RFID finally in demand, says Frost & Sullivan

It has been a long time coming, but omnichannel retailers are now increasingly deploying RFID for superior customer experience management, according to Frost & Sullivan.

The rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) has caused a sea change in the buying patterns of customers and, by extension, the market strategies of retailers. E-commerce and m-commerce have virtually transformed every store into a distribution centre and retailers need to adopt technologies such as RFID, videos, cameras and data analytics to keep track of inventory in each outlet and, eventually, enhance customer experience management.

"Retailers are looking to empower their mobile workforce to enrich customers' purchase experience, and this will augment investments in technologies such as handheld readers and smart PoS solutions,” says Ram Ravi, Industry Analyst for Industrials at Frost & Sullivan. "RFID sales will get a further boost from the intensifying focus on loss prevention, inventory management, and customer behaviour analysis."

"To cater to the changing retail environment, system integrators need to develop partnerships with data analytics and cloud service vendors," he adds. "The growing interest in item-level tagging in the retail industry will further augment RFID demand."