Imagotag Seals €35m NFC Contract in Europe

Imagotag, a subsidiary of Store Electronic Systems (SES), an electronic shelf labels supplier, just sealed an exclusive agreement in Germany with a mysterious “leading international retailer.” The €35m contract, which is one of the world’s largest ESL roll-out agreements to date according to Imagotag’s website, will deploy NFC e-paper displays in 250 stores across Europe. For the SES group, one year after the acquisition of Imagotag, this is a major success.

This contract is the first large-scale ESL roll-out to happen in the consumer retail sector. Imagotag believes that other consumer electronic retailers in Europe should quickly follow suit.

The deal includes 2 million NFC e-paper digital interactive labels in small, medium and large size standard and color displays to be deployed as part of the retailer’s aggressive digital strategy. In this context, the retailer is said to focus particularly on the development of online sales channels in addition to its large network of physical sales outlets.

The electronic labels will enable synchronization of on-line and physical channels while at the same time increasing pricing agility, pricing accuracy and store operational efficiency. They will also enable in-store shoppers’ connectivity and omnichannel digital continuity, powered by the latest generation of interactive NFC-labels with over 1,000 NFC-enabled stores installed across Europe.

According to NFWorld,  both Intermarché and ELeclerc, French supermarket chains, are using NFC electronic labels supplied by SES. NFC technology is discreetly spreading across the world like wildfire. A recent report published by Semico Research reveals that the NFC market is to ship 23 billion units in 2020. The technology helps meet the shoppers’ growing expectation to be able to use their mobile phone as a shopping device. According to a survey published by Merkle Inc., 67 percent of shoppers in the U.S. under the age of 50 stated that they want retailers to offer a totally mobile path for purchases, while 46 percent of that age cohort want personalized offers for in-store purchases on their mobile phones.

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