Over the years, RFID technology has revolutionised the retail sector, especially in the fashion sector, by significantly improving stock accuracy, optimising supply chain operations, ensuring on-shelf availability, and enhancing inventory management. Retailers have leveraged RFID to gain real-time insights into their inventory, reduce operational costs, and create a seamless shopping experience for customers. In this post, we will look at the next step for optimising retail efficiency: product localisation - a crucial advancement that allows retailers to track items with precision, streamline store operations, and further enhance the customer experience.
Why Product Localisation Matters in Retail
Enable Picking at Store Floor
With RFID localisation, store associates can quickly locate items for customers or fulfil orders. This reduces picking times and enhances in-store efficiency, especially for omnichannel strategies like buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS).
Detection of Product Misplacement
Products frequently get misplaced within a store. RFID product localisation helps identify misplaced items in real time, ensuring that stock remains in its correct location and is easily accessible for customers.
Merchandise Optimisation and Money Mapping
RFID-driven localisation enables retailers to create heat maps of sales performance and optimise store layouts accordingly. This data-driven approach benefits visual merchandisers by providing insights into customer behaviour and store execution, ultimately maximising sales potential.
Limitations of Existing RFID Tracking Solutions
There are several solutions in the industry for tracking product locations, each with its own advantages and limitations:
Manual Processes
Pros: Low initial investment, straightforward implementation.
Cons: Labour-intensive, prone to human error, lacks real-time tracking.
Fixed RFID Infrastructure
Pros: Provides constant real-time tracking, reduces manual effort.
Cons: Initial investment cost requires installation and maintenance, issues with SKU-level positioning, requires continued use of handheld RFID devices.
Robotic RFID Solutions
Pros: Automated scanning, consistent data collection.
Cons: Expensive investment in RFID for apparel-sized stores, requires high maintenance, and complex store mapping.
Checkpoint Solution: RFID Localisation with Handheld Devices
Pros: Checkpoint offers a cost-effective RFID localisation solution by integrating product location tracking into the inventory process using existing handheld RFID devices.
Cons: The integration process can take some time for staff to adapt. Despite this, the solution remains a scalable and cost-effective option for retailers.
Checkpoint’s Scalable Approach to RFID Localisation
Checkpoint’s solution stands out due to its feasibility and efficiency. It allows retailers to capture product location data while performing routine inventory checks, minimising additional investment and leveraging existing RFID infrastructure.
The installation in the store consists of three key components:
- Anchors: Fixed radios with a known position.
- Handheld Tags: Tags attached to RFID handheld devices to calculate their localisation.
- RTLS Server: Collects measurements from handheld devices and determines the final product positions.
Real-World Retail Applications and Benefits
Information is processed by the RTLS server and provided to the retailer’s inventory management system. Key capabilities include:
- Assigning product EPCs to furniture locations.
- Defining store zones and reporting EPCs within each area.
- Providing timestamps for last tag reads.
- Pros: Lower investment required, seamless integration with current handheld RFID devices, improves inventory accuracy while collecting location data.
- Cons: Not a continuous tracking system; location data is updated only when an inventory check is performed, meaning products may move between scans.
RFID product localisation is a crucial advancement for retailers aiming to optimise operations, improve customer satisfaction, and enhance efficiency. With multiple solutions available, retailers can choose the option that best suits their needs. Checkpoint’s approach provides a practical and cost-effective method to leverage RFID localisation without requiring extensive investment, making it an ideal choice for businesses looking to enhance their inventory management while optimising store operations.
