RFID

Inventory accuracy has always been important in retail. However, as omnichannel operations continue to evolve, knowing how much inventory is available is no longer enough. Retailers need timely and reliable visibility into where products are located, how they are moving, and whether inventory records accurately reflect actual stock. With inventory distributed across warehouses, stores, fulfilment locations, and return channels, maintaining visibility becomes increasingly challenging. Delayed updates can lead to replenishment issues, excess safety stock, misplaced items, and inefficient manual verification processes.

Barcodes and RFID are both Auto-ID technologies used to track products, assets, and inventory across the supply chain. Both have their place — but the calculus is shifting. With the GS1 Sunrise 2027 deadline approaching, companies that haven't evaluated their barcode and RFID strategy are running out of runway.

The way the world identifies, tracks, and authenticates products is being rebuilt. Two forces are converging at once: the global retail and healthcare transition to 2D barcodes under GS1’s Sunrise 2027 initiative, and the accelerating shift to RAIN (UHF) RFID for item-level visibility. Companies that treat these as a future compliance chore will be reacting under deadline pressure. Companies that act now will turn the same investment into faster operations, lower shrink, and a data foundation their competitors won’t have.

Did you know that many industries, including retail, healthcare, logistics, and manufacturing, are increasingly adopting RFID technology? The driving force behind this is their desire to streamline operations with automated data collection and real-time visibility.

Most businesses need effective inventory control and management. Companies across industries are seeking ways to gain real-time visibility and increase control over their inventory for better management. RFID technology can effectively help enterprises track and manage assets ranging from production equipment to shipping cases, commodities, and more.

Whether you are a retailer, supplier, or intermediary such as a logistics partner, the importance of selecting the right RFID partners, printers and equipment cannot be overstated. RFID is complex. In a recent RFID presentation from the world’s leading retailer, their overriding message was, “RFID is difficult but worth it.” This means that selecting the right partners and equipment is often the critical difference between success and failure.

As a supplier, we hope you are ready to begin applying RFID labels to your products for your retail customers. In this blog, we’ll detail the steps you need to follow to properly tag your items with RFID.

Do you supply products to a major retailer? If so, your customer might have mandated you begin RFID-tagging your products. What are some RFID basics to help you comply with this requirement?

Items with RFID labels are now arriving at your brick-and-mortar stores. Hopefully, you view this as great news. What do you need to keep in mind to take advantage of these newly tagged items?