Wal-Mart Relaunches EPC RFID Effort, Starting With Men's Jeans and Basics

Burke says Wal-Mart is always exploring ways to benefit from EPC RFID technology, but it will determine which categories to tag next, based on the business benefits for both Wal-Mart and its suppliers.

In addition, Wal-Mart is helping suppliers get the best price on EPC RFID tags by forecasting the total pooled volume of the tags it will purchase for its private-label apparel with tags that its jeans and basics suppliers will need to tag items for Wal-Mart. In this way, a supplier needing a small volume of tags will pay less than it would pay if it purchased tags on its own. Wal-Mart is not giving money to suppliers to subsidize the cost of the tags, but sharing in a cost-of-goods model that includes EPC RFID labels as a component item into a total cost of goods—just like current price labels.

It is difficult, Burke says, to determine the number of men's jeans and basics that will be tagged when the initiative becomes fully operational in all Wal-Mart stores in the United States, because the number fluctuates based on demand. However, he estimates that it could be upwards of 250 million items annually.

The company's Wal-Mart division works closely with its Sam's Club division on the EPC RFID program to drive alignment across its business. At this time, however, Sam's Club is not participating in the Wal-Mart apparel expansion.