This scenario will show you how NFC Smart Posters can enhance the customer experience

Zuma Fashions use NFC to engage customers and increase sales

History
During late 2010, Zuma Fashions undertook a review of their customer engagement and retention schemes seeking to identify a way of utilising cutting-edge technology to extend their brand reach and adopt a market-leading position with the 18-30 clothing market. Existing marketing channels relied on traditional printed advertisements, a monthly catalogue and an online store with a poorly managed Facebook page and corporate Twitter account.

Whilst investigating new avenues of potential customer engagement, Zuma Fashions began discussions with Smart Poster UK, looking to employ Near Field Communications (NFC) technology as an additional marketing channel. Zuma were intrigued by the potential of utilising a single format which would allow them to promote their products and stores, interact digitally with customers and implement a new customer loyalty scheme directly onto a customer’s NFC-enabled smart phone.

The prevalence of mobile phones within the target demographic suggested that targeting smart phone platforms would be a logical investment of marketing budget as well as offering a unique channel for maintaining and enhancing customer relationships. Despite the success of existing Near Field Communications trials such as London Underground’s Oyster Card scheme, the novelty of the technology has been shown to appeal to persons in the 18-30 age bracket.

With the assistance of Smart Poster UK, Zuma Fashions began a phased roll out of NFC tags and smart poster systems to cover every angle of their interactions with their customers.

Phase 1 – Smart Posters and Feedback
To assess the feasibility of NFC tag technology, Zuma Fashions decided to try a limited roll-out of the technology in their stores using a single smart poster located near the checkout counters to gauge customer satisfaction. The smart poster was printed with simple instructions on downloading the Zuma Fashions app from iTunes or the Android Marketplace to the customer’s smart phone handset. Once loaded, the customer “swiped’ their handset over the NFC tag embedded in the smart poster which transferred store location automatically into the app before asking the customer a few questions about their in-store experience. Upon completion of the questionnaire, the customer was given an electronic discount voucher for their next visit. Customers were also presented with the option to join Zuma’s mailing list, receiving monthly marketing emails as well as the option to receive a printed catalogue.

As the trial continued, downloads of the smart phone app increased sharply, as did online referrals between customers over popular social networks. The promise of a discount voucher for each completed questionnaire helped increase uptake of the app and helped prepare customers for future NFC-enabled uses by Zuma Fashions. Zuma customers were also able to forward copies of vouchers to friends and family via SMS or email, further raising the profile of the brand.

Phase 2 – In-store tagging
Following the success of the initial smart poster trial, Zuma Fashions moved onto using NFC tags on each of the garments sold in-store. A new release of the Zuma Fashions smart phone app allowed customers to ‘swipe’ the NFC tag attached to a blouse and get details of the price, the materials of which the blouse was made and a short video of the garment being modeled delivered directly to their phone. Using the phone’s internet connection, additional information could also be downloaded from the Zuma website such as the popularity of the garment or suggested accessories to complete a full outfit.

At the same time, Zuma Fashions were able to collect real-time data as to customer browsing habits for data mining and marketing purposes. The Zuma website was also able to collect information as to the most popular styles of dress and the fabrics of choice which were then used to help plan future collections for the next season.

NFC tags were also added to all Point of Sale displays allowing for dissemination of additional product information. By scanning tags and POS displays, customers were able to create a Wish List on using their smart phone which was stored on the Zuma website and could then be shared with friends and family. Zuma also used these wish lists to help target specific offers and discounts as well as cross-selling or up-selling related items by making suggestions within the Zuma app or in the weekly email sent to all Zuma loyalty card holders.

Zuma also used the in-store expansion of NFC as the perfect opportunity to introduce their new customer loyalty scheme. Using the same smart phone app, a virtual loyalty card allowed customers to collect points for each purchase made. The scheme experienced a massive upsurge in use as customers appreciated the ease of use of the new system which removed the need to carry a plastic membership card as is traditionally the case. Customers also commented very positively on the ability to track loyalty points, and balances in real time. Zuma stores began to report increased sales as customers took advantage of the loyalty scheme, collecting and spending points accrued via their mobile handsets.

Further functionality was developed into the system allowing customers to buy non-clothing items such as gift vouchers directly from their phones and have them delivered instantaneously by text or email to their friends or family. By implementing an electronic vouchering system, Zuma found administration of the vouchering system to be much cheaper to administer and maintain than previous efforts involving magnetic cards and printed paper versions.

Phase 3 – Branching Out
With in-store uses of NFC technology proven, Zuma Fashions were keen to expand their use of the technology with a view to attracting new customers. Zuma commissioned a number of dual-purpose smart posters for display in shopping centers across the UK; the printed poster showed a number of items from the current clothing collection and some instructions on accessing the NFC tag contained in the poster. The NFC tag itself contained directions to the closest Zuma Fashions store, a discount voucher for first time shoppers and a message containing special offers running in-store that week. In the event that a chosen item was out-of-stock, customers were presented with a map showing directions to the nearest store with that garment available.

Zuma were also keen to exploit the convenience of the NFC tagging system to streamline customer in store experiences. In addition to directions and vouchers, customers were presented with the option pre-order items ready for collection by the time they arrived at the store. Reservations and payment for items could be made directly from the customer’s handset in addition to optional extra services such as a gift-wrapping service. Customer feedback suggested that the convenience of simply collecting items from the store without having to go through the usual check-out process was extremely popular as less time was “wasted” queuing.

Thanks to the re-usable nature of NFC tags, the embedded offers were updated to offer a newly discounted product each week. During their investigations in 2010, Zuma Fashions had discovered that the male clothing range was experiencing a steady decline in sales so it was decided that the smart posters could be used to address this issue as smart phone usage statistics suggested that markedly more men than women used the devices. The first smart poster offer was therefore chosen to be a 20% discount on the cost of any pair of Gavin fit chinos bought in store that week.

Initially use of the posters was lower than that of the posters in-store, and the first weeks sales figures were little different to the week before. During the second week, a “buy 2 get 1 free” offer on cotton polo shirts was launched which attracted a lot more customer attention. In-store smart posters were also updated to inform existing Zuma customers of the offer which resulted in a lot more “word of mouth” referrals. As interaction with the posters increased, customers began publicising the system themselves on social networks with #ZFSmart Poster trending on Twitter at one point. Social media interest also led to increased offline media interest and several national publications using Zuma Fashions as an example of retailers using enhanced technology creatively.

NFC Out of Hours
Zuma Fashions also took the opportunity to use NFC-enabled vinyl window graphics as part of their shop windows displays. Mounted on the inside of each storefront were a number of vinyl graphics to accompany the dressed mannequins. The embedded near field communication smart tags contained additional information regarding the clothes on display such as pricing, sizes and stock levels which could be read by a shopper simply by passing their smart phone over the display in the window.

Initially the shop front displays were designed to encourage passing shoppers to enter the store by offering discount vouchers and special offers to people scanning the Near Field Communication tags on the posters. Zuma staff changed the window displays weekly and updated the information embedded into each NFC tag to reflect details of the new garments and to change the weekly offer.

Over time it became apparent that the placement of Zuma Fashions stores in high streets in major towns meant that there was a high footfall of out of hours window shoppers. With this knowledge, Zuma adapted the focus of the smart posters to increase their sales reach by embedding links to the displayed garments within the Zuma Fashion online store. When scanning the smart posters, customers were presented with the usual garment information such as sizes and prices as well as stock availability and the option to buy online immediately. Customers were also able to “bookmark” products for browsing and to save electronic vouchers for redemption in store at a later date.

As with the previous phase of the NFC roll-out, customers were also presented with the option to pre-order and pay for items for collection at a later, more convenient time. By making garments available any time, impulse buys were much easier to convert thanks to the convenience of the  nfc system for customers.

Within weeks, Zuma noticed that customers were using the window displays to make purchases both in and out of hours because of the convenience to the customer. The ability to make impulse buys and pay conveniently, quickly and securely using nothing more than their nfc smart phones were reported by customers as key to their decisions to use the smart posters.
Conclusion
Since the initial trials in early 2010, NFC technology and NFC Smart Posters has now become a large part of Zuma Fashions’ communications strategy. Zuma credit the technology for directly increasing their revenues and profits over the 2010-2011 financial year because of the unique way in which it allows them to communicate with their customer base and gather data that enables them to better communicate with their customers and market more efficiently.

The author Paul Lakeman is the development director of Near Field Communication (Jersey) Ltd who develop NFC Solutions for retailers using Smart posters

http://www.near-fieldcommunication.co.uk

http://www.smart-poster.co.uk

07797 897 614