RFID in Japan

Betrend and Linkshare Japan started providing a new service that allows people to (possibly) earn money by including QR codes on their websites, distributing cards with printed QR codes, or printing QR codes on anything. Someone who takes a picture of one of these QR codes (using a camera phone) will be guided to a corresponding mobile commerce website.

Two mobile commerce websites will experimentally use this system: Girls Shopping (women's apparel) and LaCASTA (body care and aroma oil products).

The next step of this service is to use the same affiliate model for brick and mortar stores. So, it'd be like, I paste a QR code here and there, someone camphone-click one of my QR codes, go to a corresponding (physical) store, buy a corresponding sales item, and then I get a small percentage of that revenue. The companies expect that such a "real affiliate tool" can be used at car dealer shops, beauty and health shops, and restaurants.

via LinkShare Japan news release < QR Code Blog

DNP Developed an in-store information clipping system that allows in-store customers to access information about sales items and store the information in "my folders" for later access. As shown in the photo, the system uses QR codes and consumers take a pic of QR with their camera phones. Consumers may use this system for creating a wish list or compare similar sales items. Retailers can collect detailed information about consumers because this system can capture which product a customer clicked (it's recorded even when the consumer doesn't actually buy the product). So, a potential new marketing tool.

This system will be shown at IC Card World Expo that will take place at Tokyo Big Site from March 7 till 10.

via DNP News Release and CNET Japan

Related:
RFID "Bookmarking" to be introduced in Harajuku

NTT Communications and Seijo will test a system that allows a customer to visualize what different shades of make-up look like on their face by just putting RFID-chiped beauty products on a magical pad.

Computer Partner reports:

The system resembles a traditional make-up mirror with lights placed either side but instead of a mirror there is a computer monitor in the center. On the monitor's screen are various panels showing details of different make-up and an image from a video camera mounted just above the screen.

The customer sits in front of the system and places the desired make-up on a pad in front of the monitor. The make-up samples are tagged with RFID chips and the pad includes a reader so the system can grab the RFID tag number and look this up in a database for product details. These details are then sent back to the system which uses visual recognition technology to determine the different areas of the customer's face in the video and then manipulates the image to simulate the desired make-up.

According to MYCOM PCWEB, this system allows customers to try out more beauty proucts since it's quicker and easier tha actually trying them out, which could lead to increased sales. Also, the system tracks which products are scanned how many times etc. so the store can easily know which products are the most popular etc.

(NTT Communications' press release in Japanese)

via Computer Partner < RFID Gazette; Digital World Tokyo < Popgadget ; Cnet Japan; MyCOM PC Web

thanks also to regine!

NTT Data and Mitsukoshi is asking some customers to blog things and events at a department store. Customers who are selected as official bloggers receive RFID-tagged USB memory sticks that can be used for an authentification purpose. The system tracks the customers' visits to the store and may automatically post thank-you-for-coming messages on blogs.

[Mitsukoshi Community Salon - the blog site used for the pilot test.]

related:
Mitsukoshi: A case of successful item-level RFID on a sales floor

via NTT Data News release < InternetWatch

RFID tags can be embedded in product packages, but, barcodes and QR codes cannot. Barcodes and QR codes can affect the package design (though new technologies such as Design Barcodes, ClorCodes, Design 2D Barcodes were recently proposed).

It's a question if our goal is to always make things invisible. It's hard to scan an RFID tag if we don't know where it is. If tags are visible, we can place them at relevant and suggestive positions on product packages, posters, and catalogs.

When portions of printed information are concealed by pasting barcodes/QR codes on them, opportunities are created for consumers to uncover them (physically or electronically) at a later point in time. If there are pleasures associated with concealing-disclosing information this way, could RFID undermine them?

[Conceal Model of QR Codes]

Mail Jingo blog recently proposed an idea dubbed "Conceal Model of QR Codes," which uses QR codes to hide the information people are most interested in. Think about ads designed using this approach. They can be extremely seductive and pleasurable. The pleasures associated with concealing-disclosing information seem as disturbing as the tension associated with privacy and the Big Brother.

via Mail Jingo < QR Code Blog

NEC announced a new "customer relationship support solution" for providing personalized in-store services that match customers' preferences and personal traits. Customers shows either "RFID-chipped mob¤¤le phone straps" or customer loyalty cards to an in-store RFID device. Then, their purchase histories, preferences, etc. are displayed on sales agents' PCs and mobile devices.

The system incorporates the know-how for judging people's personality types, which is provided by some psychology research organization (name not disclosed). When analyzing customer data, the system also provides information about customers' personality and "stars" based on their birthdates. Sales agents use this information to adapt their interactions with the customers. Or, sales agents who are highly compatible with the customer go talk with him/her.

The system includes NEC's customer-relationship application, RFID middleware "RFID Manager", RFID tags/ readers, servers, and in-store PCs. The company's goal is to sell 200 systems (2.5B Japanese Yen in total) in three years.

via CIO JP

related: 10,000 Shanghai Department Store Customers RFID'd

UBWALL is Fujitsu's large display device that integrates eight RFID readers. This device was first publicly demonstrated at RetailTech Japan 2005 exhibition in Tokyo in March. (Here's the official press release in Japanese - thanks regine).

This device was again featured at CEATEC Japan 2005 in October. Here's a video clip from the event. UBWALL appears near the end of the clip.

[UBWALL. screenshot from the video clip]

I'm still curious about the uses of eight readers. They could provide more interactive experiences than a simple RFID-triggered public kiosk.

A company called Techno Wing developed so-called Mobile Bingo System that allows consumers to play a Bingo game while shopping at a retail store.

A customer first need to sign up for the service, then she receives a QR code from a server. After shopping, she can display the QR code on her mobile phone and show it to a reader device. Then, she receives an SMS message that notifies her about the points she earned. Now she can open her home page on her phone to check the current status of her ongoing bingo game.

Everytime she earns some points, she gets an additional symbol and when she gets three identical symbols in row, she is rewarded with coupons.

This system makes it easier for retailers to collect detailed data about consumers.

via Kawakitashinpo Sha < QR Code Blog