What Is Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)?
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology used in airports, hospitals, banks, toll roads, public transportation, schools, libraries, museums, casinos, recreational clubs and resorts, livestock and a variety of other businesses, including Retail Stores. The process involves attaching an electronic device that transmits radio waves to an item, person or animal for the purposes of collecting data. In the world of Retail, the most common uses of RFID are for inventory management, asset protection and payment acceptance.
How is RFID used in Inventory Management?
For Retail Inventory Management, RFID allows the Retailer to identify and
track inventory more accurately in its supply chain and store operations.
Electronic Product Code (EPC) generally refers to merchandise
tags using RFID to uniquely identify individual items. Each EPC typically
contains both a Universal Product Code (UPC) or
Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) and a serial number. The UPC or SKU
identifies the manufacturer and product type. The serial number identifies
that one unique physical object in the Supply Chain. The EPC can identify
pallets, cases or individual units. This allows Retailers to take
inventory, order and re-stock items more efficiently.
How is RFID used in Asset Protection?
One great tool for Asset Protection is the RFID
application Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS). For
EAS, an RFID tag is attached to an item for security purposes. This tag
remains active until deactivated at the point of purchase. Sensors placed
at entrances and exits alert Retailers when active EAS tags pass through,
allowing apprehension and recovery of merchandise. Unfortunately, this
process is not foolproof. Some EAS tags can be removed from items and
employees often neglect to deactivate tags at the point of purchase.
How is RFID used in Payment Acceptance?
Toll roads and public transportation have used RFID for years to collect
fees electronically. Retailers can also use RFID “touch free” payment
systems built into some credit cards and mobile phones. These options help
improve the efficiency of the checkout process.
What are the concerns with RFID?
Most of the concerns with RFID revolve around privacy. Consumers fear that
the RFID technology involved in the EPC will be used to track, identify or
otherwise invade their privacy. EPC tags are not typically readable beyond
a distance of 10 feet and do not contain, collect or send any information
related to people, only products. The information contained on an EPC tag
is only a reference code to product information stored on a secured
database. Without access to the database, the code is useless.