Retailers going beyond barcodes

August 14, 2010 4:51 PM

I want to make a list of all retailers (worldwide) that currently use or have played around with using RFID technology. I'm especially curious about fashion and apparel retailers, but any other ones will do. I have the basics: walmart, jcpenney, walgreens, etc. I've been up and down google, backwards and forwards, and it's pretty much impossible to get any sort of complete list. So, help me hive.

Any retailers that you can think of that have publicly admitted to using or experimenting with the technology?

posted by ttyn to Technology (10 answers total)

There are many reports of Wal-mart using RFIDs both in their warehouse and starting to be in stores too.
Article
Article
posted by msbutah at 5:07 PM on August 14, 2010

what's the list in relation to?

use of RFID in actual products or the use of RFIDs in the transportation of product?
posted by zombieApoc at 5:34 PM on August 14, 2010

RFID Business Applications. Article includes: "NYK Logistics, a third-party logistics provider based in Secaucus, N.J.... Air Canada... law firm Fish & Richardson P.C.... Johnson Controls, a Milwaukee, Wisc.-based suppler of car and truck interiors... [as well as] Paramount Farms, which processes about 60 percent of the U.S. pistachio crop and exports its products to more than 20 countries". Etc.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:36 PM on August 14, 2010

This list is outdated, but may be a start. Not vouching for the site; let the browser beware.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:45 PM on August 14, 2010

Response by poster: RFID for inventory management.
posted by ttyn at 6:21 PM on August 14, 2010

for a nonprofit example of RFID for inventory management (library) the Ramsey County Library is using it at the new Roseville branch. (county master plan through 2018 | local newspaper article | MinnPost)
posted by Electric Elf at 8:58 PM on August 14, 2010

Response by poster: @monkeytoes, that is exactly what I'm looking for, but this one's very limited and outdated
posted by ttyn at 9:41 PM on August 14, 2010

Just remember that many retailers are wary of RFID backlash and have given RFIDs used for retail applications a new name: EPC or Electronic Product Code. You can find more about EPC at the EPCGlobal website.

Unfortunately, they do not appear to offer a complete list of members, though their public policy section does not that manufacturers may include EPC RFIDs in products shipped to stores that do not use EPC technology. Seeing as Walmart does use them... you can bet they're probably in every other store as well.
posted by aristan at 12:55 AM on August 15, 2010

Here's a sort of different take, in case it's relevant to your research.
posted by aqsakal at 2:59 AM on August 15, 2010

Most large retailers have at least played around with RFID; Wal-Mart, Tesco, Marks & Spencer Benetton, Esquel, Zara, Sears, Target, Liz Clairborne, JAG et al. If you search with any large retailer name and RFID/EPC, you would find plenty of examples in google.

# Generally speaking, this was a big box retailer driven initiative. The cost of RFID tags was too high for it to be a big value-add for most pure-play apparel and footwear companies (which are largely smaller in size). Companies like Wal-Mart or Target tend to be procurers rather than contract manufacturers (largely) and they drove the mandate for their suppliers. Although the price point may had come down in the last few years and may had made it more viable (I have not been tracking this in the last few years)


# U may possibly find more work-in-progress examples, if you also post this to a relevant LinkedIn group - lot of top flight supply chain professionals subscribe to groups relevant to their areas of interest.
posted by justlooking at 9:24 AM on August 15, 2010