Oct 30, 2013Checkpoint Systems, a leading provider of merchandise-availability solutions for the retail industry—encompassing loss prevention and merchandise visibility—is currently working with several unnamed retailers in Spain to test a device known as an Alpha Keeper that contains an embedded radio frequency identification transponder. The goal, Checkpoint explains, is to help retailers better manage inventory while reducing the amount of shrinkage.
Checkpoint's Alpha division offers a variety of Keepers—clear, lockable plastic boxes for displaying products in stores—which allow expensive items, such as high-end perfumes or razors, to be placed on shelves so customers can view them. But because the product is difficult to remove from the case, the Alpha Keeper also acts as a theft deterrent. In addition, each Keeper is fitted with a Checkpoint electronic article surveillance (EAS) tag (either acousto-magnetic or RF), so if someone attempts to move a boxed product past the EAS readers located at the store's entrance, this action will trigger an alarm.
For the RFID-enabled version of the Keeper, Alpha embeds a passive EPC Gen 2 ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID tag in the plastic case, in addition to an acousto-magnetic or RF EAS tag. Using Keepers with RFID offers retailers a variety of additional benefits, Checkpoint reports. Stores can receive goods into inventory more quickly, since tags can be read automatically by a portal reader, or quickly by staff members using a handheld interrogator. In addition, store associates can use a handheld device to perform cycle counts and quickly locate misplaced items, or goods whose expiry date has passed.
"As retailers start to embrace RFID to drive operational efficiencies in stores, they are also taking a look at where else they can drive improvements," says Mariano Tudela, Checkpoint's head of RFID for Europe. "Alpha Keepers have been proven an effective solution for high-risk merchandise. Applying RFID labels to the Keepers is the natural next step to improve merchandise visibility and availability at the store level. We produced EAS-RFID keepers in response to requests from several Spanish customers. They are currently testing and evaluating the solution. The feedback has been very positive."
Checkpoint has developed a smart detacher with an RFID reader that updates a product's status to "paid" once an Alpha Keeper has been removed. Therefore, if a person leaves the store with that item, no alarm is sounded. However, if he or she tries to steal an item still inside in an RFID-enabled Alpha Keeper—with the goal of smashing the case open somewhere outside the store—an alarm can be sounded by either Checkpoint RFID-based EAS readers (installed overhead or in gates) or conventional EAS gates. With RFID, the retailer would know which item was stolen, even if it were not recovered, thereby enabling workers to replenish that product immediately.
According to Checkpoint, when items are received into the retail warehouse, they can be placed in the Alpha Keeper on a table with an RFID reader mounted underneath. By scanning the bar code printed on each item, the system can associate the product's stock-keeping unit (SKU) with an ID number stored in the Keeper's RFID transponder. The items are then packed together in cartons or containers and sent to the store, where an RFID reader can identify them. Store inventory can be updated automatically if the retailer is employing fixed readers connected to a local area network or a Wi-Fi-enabled handheld reader.
When an item is purchased, its Alpha Keeper is removed and information related to the RFID transponder is updated. The Keeper can be reused, and its tag ID can be associated with a new product. "We think this provides retailers with a cost-effective way to both reduce shrink and better manage their inventory," Tudela states. "You can take inventory of items in storage cabinets on the floor, as well as the items on the shelf."
Checkpoint says that it will provide RFID-enabled Alpha Keepers to customers who request them. However, more retailers will need to adopt the technology before the company is willing to add an RFID transponder to every Keeper.
