Glossary
NFC (Near Field Communication)
A short-range wireless standard that lets a smartphone read a passive tag by tapping it — no app, no camera, no aiming required.
NFC tags are increasingly embedded into premium product packaging, garment labels and physical assets. A single tap opens a URL, making the interaction faster and more reliable than QR for in-hand experiences.
NFC also supports tamper-evident and cryptographically signed tags, which are widely used in authentication and luxury resale flows where proving a tag has not been cloned matters.
Related terms
QR Code
A 2D matrix barcode that encodes a URL or data string and can be scanned with any modern smartphone camera.
Product Authenticity
The verifiable claim that a physical item is genuine — produced by the legitimate brand and not counterfeit, diverted or tampered with.
Connected Packaging
Physical packaging that carries a scannable data carrier (QR, NFC, RFID) linking the product to a live digital experience.