GUEST POST FROM OUR PARTNER, BARCODING

In the past three years, there has been a significant rise in the use of radio frequency identification (RFID). In a recent survey of 60 wholesalers and retailers with revenues exceeding $500 million in 2014, 34 percent of respondents said they were currently implementing RFID or had already done so. Today, this figure has more than doubled to reach 73 percent.

What is driving this growth in RFID use? Experts say that part of the reason is that increasing numbers of retailers now have data showing exactly how much their returns on investment have been since implementing the technology.

Inventory accuracy in particular can be boosted significantly using RFID. Ninety-three percent of the retailers surveyed said they measured inventory accuracy as it related to RFID, and they noted an average improvement in this metric of 25.4 percent.

Among the 27 percent of retailers who are not implementing RFID, the vast majority say it is because management is simply focusing its efforts on other priorities. Just 2 percent said that management felt RFID would not give them significant benefits.

RFID Helps Tackle Retail’s Biggest Challenges

RFID can help retailers tackle some of their biggest challenges. Right now, 55 percent of retailers say that offering more options when it comes to order fulfillment is a top challenge, while 45 percent cite improving the accuracy of promotions and personalized marketing. A third of respondents would like to have better inventory visibility, while 30 percent are focused on increasing their operating profits.

RFID can help with all of these challenges. In addition to the aforementioned improvements in inventory accuracy, it has also been shown to reduce out-of-stocks by 40.6 percent, increase customer satisfaction by 11 percent, cut shrinkage by 33.7 percent and increase profit margins by 60.7 percent. With statistics like that, this is an opportunity that retailers simply cannot afford to pass up.

Learn more about implementing RFID in your business.

This blog post was based off of a study from Kurt Salmon, part of Accenture Strategy. View the original article here.