Traditionally, the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Big Show, held throughout the Javits Center in New York City, is an important highlight for the retail supply chain, and RFID specialists are among the companies that showcase their newest products and services. Zebra Technologies typically has one of the largest booths, positioned right in the front of the show.

While this year’s Big Show had to be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that didn’t stop major suppliers like Zebra Technologies from meeting with attendees virtually and discussing their latest advances and how the RFID market is working with their partners during COVID-19.

Among the latest developments that Zebra is working on is a new RFID sled, as well as two new desktop printers with internal modules. Meanwhile, Zebra officials are seeing excellent opportunities ahead for RFID in retail.

Susan Flake, director RFID business development in North America for Zebra Technologies, observed that the use of RFID has been accelerating in retail during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Because of the pandemic, the ability to use e-commerce to reach consumers has been compressed to weeks,” Flake said. “The sheer volume of companies that have opened up e-commerce offerings has made it even more important for retailers to know their inventory. There is a tremendous need to deliver what customers are looking for to their local stores and knowing what you have in inventory helps to get that inventory into the right locations. It also allows you to open up more SKUs to the online world.”

Flake believes that e-commerce and curbside pickups are here to stay.

“Studies show that these are all new habits we are learning, and these are going to stick with us,” added Flake. “More than a third of shoppers are going to continue to pick up curbside. It is a lot easier to order groceries from your couch. These trends were already in the making, but COVID accelerated them.”

“Retailers who have been using RFID for a long time are expanding use cases and leveraging other benefits. They were also agile in meeting the rapid expansion of e-commerce last year due to COVID-19 and in accommodating the consumer’s digital pivot.”

Flake also noted that there are added benefits that RFID brings to stakeholders.

“RFID lets the brand have a connection with the consumer even after the sale,” said Flake. “We think of inventory visibility as the foundation that everything else can be built upon.”

Flake also pointed to the gains being made by RFID in the food supply chain.

“The food supply chain is one of the newer verticals for RFID,” said Flake. “If you look at it today, restaurants are still taking inventory by pen and paper and the shrink is high – 40% of everything the US grows ends up as waste. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants a smarter food supply chain. Also, we want traceback for food recalls. This is really driving the industry to have RFID capabilities from farm to table. This is something we are seeing, and there is a lot of momentum. This digitalization of the food supply chain enables both inventory capabilities and track and trace from end to end.”

Interestingly, 41% of industry decision-makers in Zebra’s Food Safety Supply Chain Vision Study say that RFID tags improve traceability more than any other technology.