With over 1,800 stores across 79 countries as well as a comprehensive online shop, Decathlon is one of the world’s largest sporting goods retailers. Keeping each of its channels of commerce fully stocked is a significant challenge, and so it relies on RAIN RFID to underpin its inventory management. But with billions of products to keep track of, efficiently encoding each RAIN tag can be a daunting prospect.
In part three of our three-part blog series on tag encoding, Tristan Finet, Program Support & Communication Leader at Decathlon sat down with us to offers insight into the importance of tag encoding and the value that robust encoding standards can bring to retailers.
What is tag encoding, and how does it support day-to-day RAIN RFID operations?
Tag encoding is the process of writing a unique digital identity onto the microchip embedded within a RAIN RFID tag. For Decathlon and our fellow retailers, this process is crucial for guaranteeing the supply chain and retail efficiency needed to keep our shelves and online stores fully stocked.
To ensure accuracy and prevent errors in manufacturing, Decathlon implements source-tagging. Instead of requiring factories to manage complex data encoding locally, a centralized Service Bureau manages the data streams, encodes the tags according to strict GS1 global standards, and performs rigorous quality control testing. These fully verified, pre-encoded tags are then delivered directly to the manufacturing sites, ready to be attached to the products.
How do encoding standards function across global supply chains where different regulatory environments and requirements are in play?
Interoperability is the key to any successful international supply chain, so we always advise adhering strictly to open, non-proprietary standards. Today, every single Decathlon product carries a RAIN RFID tag that holds its unique ID based on universal frameworks established by GS1. Why? Because GS1’s objective is to support all regulations all over the world.
By using a standardized syntax such as GS1’s Electronic Product Code (EPC), we ensure that a tag encoded in an Asian factory can be read globally by our over 50,000 devices across warehouses or stores worldwide.
Indeed, by combining a unique item identifier with a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) to give us this EPC, it provides use with item level transparency that can be recognized by retailers worldwide.
The GS1 system has powered supply chains for decades, and so by combining this with the RAIN air-interface protocol (ISO/IEC 18000-63, also known as GS1 UHF Gen2) this provides us and any third party with the tools we need to interoperate seamlessly with an identifier that is guaranteed to be unique. This is an essential enabler of item level traceability from manufacturing to transport to inventory and right through to the point of sale.
What are the most common mistakes made when encoding RAIN RFID tags, and what impact can they have?
To maintain agility, especially with regional regulations like the Digital Product Passport (DPP) in Europe, our golden rule is to encode only essential data that is unlikely to change during the product’s lifetime.
As a fixed process, we only encode the Serialized GTIN following GS1 rules and use it as the key for our database. With this key, we can retrieve all linked information, such as events and material composition. If new data needs to be added, only the database has to be changed, eliminating the need for re-encoding all the tags.
Major global retailers and logistics providers are investing billions in RAIN infrastructure – what does this mean for the future of RAIN encoding?
The spread of RAIN technology will intensify interaction between different stakeholders based on RAIN tag reads, adding critical importance to interoperability and standards, as well as questions of security and privacy. Standards for RAIN encoding are already playing a central role in this, ensuring that privacy commands and protection from unauthorized tracking are available with all encoded tags.
With RAIN technology now recognized as an accepted DPP data carrier, what are the implications for encoding?
True to our golden rule, Decathlon promotes a resolver solution to meet DPP with a cost-effective solution. The resolver principle translates the product’s EPC into a digital link (URL). Then, it routes users directly to a unique product information page and its documentation. This approach protects our efficiency, allows direct user interaction, and entirely avoids the need to alter the millions of tags already in circulation.
It is not the only solution. We believe in a native reading, where a future RAIN-enabled smartphone’s operating system can have direct access to the RAIN RFID tag’s EPC. This will support EU DPP schemes by providing product information without the need for a third-party application or a resolver.
RAIN’s ability to uniquely identify and track individual items at scale is generating the kind of data that is transforming business performance from supply chain efficiency to sustainability targets to customer engagement. How does robust encoding underpin all of that?
Correct tag encoding is fundamental to making information universally accessible and functional. By following international standards, we guarantee full interoperability and enable unit-level traceability across our entire supply chain.
Again, owing to our golden rule to encode only the SGTIN as a primary database key, this provides easy access to critical records, including sustainability data, material details, and product life-cycle events.
Furthermore, by promoting resolver or native solutions, we have the bridge between physical tags and digital links to drive user interaction. This also ensures secure data sharing with the right stakeholders, for example, textile sorters can quickly and accurately access material compositions to recycle products correctly.
Finally, this efficient and disciplined encoding architecture serves as the foundation for high-impact, data-driven decisions powered by RAIN RFID technology. However, in such a circular context, in order to ensure the traceability of our products throughout their lifecycle, it is clear that a long-lasting data carrier is key.
For more on this topic, read our RAIN Alliance Tag Encoding Guide and Specifications here.