Herb Sorensen, Ph.D.

Wal-Mart to Tag and Track Clothing

July 26, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Everyone can quit guessing what next step Wal-Mart will take in its plan to test RFID technology. According to a Wall Street Journal report on Friday, the world's largest retailer plans to tag individual men's jeans and basics to help it more effectively manage its inventory. Will Wal-Mart's actions lead to the widespread adoption of item-level RFID at retail?      [more...]

RFID is one component in total retail knowledge, including who the shopper is, everything they do in the store on a second by second basis, where all the products are (and in-store advertising is) and interactions with same with the shoppers, and of course the linkage of shopper "loyalty" cards and purchases at checkout.

When we began tracking shoppers with RFID 10 years ago, we always knew that someday stores would have tracking mechanisms that didn't require very costly research investments, and that would come from passive RFID, with low cost tags that could be ultimately deployed in the trillions. Tracking shoppers and tracking products are closely related.

Just as electronic scanners in the '70s were focused on UPC "tagged" products, so the move now to electronic tags is focused on the products. However, deploying an RFID reader on the cart (with a wireless connection to the store) allows the retailer to know exactly which tagged products the shopper is in front of. MediaCart presaged this, before products were tagged, by tagging shelves and displays. Obviously, item tagging advances the game significantly.

But the bigger picture is TOTAL RETAIL KNOWLEDGE, mentioned above. Amazon is far closer to total retail knowledge than is Walmart. However, Walmart is getting there. Integration of "personal sales assistants" like the iPhone will move this further and faster than many imagine. This is part of what I refer to as the Amazonification of Walmart - and it is NOT just about Amazon and Walmart - instructive examples. There is coming a convergence of e-commerce, m-commerce (mobile) and bricks-and-mortar commerce. Item tagging is essential to put bricks-and-mortar on a more competitive ground with online retailers.

Think about it! ;-)