By all accounts, traditional bricks-and-mortar stores are increasingly integrated into digital commerce.
In fact, nearly 42 percent of online orders last year involved stores—either as fulfillment hubs, or pick up/return in-store—a significant jump from just 27 percent in 2015 according to The Wall Street Journal. This evolution is driven in part by consumer demand for fast and free delivery, as well as omnichannel fulfillment options like BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick Up in Store), curbside delivery, and ship-from-store. This trend is fueled by retailers looking to leverage their extensive store networks and available inventory to maximize the profitability of each order.
With this trend comes an increased focused on inventory accuracy. Having the flexibility to fulfill online orders seamlessly from either a DC or a store provides many benefits to the retailer and consumer, but this ability is often hindered by poor store inventory accuracy. Inventory accuracy in the DC tends to hover at around 99 percent, but for stores it’s closer to 60-70 percent.
RFID’s Role in Store Fulfillment
This is where Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) can play an important role.
This technology is one way to dramatically improve store inventory accuracy to warehouse levels; it can automatically track every unit from entry to exit, perform store counts in a fraction of the time, help associates locate products that are difficult to find, and give stores the inventory accuracy they need to confidently fulfill online orders.
By deploying RFID, retailers transform their store operations and customer experience. They can perform a weekly, full store inventory count in about 30-40 minutes, improving inventory accuracy from 60 percent (in some cases) to over 98 percent. This is in stark contrast to the more traditional physical inventory counts, which usually take place annually.
Armed with this level of inventory accuracy in the store, retailers can expose more inventory to their digital channels with confidence, which leads to increased sales and customer satisfaction. This also helps retailers avoid shorting customer orders and their subsequent delays, increased fulfillment costs and lost sales.
RFID Deployment
In the store, handheld RFID scanners can help store associates locate misplaced products using a “Geiger Counter” feature. Additionally, RFID can be used to proactively ensure the front of the store always maintains a full assortment of sizes and styles. This feature can help increase sales because shoppers don’t always take the time to ask if extra inventory is stored in the back.
A unique, comprehensive store solution that natively supports RFID can improve inventory management, online order fulfillment, and customer service before, during and after the sale. All these benefits from a single application reduces data redundancies, integration challenges, latency and so much more.
Faster and More Accurate Transactions
Point-of-Sale (POS) systems have come a long way since the technology’s rather perfunctory function of barcode scanning and card swiping. Armed with the latest RFID reader technology, today’s checkout systems can reduce transaction times, increase accuracy, and reduce labor requirements.
Thanks to RFID technology, store associates can swipe a handful of goods over an RFID reader and immediately capture every item in one swift motion. At that point, they just need to bag the items and receive payment, and the customer is out the door, all in a matter of seconds. The result is a better and more convenient experience for the customer, and retailers see a reduction in lost sales due to long checkout lines.
The retail industry is constantly evolving based on customer demands and shopping behavior. Today’s clear trend is towards making stores agile hubs of omnichannel commerce. Whether it be BOPIS or Ship from Store, retailers benefit from digitizing and automating their workflows and physical channels.
RFID is not a new technology, but it may be the “it component” for retailers looking to improve store processes, increase store fulfillment of online orders, and engage associates and consumers in a way that fulfills their expectations.