Where does NFC pay for itself in a business?
Where a physical object should carry a digital action and the interaction has to be quick, deliberate and close. Everywhere else it competes with a printed code that costs nothing to produce and works on every phone, which is a hard competitor to beat.
What it does better
A deliberate, close interaction with no aiming. Touching an object is faster than framing a camera, and it works in the dark and at an angle.
An object that is itself the credential. A card handed over, a badge worn, a tag fixed to equipment: the physical thing carries the identity rather than pointing at it.
An identifier per item. A chip that mirrors its own identifier lets a thousand identically written tags each resolve to something different, which turns a per item encoding job into a single run.
And a gesture people already know from paying, which needs no explanation to anyone who has used a card in a shop.
Where it loses
At any distance. A tag works on contact, so anything requiring reach needs a different technology and saying so early saves a project.
Where the audience is unknown and unequipped. Some visitors have no NFC, and some have a phone that will not read without an application being opened first.
Where a printed code would do. A code costs nothing per unit, works on every phone with a camera, and is visible from across a room. Choosing NFC against it needs a reason beyond novelty.
And where the content must be read at a glance. A tag is invisible and announces nothing, which is a real disadvantage against print.
What a deployment really costs
| Line | Usually remembered? |
|---|---|
| The tags themselves | Always |
| Encoding and verifying each one | Sometimes |
| Installation labour and access | Rarely |
| The page or system behind the tag | Rarely |
| Replacement over the deployment's life | Almost never |
The tag is the cheapest line and the one every quote leads with. The last three decide whether the project is affordable.
Pilot before you commit
Ten tags to validate the product, a hundred to validate the process, then the real quantity. Every mistake is cheap at ten and expensive at a thousand.
Test on the oldest phone in your audience, on the real surface, with someone who has never seen the tag.
Measure the outcome rather than the read. A tag that is tapped and produces nothing useful has not worked, and only watching real people reveals it.
And decide what happens when a visitor cannot use it, because some proportion cannot and a deployment without a fallback excludes them.
All guides in this section
- Digital business cards
- Retail and point of sale
- Events and badges
- Access control
- Inventory and asset tracking
- Marketing and packaging
- Deployment and logistics
Digital business cards
- How does an NFC business card actually work?
- Card, sticker or keyfob for a business card?
- What happens when a prospect taps your card?
- What should the page behind your card show?
- How do you update your details after handing out cards?
- Do NFC business cards work on every phone?
- What do you do when someone has no NFC phone?
- How do you equip a whole team?
- How do you measure whether a card is used?
- What does an NFC business card deployment cost?
Retail and point of sale
- What can an NFC tag do on a shelf display?
- How do you place tags in a shop so they get used?
- What signage does a tag need next to it?
- How do you handle tags on metal shelving?
- Can one tag serve several products?
- How do you set up a tap to review tag?
- Can NFC replace a printed catalogue?
- How do you refresh a campaign without replacing the tags?
Events and badges
- How are NFC badges used at an event?
- Should badges be encoded before or on site?
- How many spare badges should you prepare?
- How do you handle badge failures during an event?
- Can a badge work without network coverage?
- Can attendees exchange details by tapping badges?
- What data should never be written on a badge?
- What do you do with badges after the event?
Access control
Inventory and asset tracking
- When is NFC the right choice for inventory?
- How many items can one person scan per hour with NFC?
- How do you tag equipment for maintenance?
- What do you write on an asset tag?
- How do you tag metal equipment?
- How do you plan a tagging scheme for a fleet?
- What do you do with a tag that outlives the asset?
- Can NFC track items through a supply chain?
Marketing and packaging
- Should packaging carry a tag, a QR code, or both?
- How do you put a tag inside a product package?
- How do you tag a printed poster?
- How do you tag a product that will be shipped?
- What response rate can you expect from a tap campaign?
- What should a packaging tag do after purchase?
- What happens to NFC tags in packaging recycling?
Deployment and logistics
- How do you plan an NFC deployment from scratch?
- What does a pilot deployment need to prove?
- How do you budget a deployment of a thousand tags?
- Who encodes the tags, and when?
- Which device should encode the batch?
- How do you write one tag that works on every phone?
- How do you test a tag on both platforms before deploying?
- What can you promise a client about iPhone support?
- Which platform limits will not be lifted by an update?
- How do you handle replacements over time?
- What documentation should a deployment leave behind?
- How do you hand a deployment over to a client?
Frequently asked questions
Is NFC better than a QR code for business?
For a deliberate close interaction with an object people hold, often yes. For reach, for unknown audiences and for cost per unit, a printed code is hard to beat.
What is the most common mistake?
Costing the tags and forgetting the labour, the page behind them and the replacements. The tag is the cheapest part of any deployment.
How many tags should a first order be?
Ten to check the product, a hundred to check your process, then the quantity you need. The two small orders cost almost nothing against what they prevent.
Do I need an app for customers?
No, and requiring one is usually fatal. Write a web address, which needs nothing installed on the visitor's phone.