The retail industry is spreading everywhere in every business. There are a lot of retail stores of many brands that sell products directly to the customers. The retail industry has been growing at a fast pace and gaining a lot of big numbers at the global market level. The retail market size has grown strongly in recent years. It will grow from $28,846.57 billion in 2023 to $31,310.6 billion in 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.5%. Millions of retail stores together make these numbers.
Overview: Role of RFID in Retail
Customers are an important factor in the retail industry, and every business must make their customers better by providing them with better experiences at their retail stores. There are many ways to enhance customer experience, such as greeting them, providing proper facilities, solving queries, etc. But in this modern world, only treating them is not a great option to enhance their experience towards shopping. Statistics show that 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience. This shows the benefit of providing a better experience in terms of earnings.
Many tools or solutions have the potential to make the customer experience better, and RFID-powered solutions are one of them that are doing too great. Many retailers have implemented RFID-powered retail solutions.
Retailers may use RFID to precisely track stock levels, spot low inventory, and streamline restocking procedures. When a customer can quickly locate the products they desire, they are generally happier and are less likely to lose a potential transaction due to out-of-stock situations.
The global RFID retail market size was USD 12.36 billion in 2023, and the market is projected to touch USD 26.66 billion by 2032 at a CAGR of 8.92% during the forecast period. RFID technology has transformed retail, optimizing inventory management and customer experiences. The global RFID market size was valued at USD 14.11 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow from USD 15.49 billion in 2024 to USD 37.71 billion by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 11.8%.
So now we have seen the introduction part and got a clear idea about the topic that is going to start. There are many things that have to come forward, like benefits, challenges, etc. So, let’s start to know much more about the topic that is mentioned at the top.
What are RFID Retail Solutions for Enhancing Customer Experience?
RFID, or radio frequency identification, is a great technology that works on radio frequency waves to track, detect, and trace assets with the help of tags. For enhancing customer experience, there are many solutions that allow customers to pay for items in a matter of seconds with a self-checkout feature. Customers can put their carts or baskets in a special scanning area while they are in the store.
Following item-level tagging, RFID readers precisely, instantly, and automatically scan every item. RFID solutions also provide proper information about any product by just scanning the barcodes. There are many things that we will see later in the upcoming paragraph.
Related Blog: RFID and IoT Solutions for Real-Time Inventory Management in Retail
Benefits of RFID Solutions for Enhancing Customer Experience
Now, we are going to see some benefits of RFID solutions for enhancing customer experience in retail. Here are a few incredible benefits mentioned below.
Faster Checkouts
In the advanced world, everyone is in a hurry, and any delay in anything makes them frustrated. This concept applies in shopping too, where customers don’t want to be in line for a long time. With the RFID retail solutions, the checkout process can be faster just by scanning the codes on products. RFID-powered shopping carts can automatically scan the items and prepare an accurate bill which saves a lot of time, and it just takes to make payment.
Personalization
Customers always want to feel special, as the shop is for them, and that can be achieved through personalization. But this can be too irritating to search for options on the basis of their colors, size, etc., manually. RFID-powered retail solutions can provide a personalized experience to the customer by offering smart fitting rooms that recommend clothing and accessories and provide information on size and color options.
Enhance Inventory Management
If a customer needs any specific product, then it should be there to make them happy and satisfied. But sometimes there is no availability of any products, and retail stores aren’t able to know that, which provides dissatisfaction and disappointment for customers towards the store. But with RFID-powered retail solutions, it is possible to track the item’s amount in the inventory and make management aware before stocking out.
Omnichannel Shopping
Sometimes, as mentioned earlier, there can be a chance of getting stock out of any specific product. Also, there can be the possibility of not getting the product from the company even after informing them during the stockout. RFID retail solutions can enable omnichannel shopping for the retail store that connects their store to online stores. This helps to get the product from a nearby store that is not available at another store. Customers definitely appreciate these efforts of the retail.
Faster Returns
There are a lot of cases every day where customers don’t like the products after buying them and come back the next day to return them. With the manual method of shopping, the returning process can be too lengthy, which troubles the customer. But with the RFID retail solutions, the return process can be faster and refund the customers in no time.
Also Read: The Impact of RFID and IoT on Retail Loss Prevention and Security
Challenges with RFID Retail Solutions for Enhancing Customer Experience
We have seen some breathtaking benefits of RFID retail solutions for enhancing customer experience, but there are a few potential challenges too; here are a few mentioned below.
- Compatibility can be a challenge, as RFID has to work with different types of tags, readers, and frequencies that make it slim chance of getting full success.
- Data collision can be another headache for retail stores while reading hundreds of tags at once.
- Business process redesign is another thing that has to be considered while implementing new technology. Redesignation can take a lot of cost, time, and downtime for the retail businesses.
Also read: The Impact of IoT on the Retail Business Today
Final Thoughts
RFID, or radio frequency identification, has been implemented in various sectors like businesses, health, government, etc., and is providing various benefits or use cases like trace, track, information, etc. Retail businesses can get most of it, as RFID-powered retail solutions can enhance the customer experience in a efficient and smooth manner.
We have seen a lot of benefits but also focused on some challenges, such as compatibility issues, data collision, cost, adoption, etc., that are definitely going to affect the implementation. However, with careful and planned implementation, RFID retail solutions can be game changers to gain customers’ trust for a long, long time.
Keeping your fulfillment process steady is made easier with the use of RFID technology for effective RFID solutions in your business. Get in touch with Aeologic Technologies right away to see how it can benefit your company.
