What are the benefits of RFID Technology for your retail business?

November 1, 2019

RFID is a common technology used in retail with the aim of achieving a greater level of inventory accuracy on a large scale. RFID also has the capability of providing improved security measures across your retail stores and to provide customers with a better service. 

The more advanced technology involved in RFID means it has a far greater level of accuracy and efficiency when it comes to counting and tracking inventory. As a result of this, it has far broader applications in retail, most of which are built of off the back of this reliable inventory visibility.

For those retailers looking to adopt RFID technology within their retail estate can often measure the financial benefits to their business. Many tier one and tier two retailers have reported 5-15% saving on shrinkage. 

With obvious financial cost savings to rolling out RFID technology, there are many other benefits of why you should rollout this technology.

HOW DOES RFID TECHNOLOGY BENEFIT YOUR RETAIL BUSINESS 

 

1. Improved Stock Visibility 

Due to the ease and accuracy of RFID stock counts, retailers using the technology can reliably achieve full item-level stock visibility across their retail stores and warehouses. With the speed in which RFID can track inventory and measure stock counts, this means you can reduce the labour intensiveness from staff carrying out manual stock takes.  

Benefits of improved stock visibility

  • Improved shipping accuracy and fewer stock returns
  • Better omnichannel retailing
  • Produces more data for better insights 
  • Reduces inventory size and purchasing resource (and therefore working capital) significantly
  • Increased customer satisfaction with better stock replenishment

2. Improved Product Availability 

Ensuring high product availability, especially during peak period is vital in keeping your retail sales up. Most retailers fall guilty of low stock availability across their stores, which in effect, becomes frustrating for customers trying to purchase items in-store. Lack of available stock and long queuing times are two of the most frustrating aspects for customers shopping in-store. 

RFID provides a great real-time solution as part of your replenishment processes. 

How does RFID increase product availability?

  • Makes regular cycle counts possible with efficient RFID stock reads
  • Removes stock inaccuracy (from 70-80% to 99%)
  • Creates a complete item-level view of stock between both backroom and shop floor
  • Item visibility makes replenishment easier and more accurate
  • A real-time view allows for replenishment alerts for when items/sizes are running low
  • Item-level data from RFID allows for an advanced real product review 

3. Increasing Process Efficiency

The great thing about the adoption of RFID technology in retail is that regardless of handheld devices or fixed infrastructure, RFID has the ability to read hundreds of individual items at once, making tracking stock more seamless and efficient.   

Processes transformed by RFID:

  • Cycle counts/inventories
  • Fast & Efficient Inbound & Outbound reads
  • RFID-enabled picking and packing
  • Mobile guided replenishment from warehouse to the shop floor

4. Real-Time Data & Analytics 

RFID is great for real-time data and analytics for retail. Retailers can get a much better idea of stock on hand, traceability, and stock checking. RFID data is great for both the warehouse and the shop floor but also: 

  • KPI based performance tracking
  • Detailed merchandise data & Analytics
  • Operational excellence
  • Actionable recommendations
  • Compliance tracking
  • Eliminates reliance on historical data
  • Predictive capabilities for inventory counts and merchandise management
5. Transforming The Customer Experience

There are many great benefits of RFID technology in retail but more importantly, RFID can provide customers with a much better service in-store.   

What ways does RFID improve customer experience?

  • High product availability/visibility for customers' 
  • Employees on the shop floor Store will have more time for their customers
  • A streamlined connection between online and offline 
  • Smart fitting rooms providing a hugely improved fitting room experience.
  • RFID-enabled POS can be used for self-checkout services and giving the customer more ownership over their buying experience. 

Want to find out more about how RFID technology can benefit your business? Get in touch with us today:

hello@kfpit.com

+44 (0) 1235 539101