Benefits of RFID in retail: Improved inventory management and happier customers

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Benefits of RFID in retail: Improved inventory management and happier customers.

The use of RFID offers a whole range of advantages, two of which clearly stand out: precision and speed. DENSO explains what this means for the retail sector.

From inventory control to increasing sales and reducing inventory costs, RFID has a positive impact on various aspects in retail. Even though RFID is not a new concept – a patent for the first RFID tag was developed as early as 1973 – a lot has changed, especially with the increased use of mobile computers, mobile data collection, and the implementation of digitalisation processes. Due to the development of less expensive RFID tags, the use of the technology has become more and more established, especially in retail.

DENSO WAVE EUROPE, member of the Toyota Group, offers innovative RFID readers and Cloud Based Solutions to enable retailers to work more efficiently. “With our RFID scanners and RFID solutions, employees in the retail sector can optimize and accelerate their processes,” says David Walker, Business Development Manager – RFID Solutions at DENSO WAVE EUROPE. 

DENSO’s RFID readers are claimed to be ideal for working along the entire supply chain. In addition, the RFID-based inventory management, which DENSO implements with their partner RFKeeper, can offer clear advantages for the retail sector. 

Less risk, more precision: RFID Inventory Management

“By combining our efficient RFID technology with RFKeeper’s Cloud Based and mobile applications, we digitalise our customers’ inventory management,” explains Walker. This is possible, as RFID-based solutions create a more accurate overview along the supply chain and minimize risks such as over/under stock, shrinkage but also process errors in the supply chain. “Furthermore, the customer experience can be improved with RFID,” says Walker.

“Imagine a customer looking for a specific product in a brick-and-mortar store because they discovered it while browsing online and was informed that the goods were available locally. But if the customer visits the store and the specific product is not in stock, meaning it was displayed incorrectly due to an error in the inventory, they will be very disappointed and may well go elsewhere to purchase a similar product. But with RFID, such a negative customer experience can be prevented,” explains the expert for mobile data collection and RFID. The modular plug & play solution that DENSO offers with RFKeeper, improves inventory and sales efficiency in the store through circa 99 % accurate shipping confirmations, inventory counts, search options, and replenishment reports.  

“Moreover, the RFID Inventory Management offers in-store customer engagement solutions,” Walker continues. Retailers can increase their sales opportunities, for example, with smart fitting rooms, digital signage or self-checkouts. DENSO and RFKeeper’s RFID Inventory Management comes with user-friendly analytics dashboards and the ability to track every item in the supply chain. The management of daily processes is also one of the functions of the RFID-based system from DENSO and RFKeeper.

DENSO also offers the necessary hardware: innovative RFID scanners

DENSO’s SP1 UHF RFID Scanner is the perfect companion for the RFID Inventory Management with RFKeeper. Thanks to the newly developed Autopilot function, the RFID scanner now reads up to 1,000 tags per second and reduces inventory count by up to 50 percent compared to the use without the Autopilot function.

At the POS, another RFID scanner from DENSO can create advantages for retailers. With the UR20 RFID scanner, long queues at the cash register can be avoided. With the UR20, employees in retail can quickly and easily scan all of a customer’s products at once. Since the scanning range of the UR20 RFID scanner is around 80 centimetres, other goods are not accidentally scanned.

"This is how we support our retail clients in regards to digitalisation processes – with our data collection devices and the RFID-based solution with RFKeeper,” says Walker happily. 

For the European market, DENSO WAVE EUROPE is the contact point for all enquiries on RFID, QR Codes, mobile data collection, handheld terminals, and scanners. The durable and robust terminals and scanners manufactured by DENSO are to be found in storage, logistics, at the POS, in production, and field & sales automation applications.