While RFID’s benefits to inventory management are well known, it is easy to overlook the bigger role RFID will play as a lynchpin for the hyper-connected world of the Internet of Things and the data it generates. In 2014, estimates for connected devices ranged as high as 16 billion. But in the realm of passive RFID, the number of ‘dumb’ objects (i.e., those where it is unnecessary, uneconomical or impractical to have an active transmitter) is likely an order of magnitude (or two) higher, making the need for the proliferation of passive RFID standards glaringly apparent. A world where 99% of everything is invisible to the web by virtue of not having an active transmitter is as incomplete and disconnected as a pre-Columbus world map. See SML Intelligent Inventory Solutions President Dean Frew's presentation at GS1 Connect 2015. This talk explores the possibilities of how this decades old RFID technology is now Retail’s new central nervous system, and answers such questions as: What can the bleeding edge of RFID technology deliver to retailers today? What RFID benefits are largely hypothetical, and which are real? What can today’s retailer do to better anticipate the hyper-connected world RFID will help bring about? What will the fully RFID-enabled world of the future look like to businesses, customers, and society at large?

1. Is
RFID
the
Internet
of
Thing’s
(RFID)
Retail’s
New
Central
Nervous
System?

2. IntroducAon
Dean Frew
President & Founder
SML Intelligent Inventory Solutions
(formerly Xterprise)
• RFID software solutions founded in 2002 and acquired
as division of SML Group in 2013
• 100’s of stores, 1,000’s of RFID devices, Billions of RFID
transactions/year …. some of the largest In-Store &
Supply Chain deployments in the World
• Clarity™ is our SW technology
• Full solution offering available: Business Case
Consulting, Software, Hardware, Implementation
Services, Tags and Support Services
info@sml-iis.com
www.sml-iis.com
@SMLiis

3. So,
the
IoT
is
made
of
(mostly)
“Non-­‐
Important”
things...
Unnecessary
Impractical
Uneconomical
…to equip with a power supply
for tracking purposes
…but still VALUABLE if placed on the “Important” things In Retail

4. What
70%
accuracy
looks
like
If 70% doesn’t cut it for these things, why is it acceptable for
the things that provide you and your business vital
information

5. IOT is about everything
having a unique Identity… and
a Place and Time
How Will That Help Your
Interaction With Customers?

6. The customer understanding & business value
that can be gained from IoT (RFID)
is boundless
Did Suzy shop Amazon
before buying the item in
the store?
John is on-line and the
store down the street
has the shirts he likes
on sale and in-stock,
push him an add.
How many of my
customers shop on
their phone while in
store?
What items does
Sally view the most,
but put back?
Do items on higher
shelves get handled
more than items on
lower shelves?
What items does Fred
want to know more
info about?
Why does Mark look at CDs while his wife shops for
children’s clothes, but he never buys?
What items
am I most
out of stock?
Do I need to
make more?

7. IoT
Is
A
Growing
Reality
In
Apparel/Footwear
Retail
RFID
• Stores
• Distribution
Centers
• Factories
Adoption

8. Hard
Benefits
Around
IoT
For
Inventory
Management
RFID
• Sales Lift
• Shrink Reduction
• More Effective Inventory
Management Processes
• Efficient Omnichannel Execution
• Inventory Reduction
• Improved Customer Service

9. RFID
What Will Speed-up RFID Adoption In
Retail?
• More Real Retail Success Stories & ROIs
• Solution Providers Need To Simplify Offering On-
Ramp For Retailers And Stakeholders
• Retailers & Brand Owners Should Be Open To
Reevaluating Processes W/ New Best Practices
• Focus Should Be On Pragmatic Improvements
That Are Achievable

10. RFID
Observed Success Factors?
• Source Tag using GS1 standards… will pay off in long
run and not complicate supply chain operations
• Focus on Inventory Accuracy improvements and do
what it takes to get there quickly … not customer
experience
• Most Products /Few Stores First … then Rollout to more
stores
• Integrate with Enterprise Systems everywhere you
can… leverage the High Definition view of Inventory to
maximize value

11. What If’s… Reality With RFID In Retail?
• You could stream line checkout for customers?
• You stood in front of inventory and were told what
needed to be moved to sales floor?
• You could lookup, with confidence, what was in stock at
stores close by?
• You could, with confidence, fulfill an on-line order from
store?
• You could get all of this with an ROI of less than 12
months

12. What
Picture
of
Your
Business
Do
you
Want?
Your World Today Your World Through IoT
Lens

13. Thank
You
Download the whitepaper “Is RFID the Backbone
of the Internet of Things” at www.sml-iis.com
Visit SML Intelligent Inventory Solutions at
www.sml-iis.com to understand the RFID
business case for your specific organization,
learn why Clarity is the number one software
for item-level RFID for apparel
RFID in Retail Simplified!
Best Technology
Best Usability
Best ROI