Top 3 reasons why every retailer should invest in RFID

• T-ROC Staff
• Jul 28, 2022
• 3 mins read

Have you ever ordered an item from a retail store, only to find out that your order was cancelled because it was out of stock?  I’m sure it’s happened to all of us at least once. I recently shopped online for a home printer—saw that my local retailer had five of them in stock—only to find out after I arrived, that there were actually none available. As a consumer, I wasn’t happy with the experience—I wasted time online, driving to the store, and wasn’t able to make a purchase. How can retailers improve the customer experience, keep consumers happy, and increase sales? Implementing RFID technology can alleviate some of the headaches that come with inventory management. Let’s review what is RFID, how it works and the top 3 reasons why every retailer should invest in the technology.

What is it?

RFID (radio frequency identification) is wireless technology made up of two parts: tags and readers. The RFID reader is a network-connected device that can be portable or permanently attached. The reader uses radio waves to transmit signals to activate the tag.

How does it work?

RFID allows retailers to track and identify items using radio waves. It transmits data from an RFID tag to a reader, giving retailers accurate, real-time data tracking of inventory. In addition to the readers and tags, the RFID system also requires supporting software to encode tags and process data, as well as testing and certification.

Why use it?

Improves Inventory Accuracy

RFID significantly improves item-level inventory accuracy—more than 25% in most cases. Check out our RFID case study on how we helped America’s largest retailer improve on-hand inventory accuracy to 98%. And in a study by the RFID Research Center at the University of Arkansas, when researchers tracked how long it took to count items using RFID compared to a barcode reader. With a barcode reader, inventory scanning of 10,000 items took 53 hours. Scanning with RFID took two hours—a 96% reduction in cycle-counting time.

Expands Omnichannel Services

RFID solutions enables retailers to expand the omnichannel services they offer their customers, such as ship-from-store, buy online and pick up in store (BOPIS) and self-checkout. A survey of retailers by Accenture found that 66% of RFID adopters and piloters now offer five or more omnichannel services compared to just 39% non-RFID piloters.

Increases Customer Satisfaction

With real-time data, inventory accuracy of nearly 100%, it’s no wonder that the customer experience is enhanced. Shelves, racks and displays are stocked, because inventory is on-point. Sales staff spend more time on the floor helping customers and selling—not tied up doing inventory for a week. And with RFID, staff has knowledge and control over inventory—no more looking for a pair of jeans in a certain size “in the back.”

T-ROC offer solutions that make retail operations easier, simplified, optimized and streamlined, and we do it through the power of people and technology. To learn more about our solutions for retailers, including RFID and other technology solutions, visit https://trocglobal.com/