RFID Retail

RFID Technology in the Retail Industry

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology offers retailers across the globe a solution for improving customer service and satisfaction, increasing sales, and building customer loyalty. In addition RFID technology provides access to inventory and product movement in real-time, which allows retailers to improve operational efficiencies and combat loss prevention.

Since large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target now require their suppliers to label products with RFID tags for easy tracking, many companies are migrating from barcode technology to RFID technology. While the migration often involves a learning curve and a large investment, there are significant benefits to incorporating RFID into your retail business.

Customer Service Benefits

Because of RFID's ability to provide product locations in real-time, retail employees can quickly and easily help customers find the products that they're looking for. This is especially helpful in bookstores and department stores where items are often removed from shelves and then misplaced when a shopper changes his or her mind about buying the product. If you've ever gone to a major bookstore like Borders and used the "Title Sleuth" to see if a particular book is in stock, you've probably experienced the frustration of going to the shelf and not finding the book, even though the store's inventory indicates that the book is in stock. (There's a similar challenge at libraries, as well.)

In addition to being able to locate a product immediately, RFID technology can be integrated with shopping carts so that as a shopper places items into the cart, a scanner scans the items and keeps a running total of the intended purchase. All the customer has to do is pay. This alone greatly reduces the amount of time that customers spend waiting in line at the checkout. RFID technology improves customer service by reducing wait times and offering a better shopping experience.

RFID Technology Improves Inventory Management

Real-time product visibility allows inventory managers to monitor supply levels and automate the tracking of inventory. Consequently, retailers can reduce their costs by avoiding out-of-stock situations, unnecessary orders, and theft. The data collected during the automatic inventory management process can also be used to predict product demand, thus enabling stores to keep popular items in stock.

RFID Technology Can Build Customer Loyalty

The ability to collect data about the shopping habits of their customers can allow retailers to create a more personalized shopping experience for their customers. Shopping history can be used to tailor value-added services to each customer's needs. For example, an RFID reader in a fitting room of a clothing store can provide information about the garment being tried on, such as its material, color, size, and related items that the customer may be interested in.

As the examples above show, RFID technology improves efficiency and provides a better user experience for both retailers and their customers.

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