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NRF 2024 Recap – Stores Are Morphing into Fulfillment Laboratories

Jan 25, 2024

I have visited NRF a half-dozen times, and know the challenge is the size of the exhibition: 1,000+ exhibitors, 35,000+ visitors spread over two gigantic halls at the Javits Center in New York. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and lost in there.

The three days spent at the show gave a fresh perspective into the forces that shape the future of retail. The angle I was specifically interested to learn more about is how the RAIN RFID market is evolving.

Lost and Found Buzzwords

Artificial Intelligence, AI, was The Buzzword, hands down. I saw less augmented reality on display than on the previous year and, surprisingly to me, sustainability was well hidden, practically non-existent. It serves to mention, that Digital Product Passport (DPP) was only highlighted on a couple of booths.

AI wins the buzzword game.

Grand Theme #1 – Loss Prevention

For the suppliers in the retail space, chargebacks are the elephant in the room that only a few have talked about in public, except for at the RVCF or GS1 events. For retailers as I gather, a similar pain point is loss prevention. Solutions and practices to address this area are very much rooted in the latest breed of inventory technologies, which lead to the ability to trace items and events, and ultimately in the data analysis that follows. I was specifically impressed with Sensormatic’s Shrink Analyzer.

The obvious 1st goal for everyone is to prevent loss in the first place, but without putting employees or store associates at risk. The second goal is to detect theft so that the inventory can be replenished without unnecessary delay. The third goal is to address the root cause of the issue. As heard from Joe Coll, Vice President Asset Protection Operations & Strategy at Macy’s, thanks to the advanced blend of inventory control, video surveillance, and other methods, retailers today are capable of serving air-tight cases of theft to law enforcement to study and prosecute.

All this is rooted in the ability to track inventory and events across stores and supply chains. In essence that requires item-level traceability, for which RAIN RFID is the dominant solution.

Grand Theme #2 – Consumer Experiences

The grand theme that many companies promoted was the increasing convenience of the consumer shopping experience. It builds on several factors: omni-channel sales, the right product selection on the shelves, associates that can focus on the customer, and fast self-checkout processes. Engagement and VIP-like experiences can be necessary add-ons, depending on the retailer’s market positioning.

Oddly, in a high-volume grocery business, product identification in checkout is still much reliant on barcodes. In lower-volume but higher product-value retail, product identification is more often based on RAIN RFID. As an example, the Amazon Just Walk Out concept has already been deployed at several stadium sports merchandise stores.

Interpretation of Themes

Putting past trends, such as omnichannel, BOPIS, and labor shortage, together with the new buzzwords, such as AI, loss prevention, and self-checkouts, leads me to think that traditional brick-and-mortar stores are becoming convenient fulfillment centers, where all events are being monitored and studied.

In a panel discussion with Levi’s, PacSun, and Nedap, Levi’s VP of Global Direct to Consumer, Kirsten L’Orange, noted her personal view, that RAIN RFID is enabling data mining in the stores! According to L’Orange, ”Omni-channel execution without RFID is not possible. […] The cost of RFID has come down tremendously.” Shirley Gao, CDIO at PacSun shared the benefits RFID has provided for PacSun: 30% from revenue uplift, 30% from savings in shipping costs, and 30% from shrink reduction.

I feel it’s cool to be able to state that stores are morphing into fulfillment laboratories.

It’s hard to imagine a laboratory without data. Going forward it may also become difficult to conceptualize a retailer without accurate inventory – almost the same as a consumer without a smartphone. As of today, I don’t see any other technology being able to provide similar transparency into supply chains and inventories as RAIN RFID does.

What’s in the Horizon

There are a few themes that I expect to come across in future NRF events: robots doing replenishment, item life cycle traceability, DPP, and sustainability. Inventory robots seem to be available already, but on-shelf replenishment requires additional robot capabilities. I expect that lifecycle traceability, DPP solutions, and the opportunities associated are going to hit EuroCIS already in 2024, and possibly NRF in 2026-2027.

Sustainability will also be everywhere, as our future on this planet practically depends on it. More sustainable practices, transparency, and traceability requirements hit the manufacturing, supply chain, distribution, and post-POS lifecycle of the product. Often the packaging and the practical recyclability of products will need to be re-invented. With that said, I am confident there are endless business opportunities for many stakeholders within the retail space. I wonder who are the first ones to ride that early wave in the US market?

Final take for those in the RAIN RFID industry – now is the time to review roadmaps to make sure our products and service offerings are aligned with these upcoming themes and requirements!

RAIN RFID is the key technology for item-level traceability.
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NRF 2023 Recap – Inventory Management is a Priority and Self-Service Increases

Jan 19, 2023

After two years of idle time I attended the NRF Big Show in New York from 14th to 17th Jan 2023. Three full days of walking was definitely worth the effort. My takeaways from the event are as follows:

Liz Ann Sonders: GEL and demographics

The clarity and reasoning by which Liz Ann Sonders, the Chief Investment Strategist of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., presented her views on the state of US markets and economy were unprecedented. I made two pages of notes and became her fan. 

Her message in a nutshell as understood by me: the world has exited the era of cheap Goods, cheap Energy and cheap Labour (GEL). That change will also affect the balance of power between capital and labour. For the last 20 years, capital has had the advantage. Going forward, much of the power will transfer to labour.

Factors are numerous, and demographic development is an even stronger force than inflation or the rampart war in Europe. The outcome is that digitalization continues and supply chains will be more carefully managed than ever before.

Outlook of the retail market (Sonders cont.)

While consumer confidence has gone down, the savings rate has been high because of the fiscal stimulus during the pandemic. Due to the accrued excess savings, consumer spending still continues at a high level, but the notable change is the spending baton that is being passed from goods to services.

As a result, many retailers currently carry excessive inventory levels. The industry will work through that, but by now many have learned to be cautious against excess inventory.

Remember this driver (Sonders cont.)

The change in demographics has already shaped many industries in Asia and Europe. Automation and digitalization will increase, due to the increasing struggle to hire and retain the hands that do the manual work. The long-term driver to learn and remember therefore is labour shortage.

Observations from the exhibition floor

I saw more self-service check-out counters being promoted than in prior years. Additionally, the count of robot demonstrations impressed me. Robot applications range from warehouses to shop-floor replenishment, and from inventory scanning to customer service.

The increasing usage of automation obviously makes companies more resilient against labour shortage. It also helps in talent retention, as more time is spent on creative and complex tasks.

Outlook of the RAIN RFID market

(For simplicity, I will discard demand forecasting as it has little to do with RFID.)

Inventory control requires supply chain management, and today’s supply chain management leans on item-level traceability. For technology vendors, the welcome result is that the demand for RAIN RFID technology remains at a high level. What I also heard several label suppliers state is that after a few agonising years, the supply of RAIN RFID tag ICs is getting better. Lastly, I heard the adoption of this technology is finally taking off big time in the logistics industry.

Folks, we are in the right business.

Label-based tagging keeps on increasing

On a high level, several tagging approaches are available: sticker-type labels, hang tags, rugged tags and embedded tags. Labels and hang tags fulfil the scanning requirements of supply chains, and the scalable supplier ecosystem efficiently supports the approach.

I came to estimate that the yearly RFID labels production quantity is already enough to wrap the whole Javitz congress center with RFID labels for its outer surfaces.

At the NRF what I didn’t hear American retailers talk about was product life cycle traceability, digital product passport, and digital twin. They seem to be concepts of the future, which marks a major difference compared to European retailers. I am curious to see if EuroShop presents a different tone.

RFID applications closing in on the US consumers

Millions of American consumers that work in the supply chains already use RAIN RFID every day. At work, they have learned to appreciate the efficiency and convenience that RAIN brings. My question goes: when will they start requesting the same efficiency and convenience in managing their personal inventories and households?

I gather that the world is becoming ready for such a leap as more consumer-friendly RAIN RFID reader products are finally emerging. Sledge-type of readers, that attaches to your smartphone, have been in the market for years already. Recently more slick and  pocket-sized alternatives have been launched, just have a look at the BlueBird VX500 and Unitech RP902. The former is a RAIN-enabled smartphone, and the latter device connects to Android and Apple phones wirelessly.

I believe these products are game-changing as they expand the usage of RAIN RFID well beyond the supply chains and point-of-sale. As the embedded and durable tagging of products increases in the coming years, I am sure consumers find delight and convenience in RFID also outside of their working hours. 

Passive Bluetooth 

Wiliot was already a familiar name from several prior industry events. Wiliot is an IOT platform that connects BLE-based sensors, “IoT Pixels” as Wiliot calls them. The sensors carry an ID and sensing capabilities. The sensors don’t require a battery, instead, they harvest energy from nearby transmitters, which makes them relatively cheap and small, practically stickers. Additional gateways pass the encrypted sensor data to the cloud.

The difference to RAIN in Wiliot is that the IoT Pixel data can only be accessed via cloud. Wiliot runs a SaaS business. The Bluetooth infrastructure and consumables are relatively cheap, and a Wiliot system is easy to set up.

Three additional findings from the exhibition floor are worth mentioning:

  1. Another company Nexite also utilizes BLE technology and follows a similar SaaS business model
  2. There is an emerging paper-thin ecosystem of suppliers that produce Wiliot labels. 
  3. I came across a Wiliot-enabled prototype printer.

In my assessment, passive Bluetooth is in its infancy the same way as RAIN RFID was 20 years ago. Technology itself is demonstrated to work, although practically the sensors cannot yet be read with smartphones. All in all, I remain curious to see how passive Bluetooth takes off.

Final thoughts

The NRF Big Show is overwhelming in its size and range of content. After three days at the exhibition and conference, I was left with a warm comforting view that the growth of the RAIN RFID market is set to accelerate. It is a very exciting business to be in. 

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Join us at Connections Summit Helsinki 2022

May 11, 2022

Join us at Connections Summit, in Helsinki, June 14-16! The event is organized by RAIN Alliance in cooperation with IEEE CRFID and GS1.

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The theme of the event is sustainability. During the sessions, industry leaders will be addressing the use of wireless RAIN RFID technologies to save natural resources, human resources, energy, and time, and cut down on unnecessary waste.

Learn insights on how to improve supply chains and asset management so, that businesses only produce the goods that they need. And most importantly learn how to quantify and address the ecological footprint of the core components, such as the RAIN tags. The event is also an excellent opportunity to expand your business networks!

Learn more and register

Agenda

The first day of the event is reserved for RAIN Member Workgroup Meetings. Wednesday the 15th is an open day for anyone to join to hear a day full of interesting presentations and networking. The last day of the event is reserved for RAIN Member-only sessions and the IEEE CRFID meeting.

Check out the full agenda here ›

Agenda Highlights (June 15)

  • Opening remarks from Anni Sinnemäki, Deputy Mayor for Urban Environment, City of Helsinki
  • RFID as Enabler in Wireless Patient Monitoring – Timo Hakala, Senior radio systems engineer of GE Healthcare
  • Sustainability in RAIN RFID-Based Healthcare – Bahar Aliakarian, Michigan State University
  • Leveraging RAIN Through the Full Life Cycle of the Tire: Transitioning from Footprint to Handprint – Peter RAMIREZ, Michelin North America
  • Industrial Identification – Seeking for Reliability – Joona Nikunen, Innovation Manager of Valmet Automation

Train with Ultrarunner Noora Honkala

After traveling and working all day, it is good to do a bit of exercise to energize and reset your body and mind for the open event day on Wednesday. 

Join a fun running exercise event on Tuesday evening at 6 pm. The exercise will be held by one of the world’s leading ultrarunners, Noora Honkala. You will also get a chance to chat with Noora about the life of a professional athlete and get some training tips. 

The running event is suitable for everyone. You will be able to do the exercise at your own pace. The event will take place in a park by the seaside, close to Hotel Katajanokka. Sign up for the running event during the registration process to receive more details.

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Meet us at RFID Journal Live – Hot Topics at booth #322: Tagged-Item Grading and the World’s Best Chocolate!

Apr 14, 2022

Voyantic will be exhibiting at RFID Journal Live in Las Vegas, on May 17-19. If you are traveling to the show, stop by to see us at booth 322 and, more importantly, to taste some world-famous Finnish chocolate! We look forward to meeting with customers and other RFID industry members from across the world. The in-person events feel so much more exciting in the light of the past couple of years, wouldn’t you agree!

We will be showcasing the Voyantic testing and encoding solutions for RAIN RFID and NFC. One interesting discussion topic will be about managing the RF performance of tagged-items in different environments — with different label types, materials, and ways to tag and store the items. Tagged-item Grading is a way for end-users, suppliers, and technology providers to communicate performance requirements. And the Voyantic Tagged-Item Grading System provides a way to test readability and to define and verify the grading. Stop by at our booth or contact us to hear more!

See you in Vegas!

P.s. I’m bringing this! 3 kg of pure gooodness!

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Join us at the RAIN Alliance Meeting

Feb 09, 2022

Voyantic is proud to sponsor the first virtual RAIN Alliance meeting of 2022. The two-day event will be an opportunity for both RAIN Members and non-members to connect and collaborate on content and topics arising from RAIN members and the industry at large.

Dates: March 1-3, 2022

Learn more

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