RFID technology has been re-shaping the retail industry over the past decade, creating unprecedented efficiencies and generating new value throughout businesses. From the retail giants who pioneered adoption of the technology to the small and medium sized enterprises that have discovered its countless benefits; RFID keeps creating economies of scale as businesses use it more and more.

Take inventory tracking for example. In the early days we tracked containers as they moved from ship to port, to truck, to storage. Knowing where containers are, compared to where they should be, allowed us to plan our supply chains more effectively.

Then, as the cost of RFID came down, we began to tag crates and boxes, providing orders of magnitude more information. It extended our visibility beyond supply, into the warehouse and through to distribution.

Today, item-level RFID tracking gives complete stock visibility from the suppliers, throughout the supply chain and right into the store. Businesses have complete control over their inventory, not only creating efficiency but also giving rise to the next generation of retail – omni-channel.

RFID produces data, the greater the number of tags, the greater the amount of data, and all this data needs to be transferred, stored and crunched. Thankfully, the RFID data infrastructure scales well. Transfer and storage cost per unit decline as total data increases, while market-leading RFID data platforms such as ViZix only get more valuable the more data they can utilize.

It’s no wonder that more and more retailers are switching to RFID, which in itself creates new benefits. As adoption continues to grow, more manufacturers, distributors, logistics companies, and retailers will look to partner with other technologically compatible businesses. The advantages of this compatibility are simply too good to ignore, and meaning those without RFID technology will likely be left behind.

That’s just RFID for inventory management. The technology also reduces losses, increases safety and security, enhances the customer experience and provides invaluable consumer information. RFID technology is truly the gift that just keeps on giving.

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