The Return of RFID In Retail Management
As per a recent survey by Accenture, RFID has improved inventory visibility and decreased cycle count times by 96%. RFID technology has been used by retailers since a decade since, but this disruptive technology has only evolved with time., which is a clear indication that this technology is here to stay and flourish.
RFID: Explained:
Radio-frequency identification or RFID is a wireless technology used to recognize items with the help of radio waves. It transfers data from an RFID tag to a reader, providing them with precise, real-time tracking data of your inventory. RFID for retail provides a clear picture of supply chain and inventory management, thus, making it the foundation of today’s omnichannel retailers. RFID offers accuracy of inventory and is considered one of the prominent enablers of omnichannel capabilities. It holds the potential to increase return on investment and expand utilization of the technology for the betterment of business.
Common Challenges Faced by Retailers
Usage of outdated systems comes with multiple pain points, while the retail industry is an ever-evolving space, it also throws a plethora of challenges for retailers to stay ahead of the competition. Let’s delve into some of the hurdles they face:
- Inventory Mystery: Spending hours to complete shipment of a product, and only to find out that product is out of stock. Manual search not only wastes your time but also takes away an opportunity for sales from you and ends in customer dissatisfaction.
- Accountability Gap: Without real-time data, it is hard to track and keep a record of expired or stolen goods. This leads to financial losses.
- Logistic troubles: Stocks not arriving at the store can be a nightmare. Not being able to track the merchandise, not knowing the reason for the delay, and not being able to deliver the product on time can be very frustrating. This delay in deliveries can result in customer dissatisfaction, ruining brand image, and reducing sales.
- Perishability: Perishable goods need to be stored at a specific temperature, to maintain their shelf life. Not having a real-time detail of these perishable goods, can lead to spoilage of goods and ultimately financial losses.
- Checkout Chaos: Weekends and festivals can attract huge crowds. Weekends and festivals can attract huge crowds. Consumers do not want to stand in a long queue. If a manual check process is slow, it might frustrate the consumers and lead to chaos at the store.
Overcoming Retail Challenges with RFID Solutions
RFID offers an unprecedented opportunity to reimagine store operations. We have discussed below how retail challenges can be tackled with RFID Systems for retail.
- Inventory and Supply-chain management: RFID technology in retail stores offers real-time and accurate inventory tracking, which allows retailers to check the stock levels, and locate the product in an end-to-end supply chain. It also makes it easy for employees to conduct inventory counts efficiently and decreases stockouts. Products are tagged by manufacturers before shipping, and these RFID tags can be tracked throughout the supply chain journey. It provides retailers the opportunity to monitor the goods, and accordingly manage their supply chain operations.
- Automated Checkout Process: RFID provides a seamless automated checkout process. Shopping carts and check-out counters enabled with RFID technology automatically scan, and tally products. This reduces the waiting time for customers and fastens the check-out process.
- Anti-Theft System: RFID software reduces the chances of shoplifting and shrinkage. The RFID tags will trigger an alarm, when a product leaves the store, without being deactivated at Pos.
The likelihood of shoplifting and inventory loss is minimized with RFID retail technology. The RFID tags will trigger an alarm, when a product leaves the store, without being deactivated at Pos.
- Identify Product Authentication: Identification and authenticity of high-end or luxury products is made easy with RFID tags. RFID tags can be scanned to extract embedded information like serial number, manufacturing details, and a distinct digital identity that shows the originality of the product. Such items can be tracked easily because of the RFID tags, which also reduces the chances of theft.
- Optimize Display to Boost Sales: RFID tags on promotional display can track customer engagement. It offers some actionable insight to retailers for marketing campaigns and in-store display advertisements.
- Cold-Chain Monitoring: Perishable items need to be stored at a specific temperature. RFID tags helps monitor temperature fluctuations and makes sure the goods integrity is maintained throughout the supply chain.
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A report published by Accenture, states that North America is the frontrunner with 93% of retailers surveyed using RFID, followed by Europe, and Asia Pacific regions.
As per the estimates provided by Mckinsey retailers can grab up to 5% of top-line growth from better inventory control and get 10% to 15% reduction in inventory-related labour hours.
Elements of RFID in Retail Management
RFID ecosystem contains four main elements to work smoothly. These four elements are:
Reader Hardware: This can be either attached to mobile or fixed at counters. It reads and receives the signals from a tag to the antenna hardware and converts the signal effectively. This enables the retailer to have a complete insight of the merchandise including location, ID, and tag presence.
Supporting Software: The RFID data is processed by encoding the tags through supporting software.
Testing and Certification Test: RFID tag needs to meet certain protocols and standards to have clear communication between RFID tags and reader equipment. These testing and certification processes ensure the quality, reliability, and functionality of RFID technology in retail across different industries and stakeholders. Manufacturers, integrators, and end-users depend on this certification to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of RFID systems.
Working Mechanism of RFID Tags in Retail
RFID tags empower retailers to categorize products, which facilitates in streamlining operations, and data-driven decision-making resulting in increased sales, better service, and happy customers. These tags help retailers to differentiate the merchandise into the following categories:
- Jewellery
- FMCG goods
- Handbags
- Luxury items
- Electronics
- Apparel and Fashion
- Beauty and cosmetics
- Home and furniture
- Toys and games
- Sports and fitness equipment
RFID tags works from inbound shipments to final sales. They allow retailers to optimally makes modern retailing easy.
Retailers require vendors to tag their own goods and shipments, which is termed as RFID tag mandate. Furthermore, retailers provide guidelines, requirements, and expectations for tagging the merchandise. All the guidelines are expected to be met by the vendors. In case, the retailer's mandate is not followed it leads to penalties, chargeback on merchandise, or cancellation of vendor-retailer partnerships.
As per statistics, for every 3% improvement in inventory accuracy, retailers can expect at least 1% increase in their sales. Generally, retailers work on approximate 70% inventory accuracy, which decreases the chances of positive impact on sales.
Benefits of RFID
The benefits of RFID in retail showcase its potential to modernize the current retail landscape with a pivotal technological revolution. Here are some of the prominent benefits of RFID in retail:
- Speed: How would it feel to count an entire aisle of inventory in seconds? The pain and frustration of scanning every single barcode is just unimaginable. But what happens if a dozen of merchandise gets scanned swiftly? Speed comes with RFID. RFID in retail provides a lightning-fast inventory audit that saves time, operational cost, labour costs, and gives near real-time details of your stocks. No more manual scanning, no more lost sales. Just swift, and accurate details of your inventory, ready for the next move.
- Huge Data Storage: The magic of RFID has spread to all sections of retail. RFID tags are the powerhouse of data storage. Every tag is embedded with a data vault, filled with information on your merchandise. For detailed information from the warehouse to the end-user, the expiration of products to the movement of trucks, these tags will give you a clear real-time picture of your inventory stocks. You have the freedom to explore more opportunities with RFID. By analyzing your inventory and warehouse data, you can predict demand, ensure product freshness, and track the expiration date. Thus, this powerhouse opens different avenues of possibilities for goods details, expiration dates, and good movement records.
- Durability: Barcodes are delicate items, which will fade and peel. But that’s not the case with RFID tags. They are tough! They can navigate through the rugged floor of a warehouse to stand strong and tall in outdoor environmental conditions. RFID tags are robust and remain unfazed. You do not have to worry about peeling off your barcode tags. RFID tags are strong, ensure consistent data capturing, storing, and doing a smooth business.
- Efficient retail ecosystem: RFID is about building a smarter, more efficient retail ecosystem. Picture smart stockrooms that restock automatically, negate any chances of missed sales, and keep your customers happy. Imagine a check-out free zone, RFID-integrated carts, and frictionless purchasing. Everything is sorted and simplified.
- Smart Stockrooms: Smart stockrooms enabled with RFID can automatically detect the products that are low in stock. It reduces the chances of any missed sales opportunities.
- Enhanced Trail Room Experience: Implementing RFID solutions in trail rooms will allow retailers to offer a personalized and convenient shopping experience. This will potentially boost sales, because customers will have easier access to information while trying on items.
A delightful trail room experience for customers powered by RFID. When RFID tags are detected before entering trail rooms, engaging product details are displayed on screens/mirrors.
Learn the benefits of RFID for your retail business with Ginesys.
Streamlining retail management with Ginesys One’s RFID plugin business solution
Leverage Ginesys One’s RFID-equipped ERP plugin integration to get a competitive edge in the retail industry in the following ways:
- Inventory management- Complementing end-to-end business solutions, Ginesys One’s plugin integration offers a single view of stock and manages stock across your retail network. RFID retail inventory management offers you a comprehensive report on stock aging, inventory turn, and item costing that can be easily tracked and recorded.
- Warehouse management- Ginesys One’s plugin integration helps businesses manage their warehouse inventory, logistics, and supply chain operations efficiently.
- Procurement management- It is an easy-to-use purchase management system in the ERP that can be leveraged to keep track of all the items that are bought and the bills to be paid.
Ginesys’s RFID solution for retail will help you guide your customers without wasting any time. Just happy people, and organized business. And what’s the best part? It is not a one-time deal. It gives you a complete insight into your inventory for a long time. So, next time a customer wanders into your store with a confused face, get help from Ginesys One’s RFID solution.
Retail Management Refined with Ginesys One’s RFID Complementing ERP integration
RFID for retail stores has transformed the entire landscape- streamlining operations, boosting efficiency, and continuously upgrading customer experience.
Ginesys One’s RFID integration offers you features that will redefine your inventory management visibility including reducing shrinkage, optimizing floor allocation, ensuring product availability, automatically restocking order, real-time inventory tracking grants, preventing empty voids and lost sales!
RFID software streamlines your omnichannel retail business where online orders are automatically completed effortlessly with accurate inventory data. It does not stop there! It offers the transparency required in the supply chain. Shipments are tagged and tracked, providing precise information about everything in detail. It not only gives you the ease of doing business, but also caters to a strong foundation of trust and collaboration between you as a retailer, and your supplier. It sets the tune of visibility and control. Ginesys One’s plugin integration guides and leads all the stakeholders of retail to work harmoniously, and efficiently. Embrace and enjoy its power and wait for your retail ecosystem to flourish with the dynamic power of speed, data, efficiency, and personalized experiences.
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Ginesys One offers a plugin that changes the way retailers engage with their customers and suppliers. It opens the door to innovative marketing strategies, efficient supply chain management, and improved customer service. FID technology represents an opportunity to transform customer experience and operational efficiency. A realm of possibilities can be unlocked across different sections of business. RFID technology is one of its kind that works in the favour of all stakeholders of the business, from customers to retailers to suppliers. With time, the use of RFID in retail has transformed the entire retail landscape, offering a competitive edge to the ever-evolving demands of modern consumers.
