Dive Brief:
- Thanks to RFID technology, especially in apparel, Target has displayed greater operational efficiencies and better cost management over inventory and payroll, reported Retail Info Systems News recently.
- While the retailer has already increased online sales by 20% within the past year, it expects to grow another 50% this holiday season.
- Particular attention has been paid to the "Buy Online, Pickup In Store" (BOPIS) option, with staff displaying easily identifiable shirts serving that department, and also by providing customers with reusable bags.
Dive Insight:
RFID technology offers big retailers like Target to collect inventory data, but the art behind the science is in using that data to make informed decisions that will ultimately enable the company to create efficiencies and add to the bottom line.
Though many retailers were slow to adopt the tagging technology, generally citing added expenses, results show that the ability to track items, whether lost, sold out, or still in warehouse, is having a profound effect on the retail industry. Replenishment is just one of the benefits of RFID adoption and retailers such as Macy's have deployed the technology globally throughout their stores.
And then there's Amazon Go, a next generation self-service grocery almost wholly controlled by RFID technology. The mainstreaming of RFID in a cashier environment demonstrates the wide-ranging application of the technology and should be a persistent reminder for other innovators or would-be Amazon competitors to adopt it soon, lest they fall behind and have to deal with added costs to which other retailers have said "goodbye."
