Another country is piloting NFC shopping walls that allow shoppers to make purchases by tapping NFC tags or scanning QR codes.
Shopping walls have landed at the Vystavochnaya subway station in Moscow, Russia—a project backed by the electronics retailer Media Markt and the Moscow Department of Transportation. According to NFC World, the initiative is currently active and will run until November of this year.
“Firstly, NFC is really convenient for the customers. There is no special app needed. Secondly, we wanted to use the latest technologies for this innovative pilot. Our target audience includes top smartphone users that would like to try NFC, but there is a limited number of solutions for them to do so,” Bernd Guralczyk, CEO of Media Markt in Russia, said to NFC World. “For Media Markt, this is an interesting experiment and a possibility to offer shopping in a new format to Moscow residents.”
We’d love to be your preferred source for news.
Please add us to your preferred sources list so our news, data and interviews show up in your feed. Thanks!
The mobile shopping display is made up of 18 columns that employ NFC and QR codes. Customers waiting at the station can shop without having to download any specific mobile applications. Each product includes a price tag that has an NFC tag and QR code. The display is designed to look like virtual shelves, and once a customer scans the item on the shelf, they are immediately redirected to Media Markt’s mobile website.
Once the site is loaded, users can choose to have the product delivered to their home free of charge, or select to pick it up at the location of their choice. To enhance the customer experience, the partnership is even offering free WiFi in the station.
Advertisement: Scroll to Continue
At present the program does not include a mobile payment option—customers can only pay with cash or credit via the store or courier.
“We decided not to develop mobile payment for the pilot,” said Guralczyk. “However, if the pilot proves to be successful, we plan to extend the payment possibilities: credit cards, PayPal, even Underground deposit cards.”
Shopping wall initiatives have already been rolled out in countries such as South Korea and Japan. Interestingly, a similar project in South Korea lead to major sales increases—up 130 percent, according to NFC Expert. Smartphone shopping will greatly benefit the eCommerce market, as it gives customers new opportunity to shop on their mobiles during downtimes.
To read the full article at NFC World or NFC Expert click here.
Add as Preferred Source
