, thanks to NFC technology, they can obtain this additional information immediately and without contact, simply by moving their smart phones close to the electronic label.

Following a test phase initiated in 2009, this technology is now available for use with electronic labels. At the same time, NFC-compatible smart phones are swarming the consumer market: 10 smart phones are sold every second worldwide, and half of these are already NFC compatible.

What is NFC?The development of NFC-compatible smart phones

The emergence of the proactive consumer

We still have some room for improving our offering. We need

to carry out an extensive customer feedback survey, and then rethink and redesign the departments and

product lines in each of our 116 hypermarkets in order to match our customers’ expectations as

closely as possible.Arnaud Mulliez, CEO of Auchan France

(in an interview with «La Voix du Nord»)

A study conducted by McKinsey in March 2011 showed that every US dollar invested

in digital technology generates two US dollars of additional net profit.

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