Do you really need RFID?

“I’m not a big enough company”
“It’s too expensive”
“I don’t see how RFID can benefit my business”
“I’m not sure I’ll see the return on investment”
“We don’t have an RFID expert in-house”

These are just some of the answers we’ve heard when asking retailers if they would be interested in deploying RFID.
Although RFID seems to be the greatest thing since sliced bread in the retail industry at the moment, it only really became a buzzword 5 years ago with the business case for it only recently being proven.
As a result, we still see many retailers dubious about deploying RFID. However, RFID is no longer an option retailers can afford to opt-in or out for… RFID is a prerequisite to retail. In order to survive in the future, retailers need to deploy RFID and here’s three reasons why:

1.Inventory Accuracy
If your inventory is 100% accurate, then you can skip on right through to the next benefit. However, according to Auburn University most retailers admit that their inventory accuracy is between 65-75%. Luckily, these last years have shown us that deploying RFID can:
– Increase inventory accuracy by 65-95%
– Increase direct sales by 3-10%
– Decrease inventory stock cost by 15%
– Reduce out of stock by 1%
In a time where retail square footage is shrinking, managed and optimized inventory will be a metric separating the winners from the losers.

2.Customer experience
The new tech-savvy consumer is forever looking for customer experience when shopping and doesn’t want to wait to receive/walk out with a product. The good news is RFID can help through magic mirrors, frictionless checkouts and virtual assistants.
In addition, with online shopping rapidly increasing, it’s important that retailers offer an omni-channel experience. Luckily RFID can yet again enable a seamless shopping experience by knowing where your product is and offering Click & Collect.

3.AI/BI
When you know more, you do more. Crunching and analyzing big data coupled with machine learning/AI is a trend that isn’t going away. To-date, data-points with respect to inventory have been limited. Retailers who learn to collect and exploit this data will gain a competitive advantage.

The benefits of RFID are infinite. To discover more RFID benefits, you can download our presentation: RFID Unleashed: Harnessing the full power of RFID on our Intelligence Centre: http://bit.ly/2KOhC0J

Author:
Philip Lassner – VP RFID, North America – ITL Group
Philip.Lassner@itl-group.com

ITL - Group
Unit 7 Redwing Court
Willow Farm Business Park
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Derby
United Kingdom
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ITL is a global provider of Apparel Label Solutions, supporting brands, retailers and manufacturers all around the world with a comprehensive range of products and services aimed at optimising brand identity and supply chain performance.
The group has widespread wholly owned printing and weaving operations across a number of key needlepoint locations including China, Bangladesh, India, Sri-Lanka, Vietnam, Turkey, Mexico, South Africa and Ethiopia. With over 40 years’ experience, the company supplies some of the best-known names in the industry with a wide range of products including wash-care labels, woven labels, variable data tags and stickers, promotional hang tags and packaging, heat transfers, brand protection and RFID solutions

www.itl-group.com

ITL Media Contact: Sabine Chassagne +44 737 553 6578 sabine.chassagne@itl-group.com

This release was published on openPR.