Anyone who keeps a close eye on the business section of the newspaper likely has read an article or two about the death of retail. The act of people going to a physical store, browsing through shelves of items, and then making purchases is slowly going out of style. The ease of internet shopping, where a click of a mouse or a swipe of a tablet allows for consumers to just sit back and wait for items to be delivered, is very enticing for modern people who are strapped for time.
Luckily, retail stores might have a way to combat this exodus from their stores. RFID technology, which allows for tiny tags which carry digital information to be implanted in items and then read by another device, has started to spring up more and more in everyday uses as the technology has become more widespread and cost-effective. For retail stores with a little excess money in their budgets to implement this technology, its uses are limited for the most part only by the imagination of store management.
There are concerns about the safety of RFID technology, including the worry that folks with portable RFID reading devices might steal customer information. If you have any items in your wallet carrying RFID technology, a Bricraft RFID wallet is a great way to protect your personal data. Then you can go shopping worry-free and enjoy the retail stores of the future, brought to you by RFID today.
More Information on Your Purchase
When you buy, for example, an item of clothing at a traditional retail store, you don’t get any information on the purchase other than the price. But clothing that contains RFID tags might be able to bring up digital information on your phone or readers placed throughout the store. Some stores have even experimented with RFID readers in mirrors that bring up relevant content for you when you try the clothes on, making a much more informed purchase.
Check out in a Snap
One of the most frustrating things about retail shopping is the possibility of having to wait in a long checkout line to make your purchase. That process could disappear with the idea of a RFID shopping reader. Having this device, either in a shopping bag or as a portable tablet offered by stores to customers when they arrive, would allow for customers to scan items immediately as they take them off the shelves, then pay immediately with another quick swipe of a credit card or smart phone on the way out. No lines, no hassle, just satisfaction.
The Stores Benefit Too
Inventory management is a costly and time-consuming process that weighs on the profits and efficiency of retail stores. But having RFID technology inside products would allow them to do inventories on the spot as items are purchased. It can also yield immediate information to retailers about the effectiveness of sales or other initiatives.
So don’t give up on the retail experience, as RFID is helping to transform it. Now if only they could invent chips to help with mall parking.
