How RFID Technology Guarantees a Smart Shopping Experience
Shopping centres are enjoying significant momentum in metro cities. Supermarket runs are a daily activity for many people, and shopping sprees are common during weekends and holidays. However, the whole experience can be marred by inconvenience to the customers and cost-inefficiencies due to certain aspects of the retail store.
There is significant hype surrounding the promise of smart shopping carts or smart trolleys in retail merchandising, which indicates that it is time that retail businesses take full advantage of smart products and IoT systems made possible by RFID technology for seamless operations. Here are some ways RFID technology guarantees a smooth shopping experience for customers.
1. It is time-efficient
When people shop, they snap up a many different variety of items, deposit them in their trolleys, and go to the billing counter to check out their purchases. This is time-consuming since there may be long lines, and the barcode scanning process of each item takes time. Some people at the head of the line may have large quantities of purchased items and hold up the queue.
A smart shopping cart can display the total price of all the products inside it, calculating the purchases and billing them automatically. The customers will already know how much they have to pay while shopping in real-time, and they can receive faster service at checkout as it only involves payment.
2. It is cost-effective
By streamlining their checkout process, retail businesses stand to gain as lengthy queues are the main cause of consumer dissatisfaction for retail stores and supermarkets. They can potentially reduce the number of loyal customers. After all, people naturally try to avoid going to shops known to have long queues.
Another advantage is that retail stores would require fewer cashiers and staff, resulting in a significant cut in their costs. The proposed RFID model is also user-friendly and convenient to use. Moreover, it is eco-friendly, eliminating the use of paper.
An innovative billing system can store more information, like the product type, manufacturing date, expiry date, and others, streamlining other departments such as Purchasing and Quality Control. RFID retail technology, outfitted at the entrance and exit points of a facility, can also prevent thefts.
3. It ensures customer convenience
Smart shopping influences customers to be “smarter” about their spending. Some pioneering studies show that smart carts that display the total price increased shoppers’ confidence and how much they purchased. The real-time calculations also put customers at ease, especially if on a budget.
There are many other applications projected with smart shopping. For instance, an automatic billing system has been proposed, where customers pay the bill within the cart using an RFID ATM card. Other projected applications include supplementing the smart cart with sensors to automate movement, and shoppers need not push a heavy trolley.
Conclusion
As the world continues to embrace digitalisation, retail businesses must adapt to meet the modern needs of consumers. By adopting RFID technology, retail businesses can enhance their consumers’ shopping experience and make it an exclusive one that e-commerce can never offer or replace. RFID retail technology reduces time, costs, and hassle for all key players involved. It is in the retail business’ best interest to invest in RFID technology to transform their operations and enhance customers’ shopping experience.
