TCC trials NFC loyalty program in Latvia

Customer loyalty specialist agency TCC and Latvian retail group Narvesen have recently trialled mobile proximity marketing via NFC as part of a loyalty program.

NFC (Near Field Communications) is a set of standards for smartphones and other mobile devices which allows them to communicate with each other over short distances. It is commonly used in contactless payment systems.

The Latvian trial saw Narvesen Baltija, a chain of 240 newsagent stores and kiosks across Latvia, using NFC at 10 of its outlets in Latvia’s capital, Riga.

One thousand people registered to participate in the trial and were provided with an NFC-enabled sticker to attach to the back of their mobile phone or to place inside their purse or wallet. After creating a virtual account with Narvesen they were able to collect loyalty reward ‘stickers’ electronically, rather than collecting paper vouchers in the traditional way.

Upon registration, shoppers were given a bonus of 10 reward points to start off their collection.

Once enough reward ‘stickers’ were collected, participants were able to exchange these for a number of collectable BigHeadz Plush toys.

The program, designed to increase shopper frequency and loyalty to the brand, was the first of its kind in Latvia.

TCC says results of the trial were promising and suggest that this type of ‘sticker’ collection and reward scheme is favourable to other methods of collection.

Shopper feedback suggested Latvian consumers appreciated a more portable, faster and convenient method of collecting rewards from retailers. Regular and less frequent shoppers both used the system while Narvesen itself apparently benefited from faster payments, reduced queues, reduced cost and environmental savings.

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