Keeping Count: How to Successfully Deploy RFID in Retail
Though the benefits of RFID are plentiful—including inventory record accuracy, display compliance, and futuristic uses of technology to improve the customer experience—retailers must ask the question: is RFID the right fit? Metals and liquids pose a challenge for RFID tags, and while there are workarounds, this is still something to consider.
So, what justifies a ROI for RFID? Is it the checkout experience? Auto replenishment from back to front? Overall customer experience? Billings recognized that while retailers know their business, some benefits can be hard to quantify. In a cost breakdown, Billings identified $.04–.08 per tag, and “the further up the supply chain you tag, the cheaper it is.”
Investors need to consider hardware maintenance as well as recurring software licenses and device costs. The biggest pain point for retailers are process changes. With RFID auditing 100% of items shipped with a full system integration, RFID increases sales between 4% and 8%. Using real-time data is vital.
Billings had a thrilling announcement: “We are excited about our partnership with Frequentiel, and we are looking forward to helping retailers with their RFID needs.” Datascan and Frequentiel, Europe’s premier RFID company, help retailers along the RFID path with ROI calculations and more.
