Protect your brand and engage your customers with NFC

The counterfeiting market, which involves the sale of fraudulent copies of an authentic product, is growing and represents more than 3% of world trade (source: OECD 2019). The sale of counterfeit products is a real threat for retailers and luxury brands.

Counterfeiting not only tarnishes the brand reputation, it also generates loss of income and jobs, and constitutes a threat to public health. While more and more products are counterfeit, it is necessary for companies to implement new brand protection strategies.

Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, which is based on RFID technology, provides retailers and their distributors with a solution to authenticate their products whilst promoting their brand and increasing customer engagement and loyalty.

Secure authentication

The chips used in NFC tags or labels contain a unique identifier, which means that each labeled product is assigned its own ID, which makes it possible to prove its authenticity throughout the supply chain (from the production plant, to the store and to the end customer).

These tags / labels can easily be read with a NFC enabled smartphone or with a reader, allowing access to all the information necessary for product traceability throughout the supply chain. In a few seconds, a distributor or end customer can, by reading the tag, have confirmation that it is indeed a certified product and not a fake.

Thanks to secure authentication, brands can establish a relationship of trust with their distribution network and their consumers.

In addition to the security integrated to the RFID chip, tags and labels can also include security features to make them tamper-evident. These may include invisible inks, holograms or special cutouts. The labels can also carry the mark "void", and be indestructible and non-transferable.

Customer engagement

Embedding NFC tags into products or using a smart packaging allows customers to have confirmation that the product purchased is genuine and that they are not in possession of a fake. It is also becoming increasingly popular in retail as part of marketing strategies as it can help understand customer buying behaviour, for example, when and where they interact with the products.

The tags, which can be read with a smartphone, can be linked to e-commerce sites, or specific landing pages providing more information about the product and the opportunity to purchase associated products, whilst giving access to added-value services such as exclusive content, special offers, invitation to VIP events or competitions. It therefore encourages customers to engage and build a relationship with the brand.

The NFC which creates a link between the product and the digital (phygital) is an essential tool to revolutionise a marketing strategy.