Users of
iPhones and other
smartphones are likely to see the widespread introduction of Near Field Communication (NFC) services over the next few years, it has been claimed.
According to Juniper Research, there is to be a lot of
investment into
contactless functionality, with at least one in five
smartphones around the world featuring the
technology .
Senior analyst Howard Wilcox explained that the advent of NFC is likely to be pounced upon by marketers - not just retailers using it for payment as was initially proposed.
He noted that Juniper's research points to Brits using the technology in different ways and as part of a complete
shopping experience.
"The ability to, for example, wave your phone next to an N Mark hotspot in an advert,
download a music sample, movie trailer or product details and then buy it possibly aided by a special
coupon offer will be attractive for consumers," the expert said.
"At Juniper we call this the retail marketing opportunity, and we actually see this as higher than the payments opportunity, and our report drills down into it in much more detail.