Smartrac, a global leader in RFID and IoT solutions, has announced its partnership with Spyder, an international ski and performance lifestyle brand. In collaboration with Catalyst (a Li & Fung company) and Blue Bite, Smartrac’s future-oriented Experiences solution will enable Spyder to implement the latest NFC (Near Field Communication) technology into its US Ski Team outerwear collection, allowing wearers to stay connected.

Earlier this month, Spyder announced its brand-new US Ski Team (USST) collection. Part of the Smartrac solution to enhance on-mountain adventures with Spyder apparel includes specially designed logo patches embedded with Smartrac’s NFC tags featuring NXP’s NTAG213 ICs, marking this outerwear collection Spyder’s first foray into wearable technology.

With a simple tap of a phone or tablet against the NFC touchpoint in the logo, consumers can instantly engage with real-time and dynamic content, including Spyder’s social media feeds (YouTube, Instagram and Twitter), featured videos, ski events and world-class USST members and rosters.

“We are very excited to launch this new technology, which is designed to elevate the skiing and on-mountain experience even further,” says Julia Hansen, president and CEO of Spyder. “Our sponsorship of the US Ski team for the past 27 years has been a driving force in our pursuit of technical innovation and superior performance, and it continues to lead our charge in bringing the best possible products to market.”

Smartrac’s Experiences solution is further enhanced by the inclusion of contextual and location-based information, such as snow conditions, trail maps and points of interest, personalizing the user experience and continuing the customer journey past the point of purchase.

“Globally, we see a great demand for end-to-end product digitization, and our NFC and IoT solutions provide very suitable answers to that. Together with Catalyst and Blue Bite, we are proud and honored that Spyder has selected Smartrac as its technology partner to bring digital services to its brand products, which in return will bring real benefits to its customers,” explains Christian Uhl, CEO at Smartrac.

As part of this initiative, Smartrac, Catalyst and Blue Bite will collaborate to leverage the Experiences solution and embedded NFC technology across Spyder’s other product categories in the future.

Smartrac and its market partners will showcase Experiences live at Retail’s BIG Show in New York City, January 15-17, 2017, at booth #1433.