Planning practice for the application of RFID smart display racks in the boutique apparel industry
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background
With the advancement of technology, the vigorous development of electronic media and the popularization of the Internet, consumers have made it extremely easy and convenient for consumers to obtain a large amount of low-cost information. Circulators have used their information advantages in the past and ignored differences in customer needs and have gradually lost their businesses. Marketing advantage and competitiveness. Providing rich and multi-accessible information, creating a differentiated service model in highly homogenous products, allowing customers to have a variety of choices and purchasing plans, has become the goal of the international boutique industry. I believe that in the near future, if there is no systematic method, high-tech technology, innovative services and accurate and timely channels to obtain customer information, it will be impossible to grasp consumer preferences and sales trends, resulting in far away from customer needs and lack of incentives to attract customers to the store. . In the future, if the boutique industry wants to stand out in the fierce competition of homogeneous products and industries, it must be able to attract customers and increase revenue; improve the management and operation efficiency in the store; and enhance the added value of services and reduce the operating costs of the enterprise. Can be reached below.
RFID brings innovative applications and opportunities
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a radio frequency identification system, which is composed of a reader (Reader), an electronic tag (Tag) and an application system (Application System). The principle is to use wireless communication technology to transmit the digital information in the chip of the electronic tag (Tag) to the reader (Reader) in a non-contact communication method, and the reader will capture and recognize the electronic tag information After that, it can be used as a back-end application system for further processing, use or value-added application.
Since Wal-Mart, a major American retail company, announced that its top 100 suppliers must install a radio frequency identification tag (Radio Frequency IDentification, RFID) system on all their boxes and racks within the time limit. Technology with a history of more than 50 years has been widely used in the management and tracking of commodities and processes in the circulation and logistics industries in a short period of time, which has greatly changed the working style of the circulation industry. Internationally, boutiques such as Prada, Gap, Nike and other retailers and retailers such as Wal-Mart in the United States and Metro in Germany have gradually shifted the focus of store management and service methods to how to introduce RFID technology into automated control equipment and effectively integrate back-end information Process, change the current business model of merchandise sales, provide customers with better consumer choice information and shopping safe, rich, convenient, efficient, and comfortable service experience, thereby effectively reducing the store’s management and marketing operating costs and attracting more customers Operating income.
Figure 1. Prada’s application of RFID technology to significantly improve product management
Figure 2. The scope of the German Metro future store experimental plan
In the past, many articles misled that RFID can achieve completely contactless and non-line-of-sight application purposes. However, many misunderstandings and disappointments often arise after application. Because RFID has different frequency bands and Regulations, different chip technologies, and different communication protocols will also have different reading distances and multiple tag reading functions. Therefore, there are two main issues in planning RFID applications: the overall situational process of RFID technology applications must be designed first. Master the technical requirements of RFID in various application sites; in addition, we must understand the purpose and benefits of RFID applications to understand the value that RFID can create. This article takes the current “Smart Display Rack Display Sales Service Plan” invested by the Department of Commerce as an example to illustrate the planning practice of RFID applications.
Application scenarios and categories of RFID smart display racks
Smart item display racks mainly use RFID technology to affix RFID tags to items, and connect to the Internet with RFID Reader and controllers to provide automatic (interactive) introduction of store products, automatic inventory inquiries, and product click-through rate analysis , Item inventory and other functions, which can be combined with wireless communication, real-time display technology, voice technology and other technologies, and based on wireless communication platform, change the static display function of traditional shelves/display racks, which can provide consumers with a pleasant shopping experience and allow them to shop at any time Contact products in an interactive, novel and technological environment.
Figure 3. The scope of the smart display rack display service plan
RFID is used in the display and sales of smart display racks. It is mainly through integrated design to develop reading systems for different scenarios, whether it is a handheld reader or a fixed reader placed on the desktop; there are also readers. The device is integrated in the tagging system (Tagging System), POS system, shelf system, entry and exit system or interactive computer, Kiosk query machine, fitting room, etc. At the same time, in order to meet the layout requirements and flexibility of the circulation store, the design is It is necessary to emphasize the Stand Alone and distributed system architecture to avoid too complicated and complicated system operation interface during installation. If smart display racks can be designed in a ready-to-use manner, and can have a variety of appearance sizes, allowing the industry to choose from the store design and the matching of goods, the widespread application in the circulation industry in the future will be expected of.
Introduction to the Smart System of the Future Store
1. Smart display rack
The smart display rack will be equipped with RFID Reader and multiple antenna combinations to effectively read the goods on the display rack; combined with the wireless AP and the back-end database system to collect the information on the clothing on the display rack. And combined with the POS system, through the data access control system, the data is transmitted to the back-end enterprise operation management platform, and the transaction and untransaction data of the product, the product click analysis, the product storage management and other functions are performed.
2. Kiosk interactive service system
The Kiosk interactive service system has a built-in RFID Reader, antenna and touch screen, combined with a multimedia system to provide interactive operation. The Kiosk system can actively provide clothing inventory, placement location, product-related information navigation, promotional products, and current season’s popular or new product information.
Figure 4. Interactive Kiosk system with RFID and Barcode activation
3. Incoming and outgoing reading system
The incoming and outgoing reading system is mainly set up at the warehouse’s incoming and outgoing locations or docks. RFID Reader and multiple antennas are set up to increase the accuracy of the system’s reading. After reading the tags, the network system is connected to the PC to perform the management of incoming and outgoing operations. Provide product incoming and outgoing, inventory and tracking information.
4. Superscript operating system
The superscript operating system mainly uses the RFID reader module to integrate the superscript code writing system. After the bar code is read by the simple Bar Code scanning system, the code writing system can simultaneously write the bar code information and the serial number. Enter the tag, and link the barcode operation and the unique ID of the electronic tag currently in use by the operator to the database, so that the operator’s RFID system and barcode operation can be easily and synchronized. When the RFID Tag has been combined with the product barcode, the superscript system can provide product name, production and sales information for use by the smart display rack system, Kiosk system, and inventory/storage management system.
Figure 5, the integration of RFID modules on the standard system
5. Handheld inventory/storage management system
The handheld inventory/location management system uses a handheld RFID Reader with PDA to develop inventory and location inspection application system software. It mainly uses Reader to collect product RFID Tag information on the shelf or in the warehouse to read product information, and upload the inventory data to the back-end enterprise operation management platform with wireless network to complete the inventory operation. In addition, this reading system can also read both the shelf storage tag (using different codes) and the tag of the product tag on the display rack, and the tag ID of the product and the tag ID of the shelf are combined through the PDA wireless system interface and then sent to The back-end enterprise operation management platform can provide product storage information to store sales staff or provide customer inquiry services through the Kiosk system.
Figure 6. RFID handheld inventory and receiving application system
6. Zigbee wireless display system
In order to improve the time-consuming and traditional operation of replacing paper price tags with manual methods in stores, a wireless electronic shelf display labeling system can be applied.
This system combines Zigbee’s active-sensing electronic label technology and TFT display, and the back-end management system can communicate with the display label using Zigbee wireless technology, transmit and correct information in real time, thereby making the price display information control more precise. The display content can also be combined with seasonal sales promotion information to provide real-time activity and discount information for each shelf area.
Figure 7. Zigbee wireless display system
7. Electronic label Tag
Although the design and development of the RFID tag looks like a single product, it is the most challenging for the overall application. Because RFID Tag has different technologies, there are also different reading distances or multiple tag reading (Multiple Tags Reading) in each application stage. ) Requirements, for example, each shelf in the shelf area needs to cover 5~40 cm reading distance, and can handle about 3~10 items at the same time; Kiosk application only needs 20~50cm reading distance and does not need to read more at the same time A tag; but the same tag needs to be read at the same time under the condition of 2~3 meters and about 30~100 pieces of goods at the entrance and exit door. Therefore, Tag design needs to grasp the needs of all situations and develop electronic tags that meet the application needs of each situation. If it is not possible to fully meet the requirements, reader and antenna technology must be used to enhance the reading accuracy. The final designed Tag can be packaged in paper or plastic card to make a tag, and the surface will be designed with brand logo printing. Electronic labels with brand and anti-counterfeiting.
Application benefits of smart commodity display racks
When RFID is integrated in different reading systems, and used in various smart merchandise display racks, Kiosk query machines, etc., it can be combined with the back-end enterprise operation management system through wireless network and Internet, and the automatic identification function and The real-time information service can provide the following innovative functions and benefits to the boutique industry:
(1) Data analysis of dynamic sales intelligence and customer behavior to grasp consumer preferences. At the same time, it integrates electronic tags, provides remote price adjustment functions, and truly executes the pricing strategy.
(2) Corporate image and advertising, and real-time control of production (material preparation) and sales management.
(3) Commodity inventory dynamic intelligence, new product market test data, best distribution and delivery management.
(4) Store automation and effective space utilization, and effective planning of store layout and golden shelves.
(5) Automatic product introduction through display equipment, automatic inventory of spare parts and notification of replenishment, reduce the workload of store/store sales staff, and reduce the rate of out-of-stock on shelves.
(6) Provide consumers with a pleasant shopping experience and get in touch with the latest product information at any time. And through interactive, novel technology, improve the comprehensiveness and satisfaction of the service.
Privacy protection of RFID technology
One of the most controversial issues with RFID in the past is the issue of privacy. When RFID becomes a tool for product identification and service promotion, consumers often have concerns about RFID services. In the United States and Japan, human rights countries pay attention to the protection of RFID privacy rights. There are some basic requirements:
(1) The application of RFID technology requires a notification obligation: each system needs to be marked with RFID technology, reading distance and purpose, so that consumers have the right to know the purpose of RFID application.
(2) RFID needs to take into account the protection of privacy information. RFID Tag has a memory. In principle, personal information should not be recorded in the application, and the public product code or the unique code in the Chip should be used as the written information.
(3) After the RFID tag is sold, it needs to be self-destructible (EPC G2 requires the RFID chip to have a Kill function) or be recycled. Consumers have the right to require consumer goods to be separated from the RFID tag.
At present, the domestic development of smart display rack display service plan is mainly based on product interactive services. Using passive RFID technology, its effective reading range is about 30 cm to 1 meter. Only the public product code is stored in the electronic tag. The recycling method is carried out in accordance with the principles of international privacy protection. In the future, innovative applications must also consider the protection of consumer privacy and willingness to use, before they can gradually increase innovative service functions.
in conclusion
RFID is not a new technology, but a revolutionary application that will bring about important changes in human life. The characteristic of RFID is to make objects intelligent and automate the process, which will greatly reduce the cost and efficiency of the first-line data collection of traditional boutique industry. But just like an information system, RFID itself is only a tool. It is not that you can build a smart display rack application system after purchasing hardware, software, and deploying a network. It is necessary to improve and master each application from the overall application process. Demand, plan for effective application scenarios and system services, and use innovative thinking and creativity to carry out Business Process Re-engineer (Business Process Re-engineer), and only then can the RFID system be used to maximize the synergy of boutique circulation and sales services.
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