Simple RFID
Simplifying Inventory Management

Working closely with the retail industry for the past 10 years, Simple RFID has identified seven hidden costs that drain retail profits. Savvy retailers take these problems seriously because by eliminating them, they can double their profits. Three of the biggest problems include tasks like inventory auditing, verifying fulfillment accuracy, and locating missing items. And as the retail industry moves to embrace omnichannel selling, the negative impact of these problems has intensified.

To address these problems, Simple RFID performed an in-depth study to find the best way to eliminate them. The findings of this study will be available in March. The bottom line is that RFID technology successfully eliminated all seven of these costly problems at all our test sites. That means a good RFID solution can save companies thousands each year. Even in our small test sites, RFID simplified operations and dramatically reduced labor and shrinkage.

Please give us a brief overview of Simple RFID.

Simple RFID began as a solution for mobile vendors selling through the Costco roadshow program. Companies needed a way to count inventory remotely from different sites, so Simple RFID developed an inventory tracking solution that resellers could use to instantly count inventory from all their remote locations. The RFID solution uses a basic handheld RFID reader connected to a smartphone. The roadshow staff could count all on hand inventory with a single scan, and then use the smartphone to instantly transfer the data back to the office.

The RFID solution proved to be an incredible success. Customers reported a 30 to 40 percent increase in revenue due to the ease and speed of tracking inventory. Retailers found it much easier to avoid stock outs, reduce shrinkage, and were able to react quickly to the unique buying patterns at each location.

What are some of the challenges your customers face and how does your solution address these problems?

Omnichannel selling has opened the door for greater retail opportunities, but it has also increased the difficulty of keeping physical inventory in sync with online inventory numbers. These discrepancies cause online sellers to cancel customer orders when items are sold that are not in stock, or to miss out on opportunities to sell product they don’t know exists. The good news is that Simple RFID provides retailers the ability to frequently count inventory so that online quantities are always accurate. Imagine performing a complete inventory in less time than it takes to drink your morning coffee. Problems can be immediately identified and discrepancies fixed—before they turn into angry customers.

RFID’s unique ability to count product out of sight makes it especially useful when verifying orders for accuracy. Imagine getting a product shipment from a vendor that is pre tagged with RFID labels.

Now purchase orders can instantly be verified down to the item level without breaking a pallet or opening a single box. RFID eliminates the human element and allows resellers to verify the accuracy of every vendor purchase order. The same thing can be done with customer orders before they ship. The labor and cost saving from eliminating purchase order errors and customer order fulfillment errors is HUGE!

RFID technology even helps retailers locate missing items. The days of hunting for lost or misplaced items are gone forever. That is because RFID technology has the ability to guide employees to the desired items through the use of audio and visual cues, even when the item is out of sight.

How does Simple RFID’s solution work?

Simple RFID has been very successful at keeping RFID technology simple to implement and easy to use. We take great pride in providing intuitive solutions and tools that anyone can use.

For example, Simple RFID offers an integrated label editor so that users can customize their labels. Smartphone apps provide a simple touch screen interface that is easy to learn and use. Simple RFID provides affordable solutions for companies both small and large.

How do the integrations you offer benefit your clients?

Customers want affordable solutions that they can quickly setup and use. They want to start saving time and increasing profits immediately. Therefore, Simple RFID has eliminated many of the usual implementation steps that retailers have to deal with when setting up RFID solutions. Another benefit is the tight integration between our solution and other systems, such as Shopify. This eliminates duplicate entry and improves data accuracy, which accelerates the cost savings of using RFID.

What are some of the key differentiating factors of your solution?

Customers tell us every day that they love the simplicity and usability of our RFID solution. The goal is to simplify inventory management, improve accuracy, and dramatically cut costs, and that cannot happen with complicated RFID solutions that are hard to use.

Aside from ease of use, another great feature is scalability. Simple RFID solutions can scale from entry level etailers to large corporations working from multiple platforms and locations.

What are some of the milestones that you have achieved recently?

Simple RFID has made a large investment over the last year to develop a new easy to use global net of RFID printers for vendors all over the world. This makes it simple for suppliers to print and attach RFID labels, before product is shipped to local stores and distribution centers. This gives global retailers the ability to print RFID labels wherever needed, anywhere in the world. When the product arrives, it can be quickly scanned and verified for accuracy down to the item level without opening a single box, or breaking the pallet. Customers love the global printing network because it is easy to use and affordable.

What does the future hold for your company?

Simple RFID is well on its way to becoming the RFID supplier of choice for retailers of all sizes. This is especially true for companies embracing omnichannel (selling in store, selling online, and allowing customers to buy online and pickup at the store).

Our goal is to deliver a solution that allows customers to leverage any ecommerce platform with a solution that will quickly integrate RFID technology into their existing business and software.