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This is a great question...When I was in college in the 2000s RFID was going to be a game changer. The ability to track everything...the ability to just push yo

by fma 6y ago

This is a great question...When I was in college in the 2000s RFID was going to be a game changer. The ability to track everything...the ability to just push your cart out and pay without scanning your items. Technology is there, but my only guess is somehow it's cheaper to have stolen items and less accurate counts.

theptip 6y ago
I believe Walmart uses RFID extensively in their logistics/distribution pipeline, and they have a lot of control over their suppliers, so I'd assume they would use it in the store if it was viable. https://www.atlasrfidstore.com/rfid-insider/walmart-and-rfid-the-relationship-that-put-rfid-on-the-map https://www.atlasrfidstore.com/rfid-insider/walmart-and-rfid... I'd be interested to know the precise reasons for not using RFID on items though, I suspect it might be something like "tagging $1 items is cost-prohibitive, and the system isn't useful if you don't tag every item".
- parliament32 6y ago
  I'd be more inclined to suspect that the sheer square footage of their stores makes it cost-prohibitive to outfit the space with the sensor infrastructure (comparing to Lululemon, who has much smaller stores). The tags themselves are fractions of a penny (I'm seeing $0.002 on alibaba) and are just applied as stickers, so I don't think that's too much of an issue -- not to mention Walmart probably has the buying power to insist their suppliers pre-tag all items.
  - thaumasiotes 6y ago
    > not to mention Walmart probably has the buying power to insist their suppliers pre-tag all items. That wouldn't stop them from paying for the tagging. If it happens at all, everyone later in the supply chain has to pay for it.
aeternum 6y ago
Thieves could just pull off the tag or swap tags with a cheaper item. If you want it integrated then your store must convince every manufacturerto modify their production line to put a tag inside the product packaging. Reading is still a problem also, RFID works great alone but what about reading a shelf full of products at once? IMO computer vision (like Amazon Go) is a more likely solution to the problem.
- rootsudo 6y ago
  They already can with barcodes. It's harder to forge an RFID then a UPC 128 barcode (print as sticker, apply at store) Reading a shelf full of products isn't an issue, how do you think they can wave a wand over clothes and know the exact sizes they have and quantity? They should double down on RFID but many of the manufacturers don't want to incorporate it in their process.
  - rtkwe 6y ago
    The processing time of applying in the store would be enormous there's a reason very few stores still use the price sticker gun to label items, it's time consuming when there's already a tag on each item. Also in a number of places walmart and other stores literally just open a box provided by their sources and place it on shelves.

by fma 6y ago

theptip 6y ago

I believe Walmart uses RFID extensively in their logistics/distribution pipeline, and they have a lot of control over their suppliers, so I'd assume they would use it in the store if it was viable. https://www.atlasrfidstore.com/rfid-insider/walmart-and-rfid-the-relationship-that-put-rfid-on-the-map https://www.atlasrfidstore.com/rfid-insider/walmart-and-rfid... I'd be interested to know the precise reasons for not using RFID on items though, I suspect it might be something like "tagging $1 items is cost-prohibitive, and the system isn't useful if you don't tag every item".

parliament32 6y ago
I'd be more inclined to suspect that the sheer square footage of their stores makes it cost-prohibitive to outfit the space with the sensor infrastructure (comparing to Lululemon, who has much smaller stores). The tags themselves are fractions of a penny (I'm seeing $0.002 on alibaba) and are just applied as stickers, so I don't think that's too much of an issue -- not to mention Walmart probably has the buying power to insist their suppliers pre-tag all items.
- thaumasiotes 6y ago
  > not to mention Walmart probably has the buying power to insist their suppliers pre-tag all items. That wouldn't stop them from paying for the tagging. If it happens at all, everyone later in the supply chain has to pay for it.

aeternum 6y ago

Thieves could just pull off the tag or swap tags with a cheaper item. If you want it integrated then your store must convince every manufacturerto modify their production line to put a tag inside the product packaging. Reading is still a problem also, RFID works great alone but what about reading a shelf full of products at once? IMO computer vision (like Amazon Go) is a more likely solution to the problem.

rootsudo 6y ago
They already can with barcodes. It's harder to forge an RFID then a UPC 128 barcode (print as sticker, apply at store) Reading a shelf full of products isn't an issue, how do you think they can wave a wand over clothes and know the exact sizes they have and quantity? They should double down on RFID but many of the manufacturers don't want to incorporate it in their process.
- rtkwe 6y ago
  The processing time of applying in the store would be enormous there's a reason very few stores still use the price sticker gun to label items, it's time consuming when there's already a tag on each item. Also in a number of places walmart and other stores literally just open a box provided by their sources and place it on shelves.