There are many advantages to implementing RFID and NFC into product lines. Most frequently, inventory benefits are cited as a key reason. However, for some innovative brands, the ability to connect and communicate with their customers is particulrly important.
 
Such is the case with Mammut Sports Group AG, a major Switzerland-based outdoor brand. At NRF 2019: Retail’s Big Show in New York in January 2019, Mammut and its partner Smartrac showcased Mammut’s integration of NFC tags, software and enabling technology into some of its products. Mammut embedded Smartrac Circus Flex NFC tags, equipped with the NXP NTAG 213 IC, into some of its outdoor products. Now, nearly a year later, Mammut is happy with the results, and is planning on enabling NFC throughout its portfolio.
 
Tim Hegglin, head of corporate communications, Mammut Sports Group AG, said that the ability to connect with consumers allow the company to better serve their customers. 
 
“Mammut connects with consumers and learns more about needs of our consumers to offer purposeful services and value adds,” he observed. “We even better connect the brand with consumers and wholesale to build an ecosystem. Thus, Mammut achieves greater visibility into products and its post-sale customer journey.”
 
Through the Mammut Connect app, consumers can tap their smartphone on the product’s NFC touch point. The app then provides digital content and services to the customers. Additionally, retailers can gather product information to enhance sales. 
 
“We are very happy with the feedback of our consumers and use the feedback to further improve the Mammut Connect app,” Hegglin noted. “We started with a minimum viable product and want to make fast progress in adapting to our consumers’ needs.”
 
Hegglin said that the ecosystem centers around Smartrac’s Smart Cosmos IoT platform, Smart Cosmos Cloud and Enablement System, which allows the creation of a unique ID number for each product and tracks the history of that product’s movements throughout the supply chain, at the store and after the item is brought to the customers home. Mammut personnel can interrogate the tag along the way, which provides supply chain transparency. 
 
There are plenty of promising areas where NFC can be used for clothing. For example, a brand owner can offer loyalty programs, rpovide services or receive feedback.
 
“By leveraging NFC, Mammut can create a digital connection between a digital product identity and a consumer identity, enabling loyalty programs, feedback and value-added services,” Hegglin said. “Those services can include access to product information, as well as other company services, such as Mammut Alpine School tour offerings.”
 
The desire to offer NFC-enabled products quickly was the biggest challenge that the partners overcame.
 
“We didn’t have much time for the implementation,” said Hegglin. “However, in less than 12 months, Smartrac provided suitable NFC tags and additionally rolled out a global set of the Smart Cosmos Enablement System. That included hardware and software components, as required. Smartrac was also asked to provide field application experts in order to train, guide and support Mammut’s factory operators onsite.”
 
With the early returns being so positive, Mammut is fully committed to adding NFC capabilities to virtually its entire portfolio.
 
“In summer 2019, approximately 30 products came with NFC tags, and that number will expand to 80 products in the winter, and then to 120 products by next summer,” Hegglin concluded. “In the long term, Mammut plans to roll out nearly the entire product portfolio, and to further develop the Mammut Connect app to offer more experiences.”