This recent blog post from The RFID Weblog caught my eye. Given that we are in the middle of 2009 and (to the best of my knowledge) none of the top cell phone manufactures currently have RFID chips embedded in their phones, the pace better pick up if we want to reach this prediction by next year. Predictions aside though, I wanted to throw out a few marketing use cases that could be enabled with this marriage of cell phone and RFID.
I'm Here, Start Spoiling Me Now
In this use case, a customer could associate their RFID enabled cell phone with their loyalty/rewards account for a particular merchant or service business. Then, when the customer enters a participating location (and their cell phone is picked up by an RFID reader at the entrance) a personal greeter/assistant could be alerted to greet the customer upon their arrival. A good example of this use case could be a "high roller" at a Casino. Upon entering the casino location, the high roller could be greeted by a personal assistant who could pro-actively attend to their every need. "Hi Mr. High Roller! Here's your favorite cigar and drink. Your table is already for you."
Tell Me More...
In this use case, a customer could hold their cell phone next to a product (with an RFID tag on it) to get additional information about the product. The information could include detailed product information that's not on the product label or surrounding signage. Other information might include:
- Complementary products. For example, cheeses in a store that go with a selected bottle of wine.
- Nutritional information for a food or beverage
- Product ratings. For example crash test ratings for a particular car.
- Any related discounts, rebates or coupons associated with the selected product.
Please Don't Make Me Dig For My Rewards Card
This is a common occurrence at any check out line where a reward/loyalty card is "swiped." Here the customer has to find their rewards card in their wallet or purse. If they can't find their card, they instead need to enter their phone number or other identifying information into a keypad to pull up their loyalty/rewards account. This can be a bit of a hassle for the customer. If the customer has a cell phone with embedded RFID associated with their rewards account though, their rewards account can automatically be pulled up when they enter into the check out area. This saves the customer time and increases the likelihood that the rewards card will be associated with the customer's transaction.
These are just a few use cases, at the top of my mind, that could be achieved by embedding RFID chips into cell phones.
I'm not sure if every new cell phone will have an RFID chip in it a year from now. What I am certain of is the marketing use cases that will be enabled by this cell phone/RFID integration will be game changing.
