3 questions to … René van der Horst, Pricer

NFC still is one of the biggest topics in retail technology. Among its various possible applications is also the use in electronic shelf labels (ESL’s). René van der Horst, Area Sales Manager (CE) for Pricer AB, talks about the future of NFC and what to ecpect from Pricer at the forthcoming EuroCIS 2015.

Mr. van der Horst, what role does the NFC technology play for the future of retail solutions like mobile payment and for the direct communication with the customer?

NFC, as a worldwide protocol and initiated by the banking industry, is a great opportunity. It will future proof the communication with the shoppers. The retail industry has a clear understanding of the advantages of NFC for contactless payment (minimize queues). But also as a ‘local’ and ‘on demand’ communication it can boost the interaction with the shopper at the shelf edge.

How can this technology be used efficiently in the store / at the shelf?

So far customers have not yet recognized the advantages of another communication layer at the shelf edge. NFC enables shelf edge management and deployed action tracking by NFC negotiation (contact is proof of presents). It makes performance tasks so much easier than e.g. QR code. It will be up to us to proof the advantages of this new opportunity.

Pricer will again be exhibiting at EuroCIS 2015 in Düsseldorf. What are you expecting from the trade fair and which new products and solutions will you be showing?

Pricer expects a great deal of the coming EuroCIS, as it is the most important fair in the most dense retail area of Europe (BENELUX/DACH). Especially in this area all Tier One retailers are preparing or have ongoing ESL projects. This interesting market is quickly becoming mature and a clear sign is the number of ESL solutions shown on the coming fair. Pricer, as the oldest dedicated ESL vendor, will show some very interesting concepts (5P) on how retailers can digitalize the shelf edge.

Pricer will show solutions in the area of operational excellence like Click and Collect (also beneficial for warehouse solutions), Customer Experience like Customer to Light and Geolocation all based on Pricer’s intelligent platform already used by their ESL’s. Having the most performant platform with the lowest power consumption and the fastest response time opens many new possibilities to assist the retailers in their efforts to beat the internet and boost customer experience in the most cost effective way.

Interview: Daniel Stöter; EuroCIS-tradefair.com