Eco-friendly Clothing Store Plans to Debut With RFID

The handheld reader can be used in several modes to accomplish the appropriate tag reads. For example, in the "physical count" mode, the handheld will be instructed to search for a specific type of inventory in a given location, and to ignore inventory that does not match that description. "When performing a physical count of location 105," Brown says, "the system is looking for Style X shirts. If it sees Style Y from the next location over, it will ignore them, as it is only looking to verify the contents of inventory type X."

By contrast, in "put-away" mode, the handheld will be used only to scan the bar code of the shelf location for the items being put away, while the items' RFID tags will be scanned by the cart on which it is being transported.

At night, the Motorola handhelds will be used to conduct inventory checks on the sales floor and in the back room to determine if any items need to be re-ordered. That data will be sent wirelessly to the back-end system, alerting the store when specific products require replenishment.

If the line is long at the checkout counter, customers will have the option of working with a salesperson on the sales floor who is equipped with one of three additional Motorola MC9090G handheld interrogators that include a magnetic-stripe reader for credit cards. The salesperson will swipe the credit card's mag stripe and complete a sales transaction for the customer by scanning the RFID tags and issuing a receipt to that patron, who will then show the receipt to an employee at the exit door. The data will be transmitted wirelessly back to the store's Macintosh Light Speed POS system.

Phase Two of the project will take place at the day spa in 2008. During that phase, Price hopes to begin issuing RFID-based loyalty cards that could also be used in the store to track the owner's buying history. At the spa, the company hopes to install an RFID desktop reader to capture the card tag's unique ID number on a customer loyalty card that would link up with data about the customer in the back-end system.

According to Brown, Atlas RFID is now completing software development and customizing tags for the first store order. "I believe RFID will improve our efficiency," Price says. Following the completion of Phase Two, he hopes to install an RFID-enabled kiosk where shoppers can read a garment's RFID label and view information about other products in the store that might be a good match for that outfit.

Brown says RFID users need to look beyond "portals and conveyors" and consider more creative approaches, such as Maskyelin's plan. "Where is the competitive advantage in using technology the same way everyone else does?" he asks.