How the smart card is changing retailing

Abstract This paper describes how smart-card technology is being used in the United States to promote products and services at the individual or household level. Marketing to the individual customer is known in the trade as micromarketing. It has been a long-standing business goal for many marketing executives. Using smart cards to gather, store, process, and administer marketing information has turned this theory into reality. Presently in the United States two organizations have publicly initiated micromarketing efforts using the smart card. They are making sales promotion a paperless activity, and by doing this smart cards are threatening to change the shape of the advertising industry.