The Rise of RFID

Delegates to last month's BIG Conference heard from a keynote speaker how RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) will change the face of retailing, and especially the data available to researchers. This week UK-based grocery think tank IGD have announced headlines from a new report entitled 'RFID - The Next Big Thing'.

RFID involves the electronic tagging of products to monitor their progress from manufacture to sale and beyond, and both Wal-Mart and Tesco have recently announced that they will implement it with their top suppliers. Only 2% of respondents to the IGD survey admitted they had no knowledge of it at all. 45% say they have above average or excellent understanding of RFID and 42% average - however, only 39% of respondents have currently been approached by a trading partner to undertake RFID.

Two thirds (68%) believe RFID will deliver benefits for the industry, including greater speed and efficiency in the stock operations, better tracking of products throughout the chain and enhanced forecasting. A similar number (65%) believe RFID will be widespread in the industry within 3-5 years A slight majority (53%) believe that the cost of RFID currently outweighs the benefits, with 32% undecided indicating that the cost/benefits case for RFID is not as well understood as the technology itself.

Possible benefits to the consumer are better availability (most mentioned, by 63%), time saving - with the potential for automated payment systems in-store eradicating the need for consumers queuing up at the checkout - and easier location of products in the store. 35% of respondents plan to implement RFID to satisfy their customer requirements, with 20% undecided.

According to IGD Chief Executive Joanne Denney-Finch, 'The potential for RFID is tremendous but as we've learnt from experience, each technology has its teething problems. We now need to bridge the gap between pilot testing and mass application. I think we can guarantee it won't always go smoothly but with perseverance, RFID will start to transform the supply chain'.

The survey covered more than 130 companies including retailers, manufacturers, packaging suppliers, logistics providers and wholesale distributors. The report will be published at the end of June - more details are available from www.igd.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

• IGD
• All news