iTWire - IBM, Metro deliver customer-facing RFID

IBM, Metro deliver customer-facing RFID

by Stephen Withers
Friday, 11 January 2008
! Most RFID projects are aimed at supply chain efficiencies, but German retailer Metro Group is taking the technology a step further in order to improve the customer experience. Metro's Galeria Kaufhof department store in Essen is the site of an interesting RFID trial. In the men's fashion department, some 30,000 items have been tagged, and when they are taken into a fitting room information such as price, fabric and care instructions is displayed. RFID readers are also used by store employees to locate goods that customers are looking for. The system also provides real-time inventory and other performance reports. to employees and managers. Metro and IBM have also recently implemented Europe's largest supply chain RFID project, allowing the retailer to track shipments from its suppliers to its warehouses and distribution centres and then on to some 200 outlets around Germany, including Metro Cash & Carry and Real stores. Metro is one of Europe's pioneering users of RFID in the retail industry, with a pilot in 20 stores during 2004. The Galeria Kaufhof project is one of the first to use the EPCglobal architecture framework. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to post your comment! Tags See All Tags Hardware IBM Software Get stories like this delivered daily - FREE - subscribe now

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