The retail landscape is constantly changing due to the emergence of new technologies and changing consumer shopping behavior.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has changed the business for good. Retailers are now facing unprecedented challenges related to stock levels, deliveries and the health and safety of employees and consumers. With online shopping and click & collect becoming the new norm, retailers are looking for ways to adapt their operations as much as possible while streamlining them. ITL Group, industry leader in intelligent tagging solutions, believes that the challenges faced by retailers today can be easily overcome through the use of RFID technology. According to a McKinsey study, RFID offers a range of benefits ranging from 98 percent inventory accuracy to improved loss prevention and seamless checkout, and has the potential to enable retailers to increase sales by up to 5 percent through better inventory management . Combined with reducing shrinkage, this can result in a 10 to 15 percent reduction in inventory man-hours, saving time, labor and money. Stewart Plimsoll, RFID Business Development Manager at ITL Group, discusses some of the benefits of RFID, QR codes and the global adoption of these technologies.
What RFID solutions does the ITL Group offer?
“Our “360 RFID solution” is a concept we developed in 2019, which essentially consists of offering a one-stop RFID solution (tags, software and hardware). We believe in making RFID easy by ensuring a seamless adoption process and maximizing return on investment throughout the customer’s RFID deployment.”
What are some of the key benefits of RFID?
“The main reason for adopting RFID technology is to improve inventory accuracy and increase transparency throughout the supply chain. RFID solutions are about on-shelf availability and having the right product in the right place at the right time. RFID also enables successful omnichannel fulfillment and offers other benefits such as loss prevention, improved customer experience, brand protection and improved operational efficiencies.”
What are the advantages of QR codes?
“QR codes are used to increase customer loyalty to products (smartphones can scan a QR code, but not yet an RFID tag!) by giving each product a digital identity. This opens up and drives opportunities for circular economy, life cycle management and improved customer experience after purchase. QR codes offer a simple and effective solution to cost-effectively digitize labels and help brands communicate transparency and sustainability to their customers.”
What about the global acceptance of these technologies?
“RFID has been around for a long time, but the high cost has always made it difficult to demonstrate a return on investment (ROI). Over the past five to ten years, costs have come down significantly, as evidenced by the fact that RFID can be found almost everywhere, from grocery stores to clothing stores. Most major brands and retailers around the world have already adopted or are in the process of adopting RFID technology to take advantage of the above benefits. I truly believe that we have reached the tipping point and look forward to further adoption of RFID technology across many industries.”
How do QR codes help at the point of sale?
“In order to offer a complete RFID solution, retailers need to integrate their POS software with their RFID software. Therefore, hardware is required at the POS to read the EPC number of the product, which can be done through an RFID scan or a 2D barcode scan (the EPC number is embedded in the QR code). It is advisable to reduce hardware requirements and use existing hardware instead of using RFID POS readers. This can be done by using existing 2D barcode scanners to read the QR codes and change the status of that unique EPC. Some use cases where QR codes can be used are self-check-out, change of status from “Live” to “Sold” at the checkout, product returns, reserve stock, inbound transfers and EAS functions.”
In your opinion, are RFID solutions sustainable?
“We talk a lot about how RFID technology improves inventory accuracy and thereby increases sales, but one area that often gets overlooked is sustainability. RFID generates vast amounts of data and it is important that retailers use this to reduce overproduction through improved forecasting and historical data, improve consumer shopping and reduce waste through improved supply chain management. We’ve come to a point where, in an omnichannel world, retail inventory accuracy and inventory visibility is more important than ever. They are key to differentiated retail, both in-store and online.”