RFID & RETAIL: TAKE AWAYS FROM NRF14, RETAIL’S REALLY BIG SHOW

“When, Not IF, Widespread RFID Adaption Will Take Hold With U.S. Retailers”

The National Retail Federation’s “Big Show” keeps getting bigger.  This year’s event, the most important for the retail universe, drew 30,000 attendees and more than 500 exhibitors ranging from wrapping, packing and delivery services to software firms and solution providers like Truecount.

On arrival, we felt fortunate to have a booth location positioned to capture additional floor traffic. However, once the show was underway, we realized that flow-by traffic was less important than the visibility we had established online and in the “real world” with prior showings at the Big Show.

In previous years, many of the retailers stopping to watch Truecount RFID demos were “tire-kickers” interested in seeing firsthand what RFID was all about.  With RFID now becoming an integral part of a retailer’s strategic business planning, there were more attendees coming to the show with a pre-prepared ‘list’ of RFID providers they wanted to meet and evaluate.

This indicated to us that RFID has finally reached a critical tipping point, or is at least experiencing a dramatic shift. Conversations were less about the ‘why’ of RFID, and more focused on the ‘when’ or ‘how’ of deployment.  With roughly the same amount of booth traffic as in previous years, we found we were answering fewer questions about the basics and benefits of RFID technology, and jumping right to core details about installation and pricing (which  are more affordable than ever).  Retailers, it seems, are much further along in the RFID sales cycle than ever before.

• Many retailers visiting our booth asked about the price of tags, thinking they were higher than they actually are. They are typically in the 5 to 9 cent (USD) range depending on volume and form factor.
• European companies seem to be quoted MUCH higher prices for tags vs. companies getting quotes in North America.
• Lots of international interest with many Latin American companies (both retailers and VARs) very interested in how they could deploy RFID.

We noticed a new twist to discussions about Omni-channel with an almost uniform acceptance that to succeed, retailers must take Omni-channel beyond just cross-channel marketing to deliver a seamless transaction environment.  To achieve this, a retailer has to connect all the elements: order management, POS systems and the inventory systems for cross-channel inventory visibility and fulfillment. Inventory accuracy is pivotal, and RFID delivers the highest levels of accuracy (99+%) with the least expenditure of time and labor. Surveying the exhibition floor, we found there were fewer RFID vendors at this show then last year. Several of our competitors had booths, and some of our provider/partners,  including Impinj, Alien Technologies and Thingmagic networked by simply walking the floor.

The hottest industry buzz in the RFID space was how RFID can be set to deliver “one-touch” inventory.  While it didn’t seem this concept was being displayed ‘live’, Impinj, Mojix and Senitron gave good support presentations. One touch is something Truecount has developed in beta and is evaluating with our customers, partners and others.

Our most significant single takeaway from NRF14?   With all the 2013 deployments by retail category leaders such as Macy’s, Wal-mart, Lord & Taylor and others, the 2014 question is today is WHEN, not IF, RFID will become the standard for retailers.  The discussions and activity inside and outside of NRF14 confirm that RFID is gaining traction with retailers of every size.   As tag manufacturing becomes more refined, and the diversity of applications continues to expand, the words of our friend and RFID expert, Dr. Bill Hardgrave will true more true each day: “Of the top 30 retailers in the US, two out of three have something going on with RFID. If you’re not doing it now, you’re already behind, and if that doesn’t scare you, it should”

He goes on to say, “To succeed in the retail and apparel industry, you’ve got to solve the fundamentals first, which means inventory accuracy, and then you can focus on enhancing the customer experience. If you haven’t started addressing the fundamentals, you are behind.”

What were your biggest impressions from the BIG SHOW?  Share them here via our comment box, or email to success@truecount.com.