Survey Indicates Canadians Eager for RFID in Grocery Stores

About 40 percent of consumers cited security or privacy concerns about the use of RFID. Their greatest concerns, however, centered on the cost and reliability of the equipment. Another 43 percent said they consider using RFID for buying groceries to be less personal than the traditional method with a sales clerk.

Given a choice between disabling RFID tags immediately after paying for groceries or keeping them intact—which would allow the chips to broadcast information to readers—more than 60 percent said they would disable the tags.
That figure changed, however, in the second half of the survey, in which the consumers were asked about using RFID technology in their homes. Given that option—and the suggestion that an RFID interrogator in their refrigerator or in a handheld unit could track the items in their home and those they need to replace—46 percent said they would be very interested. (Such an option would require that RFID tags not be disabled when leaving the store.) Thirty-eight percent, meanwhile, said they would not be interested in having RFID readers in their homes.

Seventy-four percent said the main advantage of RFID is saving time, while 53 percent said they expect the technology to make the shopping experience easier. And despite concerns about costs, two-thirds of the consumers most interested in RFID said they would be willing to pay more for their groceries in exchange for spending less time waiting in line.

Those most interested in RFID tended to be those with the least expendable time, Bylok says. This group included families with children and consumers with household incomes of $100,000 and higher.

The survey results point to the importance of making sure those in the RFID industry educating consumers about what RFID technology can and cannot do, Bylok says. "It's very important for the industry to educate consumers," she says, such as letting them know an RFID tag on a can of Coke would not reveal their spending habits or other personal information when read by RFID interrogators deployed outside a store.

With greater education, Bylok says, concerns from consumers can be expected to shift from expense and reliability to privacy. "I perceive, eventually, privacy concerns could increase once consumers realize they don't have to pay more for the technology." A full report on the survey results is available by contacting Bylok at TNS.

To read Mark Roberti's response to the survey, check out Guess What—Consumers Like RFID.