The use of RFID technology to improve inventory visibility and provide enhanced customer satisfaction is gaining traction in the retail industry. RFID as a technology has been around for many years, but of late there is a resurgence of interest and substantial growth in the use of RFID in retail which is also supported in the recent ChainLink Research: Use Cases Driving the Current Surge in RFID Adoption.
“RFID has come a long way in the last few years. Standards have been established. Prices for systems and tags have plummeted. RFID technology has become much more reliable,” says Ann Grackin, CEO of ChainLink Research, in the report. “Software applications that can be integrated into retailer IT systems that are user-friendly at the store level are now available. There are now many more experienced implementers, technologies have evolved into a complete solutions approach and technology providers and systems integrators have considerably greater experience with retail and integration with operational systems.”
The ChainLink Research team surveyed and interviewed over 120 retailers from the Americas and Europe to explore the resurgence of interest and substantial growth in the use of RFID in retail. When asked to rank the three top reasons for implementing RFID now, retailers noted:
1. Improving inventory accuracy
2. Reducing out of stocks (OOS)
3. Increasing on-floor availability
Recently, retailers like Macy’s, Saks and others have implemented RFID on billions of items and have achieved greater than 95% inventory accuracy. With this as a foundation, they are able to execute new strategies such as omnichannel retailing to fight online competition, and tackle age-old problems such as reducing stock outs and improving customer satisfaction. Retailers adopting RFID are seeing significant uplift in their sales.
With the buzz around RFID and how it is creating value among retailers, we anticipate those who have not explored this area to take a serious look at the RFID-based solutions available in the market. 2014 may very well be the year of dramatic RFID adoption for retailers.
In this month’s newsletter, read our "RFID Inventory Accuracy at World’s Largest Shoe Floor" case study to find out how Macy’s drives sales and improve their customer experience through RFID. Also take time to read our White Paper, "The Visible Store – Data Platform for Retail Excellence", to understand how real time store visibility can help retailers optimize store operations and maximize profits.
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