Retailers, brand owners and their global vendor networks can now source Near Field Communications (NFC) tags and labels for rapid shipment to points worldwide through FineLine Technologies’ new NFC Service Bureau.
The FineLine NFC Service Bureau is accessible to businesses, as well as private individuals, at nfc.www.finelinetech.com. Users simply log onto the site and follow easy ordering prompts to complete their purchase. FineLine reports that 95 percent of orders are shipped in 48 hours or less.
According to FineLine President and CEO George Hoffman, FineLine’s NFC Service Bureau launch comes at a time when NFC technology is set to explode.
“Mobile payment systems, such as Google Wallet, are quickly taking hold throughout the retail industry,” says Hoffman. “At the same time, a new generation of NFC-enabled phones, like Samsung’s Nexus S and Galaxy S3, have set the stage for NFC adoption on a massive worldwide scale. Indeed, Frost & Sullivan expects that 863 million NFC-enabled mobile phones—over 53 percent of the total market–will be in existence by 2015. Look for mobile payment systems to saturate every segment of retailing and for NFC to emerge as the dominant technology for product authentication, product merchandising and much more.”
The FineLine NFC Service Bureau is a dedicated web page on FineLine’s FastTrak online ordering system and employs technology licensed from mobile technology provider ClikGenie. The service bureau supports common NFC Data Exchange Formats, such as SMS, URL, Email, and custom engineered chips using a variety of integrated circuits and inlay forms.
FineLine also offers advanced NFC applications, such as encryption, brand security, anti-counterfeit solutions and custom protocols. One merchandising example: An NFC-enabled apparel price tag scanned with an NFC-enabled phone can access a mobile website with promotions or branding messages.
“Ultimately, NFC applications are almost endless,” Hoffman says. “Uses for its contactless capability can be easily identified in every segment of industry, as well as for personal use. In the home, for example, parents can employ an SMS enabled chip to notify them when their child arrives home. The child simply places his or her NFC enabled phone near the chip and a text message can automatically be sent to the parents.”