Document Overview

Business Strategy: RFID — EAS Never Knew Loss Like This Before

Author:	Leslie Hand
Document #	GRI222746
Published	April, 2010
Document Type	Market Overview
Number of Pages	20
Number of Figures	4

Overview

This IDC Retail Insights report explores the retail strategies emerging from the growing number of RFID initiatives, particularly for softlines retailers including American Apparel and Charles Vogele and general merchandisers including Marks and Spencer, Walmart, and Metro. RFID-enabled theft detection and prevention may be the in-store application that drives RFID adoption. Benefits are measurable and processes are already in place to do the tagging prior to distribution to stores for many footwear and apparel retailers. Even where loss prevention is not the primary motivator, it is often the icing on the cake — another benefit besides improved inventory management, supply chain efficiency, and customer service — enough to justify the cost of implementing RFID software and hardware systems in stores.

Leslie Hand, research director, stated, "IDC Retail Insights recognizes the financial and resource commitment that retailers make to implement RFID in their enterprises, but we believe that RFID will help brick-and-mortar retailers compete in the face of major industry transformation. RFID as a loss prevention tool is an excellent entry point, enabling the implementation of the foundation for full inventory control while introducing few process changes."

Subscriptions Covered:

Retail IT Infrastructure Strategies, Retail Store, Channel, and Consumer Strategies, Retail Supply Chain, Demand Planning, and Merchandising Strategies

Companies Covered:

ADT, Checkpoint Software Technologies, Freedom Shopping, IBM, Microsoft, Motolora, NXP, Philips Electronics, Rafsec, Sensormatic, VUE, Zebra