I-Free company has equipped new grocery carts in "OK" hypermarkets with NFC tags

June 24, 2013, St. Petersburg, Russia -i–Free Company, one of the largest Russian developers of solutions based on NFC technology (NearFieldCommunication), equipped NFC tags with grocery carts of the St. Petersburg hypermarket chain "OK".

NFC tags allow you to control the distribution of trolleys to retail outlets online, which significantly increases the effectiveness of advertising placed on trolleys. 

Continuing the introduction of NFC-based products and services in Russia, i-Free has developed an effective accounting system for grocery carts in hypermarkets and supermarkets based on this technology.

New models of trolleys in the OK hypermarket chain in St. Petersburg are equipped with NFC tags that allow advertisers to operatively track the distribution and movement of trolleys with advertising.Thus, for the first time, advertisers have the opportunity to receive reliable information about the placement of their ads on grocery carts.

It is also important that the new trolley model ensures guaranteed high consumer contact with advertising and is well adapted to Russian hypermarkets. One of the main features of the new trolley is its lightness and good maneuverability – this distinguishes it from traditional models. The design and construction of the new trolley was developed by the Australian company Markitcart.

In the new trolley, advertising is located on the side surfaces, which turns the trolley into an effective advertising medium: such a favorable location ensures that the maximum number of people will see the advertisement.

NFC tags placed on the trolley are read by the mobile phones of hypermarket employees who make regular inventory of the trolleys. To do this, i-Free has developed a special mobile application that is installed on supervisors' phones. Information about the distribution of trolleys in retail outlets is reflected in a database that all advertisers have access to.

The trolley tracking system generates tasks for changing advertisements in accordance with partner contracts and takes into account the current condition of the trolleys: data on the technical serviceability of the trolleys, the degree of safety of the advertising surface, the condition of the advertising poster, etc. can be recorded on the NFC tag. All this helps advertisers to monitor advertising media in real time.

Thus, in this project, the i-Free company solved a whole range of tasks: equipped with NFC tags for trolleys; created a mobile application that allows you to read tags; developed and implemented a system for accounting trolleys in retail outlets, and also became an exclusive seller of advertising surfaces on trolleys.

Commenting on this work, Nikita Petrov, project manager for i-Free, noted: "We wanted to show that NFC is a convenient and easy–to-use technology that can significantly optimize complex business processes. New trolleys with NFC tags provide the widest opportunities for marketing promotion among hypermarket buyers, which is especially important in a situation where the advertising environment is oversaturated. In such circumstances, alternative advertising media become of great value, especially those that allow advertisers to take a fresh look at the traditional advertising market and help control the condition and effectiveness of advertising media."

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i-Free is an innovative company that has been operating in the CIS market since 2001 and in the international market since 2006. Specializes in the creation and implementation of innovative projects in the field of mobile and NFC technologies, electronic finance, digital content distribution, electronic payment systems and micropayments, the development of applications for smartphones and new network devices, as well as the promotion of digital products in the B2C market and the implementation of B2B projects in the field of mobile marketing.

The company is represented and successfully operates in international markets: i-Free offices are located in Kiev (Ukraine), Minsk (Belarus), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Mumbai (India), Beijing (China), Sao Paolo (Brazil). I-Free products and services are delivered today to more than 100 countries around the world.

The headquarters of i-Free is located in St. Petersburg, the representative office is in Moscow. Currently, the company employs more than 750 people.

i-Free cooperates with leading mobile operators in Russia and the CIS countries, global mobile equipment vendors, banks, multinational brands and trademarks, major media holdings, publishing houses and Internet resources.

More detailed information about the company is available on the website www.i-free.com

For more information, please contact:

Aelita Davydova,

Tel. + 7 (495) 984 90 01

e-mail: pr@i-free.com