Retail has placed omnicanality at the center of its concerns, in order to offer a tailor-made and unified customer experience. In this perspective, RFID technology is a solution that is beneficial to the entire distribution chain. Discover the advantages of RFID to increase efficiency and improve the customer experience.
What is RFID?
RFID or “Radio Frequency Identification” is a data storage technology that can be retrieved remotely. The support consists of a radio tag stuck to a product and equipped with an electronic chip and an antenna, activated by an electromagnetic energy transfer system using an RFID transmitter.
There are different categories of chips (low frequency [125 kHz], high frequency [125 kHz], high frequency [13.56 MHz] and very high frequency [UHF] chips) differing in the reading distance they allow. The higher the frequency, the greater the reading distance and the more powerful the chip. Chips come in three distinct technologies:
- active fleas;
- semi-active fleas;
- Passive fleas.
What are the benefits of RFID?
RFID technology is used as a system for inventory management, communication, access control or theft protection in the retail sector. It brings numerous benefits, including optimal management of the supply chain directly affecting point of sale efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Better inventory management
In stores and warehouses with inventory, RFID chips significantly improve logistics management. They simplify and accelerate operations with a very high level of reliability. Thanks to tablets, it is possible to retrieve data from several labels simultaneously, without them being directly visible. RFID chips offer better visibility on the status of stocks in real time, in order to fight against stock shortages and ultimately increase customer satisfaction. Thanks to RFID technology, flows are recorded by the system, from the arrival of a product at the warehouse until it is sold. Technology optimizes inventory and supply management, to maximize efficiency, but also to increase sales tenfold.
Even more efficient services
In order to offer a customer experience reducing the friction caused by fitting on, some retailers use RFID technology in connected fitting rooms. The cabin mirror is equipped with sensors that can determine a person's physical appearance. Each item brought into the cabin is detected using RFID chips, then augmented reality superimposes the virtual clothes on those on the user's body. If the item is not suitable, it is possible to notify an advisor in order to have the item brought in the right size or color. The fitting room also informs the visitor about the stock status of a product. In the event of a breakup, she offers alternative solutions and increases the average basket by suggesting complete looks. With the Cenareo solution dedicated to retail digital signage, you offer a resolutely innovative customer experience. With digital signage screens coupled with interactive terminals and virtual fitting rooms, points of sale are becoming places that create positive shopping experiences and unique. Easily create an impacting, differentiating and fully interactive brand universe to attract and retain consumers, but also to increase your sales performance tenfold.
Smoother shopping experiences
RFID tags have a much larger memory capacity than bar codes. They make it possible to recognize a product, but also to obtain all its characteristics. In stores, the RFID chips on products can communicate with consumers via their mobile phone, by providing information about their manufacturing conditions or advice for wearing or assembling pieces from a collection. RFID tags thus make it possible to optimize waiting at the cash register. They contain the names of the customers, the date and the purchase price, and the product identification number. Thus, payment or item returns are streamlined thanks to product identification tables and payment terminals.
Examples of the benefits of RFID in retail
The use of RFID technology in the retail sector is spreading rapidly with the successful example of Decathlon and Zara, in order to combat theft, to manage inventory to prevent the risks of out of stock and to improve the overall shopping experience of consumers in stores.
Decathlon
The Decathlon brand was the pioneer in France for the use of RFID in its points of sale. Since 2014, it has been improving the customer experience at the checkout by offering its consumers considerable time savings. Each product is equipped with an RFID chip in order to be detected once placed in a tray intended for checkout. The payment is then managed automatically, in a few seconds. But in addition to saving the customer time, this technology allows the brand to regulate its stocks and manage restocks in real time. Thus, Decathlon tracks all of its products from the shipment of its factories to the inventory in its warehouses and points of sale, where the RFID chip acts as an anti-theft device.
Zara
The fashion brand Zara uses RFID tags in all of its stores in order to streamline its operation. The brand is thus in a position to notify its warehouses of the references to be restocked, with each purchase made in store. The brand orders restocking as close as possible to consumer requests in order not to generate unnecessary purchases and losses. For retail sales staff, technology has significantly improved their working conditions in order to increase customer satisfaction. Each seller can check the availability of a reference using a tablet to respond to customer requests as quickly as possible.
Do you want to allocate your sales staff to promoting sales rather than managing tasks that can be automated? With the digital signage software Cenareo, digital signage is becoming an infinite source of content that can be consulted directly by customers.
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