Is RFID Back?

Is RFID Back?
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​OK, we admit it…years ago we believed that RFID (Radio-frequency Identification) would become a big thing, with the price of tags falling rapidly and just about every retail product tagged.  Scanners were just being incorporated in smartphones at the time and the logic behind or conclusion was reasonable if not a bit enthusiastic. As RFID tags themselves are typically passive devices requiring no internal power source, they are ideal for tracking goods over an extended period of time, with each tag storing item data in non-volatile memory.  When the tags are interrogated by a scanner an internal antenna transmits the information to the scanner and can be read by the user and since each tag has its own identification number, a user can identify individual tag data even if the scanner activates a number of tags nearby.  Active tags, which must contain a battery, can periodically transmit the data without being scanned.

• The obvious uses for RFID tags are to prevent shrinkage in a retail environment and to control inventory, but bar codes, which require only a printer and scanner are a cheap alternative that has offset much of the need for RFID.  It is still a large market, with estimates of $10b+ last year and $17b to $18b by 2026, but the growth expectations for the RFID have been too optimistic many times before.  That said, there has been one strong proponent of the technology for many years, Wal-Mart (WMT), who adopted the technology years ago and upgraded to UHD RFID,  for its retail apparel products in 2020.  The company cites dramatically improved inventory management, which they say equates to a better in-store and online experience for customers and has now asked its suppliers to place Gen 2 UHF RFID tags on products in the following categories in addition to retail apparel and footwear:

 

• Kitchen & Dining
• Home Décor
• Bath & Shower
• Bedding
• Furniture & Luggage
• Closet & Organization
• Toys
• Electronics
• Wireless Products
• Sporting Goods
• Tires
• Batteries

Wal-Mart’s push to incorporate UHF RFID in other segments is expected to encourage other retailers to take steps to broaden the use of RFID takes in retail, as ~70% of all tags are used in just the apparel and footwear sectors, but once again expectations that reader prices will decline, making RFID available to consumers, carries much weight in longer-term market estimates.  While some cite the adoption of NFC (Near-field communication) in smartphones, which require the user to be within 4” of the source, while UHF RFID passive devices can be read up to ~50 feet.  Since we were wrong before, we will wait a bit before we call the second coming of RFID, but at least Wal-Mart is still in the picture and that is a big plus for the technology.