The technology is not new, but radio-frequency identification is the latest thing to hit the shelves
Fashion retailer River Island is attaching radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags to every item of clothing it stocks.
The tags enable a store’s staff to identify all items of clothing on the shop’s shelves and racks, and in stockrooms and fitting rooms, using a remote RFID reader. Just switch on the reader and it sends out radio waves which identify a unique code embedded in every tag. In just a few minutes, store managers can conduct a stock check and identify every item of stock in-store, a process that done manually takes many hours. The stores used to carry out a stock take just once or twice a year. Now they do it every week.
Source: RFID technology is boosting sales and customer engagement for retailers