Short Range Wireless (NFC / Bluetooth)

Short range wireless transmission has been popularised through the smartphone in recent years. Near-Field Communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enable two devices, one of which is usually a portable device such as a smartphone, to establish communication by bringing them within 4 centimetres of each other. Bluetooth is also a wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices. The NFC technology is used within mobile payment applications like ApplePay and have been largely adopted within retail. There have been other experiments with NFC in retail but no other application has taken off anywhere close to the extent that payment via NFC has. Bluetooth technologies such as beacon based marketing have failed to find widespread adoption. Whilst NFC and Bluetooth technology both present great opportunities for retailers to connect with customers shopping in store through targeted messaging and offers, retailers have made fairly poor attempts to perform highly relevant marketing on digital channels.