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SPAR Uses RFID to Track Promotional Displays
The computer transmits this data over an Ethernet connection to SPAR's server, where the information is interpreted and made available to authorized parties. The interrogators represent zones, Mastrogiannis says, each associated with a section of the store. This allows the system to track the location of both employees and promotional displays. First launched in South Africa about a year ago, the labor-tracking system is also being piloted in U.S. stores, in the same manner and using the same hardware.
SPAR personnel apply similar Wavetrend RFID tags to displays in each store's back room. When a display is moved from the back room to the sales floor, the RFID interrogators capture its ID tag and send the ID number and time of day—in the same manner as labor-tracking data—to the SPAR-hosted server. The pilots' participants can then access data about both labor and promotional displays on the server's Execution Map, which features red, green and purple dots signifying the movement of the tagged items or badges. A red dot indicates a store has not yet been visited, green means the merchandise specialist has already completed a store visit and purple indicates the representative is currently on site.
Moreover, the pilots include a method of alerting SPAR if an actionable event occurs. For example, if a display is moved to the back room before it is supposed to be relocated, or if an employee with a SPAR badge enters an unauthorized area, the system sends an alert to SPAR, which can then notify interested parties via e-mail, cell phone or some other method.
The RFID interrogators and other infrastructure needed for such a system are not yet in place in most of the world's stores. Still, Belzer predicts it's just a matter of time before that's no longer the case. "I believe the way of the future will have readers at all retailers," she says. "I think they will be in the store front, the back door. I believe retailers will use it to prevent shrinkage." The next phase of the pilot will include the testing of passive EPC Gen 2 UHF RFID tags. This phase, Mastrogiannis, is being conducted at the request of a new participant—a retailer in Japan.
The RFID pilots using active 433 MHz tags will continue with no specific completion date. "We are constantly enhancing the pilot," Belzer says, citing the alert system recently added to the U.S. and South African trials. "Information is good," she states, "but taking action on information is key here. We're giving everybody real-time visibility, as well as alerting."
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SPAR personnel apply similar Wavetrend RFID tags to displays in each store's back room. When a display is moved from the back room to the sales floor, the RFID interrogators capture its ID tag and send the ID number and time of day—in the same manner as labor-tracking data—to the SPAR-hosted server. The pilots' participants can then access data about both labor and promotional displays on the server's Execution Map, which features red, green and purple dots signifying the movement of the tagged items or badges. A red dot indicates a store has not yet been visited, green means the merchandise specialist has already completed a store visit and purple indicates the representative is currently on site.
Moreover, the pilots include a method of alerting SPAR if an actionable event occurs. For example, if a display is moved to the back room before it is supposed to be relocated, or if an employee with a SPAR badge enters an unauthorized area, the system sends an alert to SPAR, which can then notify interested parties via e-mail, cell phone or some other method.
The RFID interrogators and other infrastructure needed for such a system are not yet in place in most of the world's stores. Still, Belzer predicts it's just a matter of time before that's no longer the case. "I believe the way of the future will have readers at all retailers," she says. "I think they will be in the store front, the back door. I believe retailers will use it to prevent shrinkage." The next phase of the pilot will include the testing of passive EPC Gen 2 UHF RFID tags. This phase, Mastrogiannis, is being conducted at the request of a new participant—a retailer in Japan.
The RFID pilots using active 433 MHz tags will continue with no specific completion date. "We are constantly enhancing the pilot," Belzer says, citing the alert system recently added to the U.S. and South African trials. "Information is good," she states, "but taking action on information is key here. We're giving everybody real-time visibility, as well as alerting."
