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Recently, Giulio, a fashion store in Cambridge, England, completed a four-month pilot of an RFID system, which is mainly used to track changes in clothing hanging from hanging rails and display them to consumers in real time. Now, the store intends to use the technology in other locations within the store.
This solution called e-rail is developed by Friendly Technology. The program includes the company’s development of the Silent tag, a software that manages the collected data. Next, the store intends to use the technology on more products.
Humberto Moran, Managing Director of Friendly Technologies, talks about the difference between traditional EPC Gen 2 passive UHF RFID tags and Friendly’s proprietary RF traceability tags. The two use different identification protocols (of course, the company’s UHF readers as well as passive Silent tags are also ISO 18000-6C compliant); traditional passive RFID tags only respond with an ID number, while Friendly’s RF tags transmit unique and variable information. The company calls the process of tag identification and ID assignment a polling process. When the reader reads the tag, it is automatically assigned a 16-bit temporary ID, which is then checked online. Since the temporary ID is shorter than the tag EPC code, the process of transmitting the authentication is also faster. “Because the ID number is sent to the tag through the reader, the system is also much more reliable than traditional RFID systems,” he added. In addition, users can switch Silent tags to standard EPC Gen 2 RFID mode.
Moran explained that using RF tracking protocols can make tags safer and perform better. Additionally, reading speeds of up to 500 tags per second can be achieved when using this protocol. In this regard, Moran added that although some manufacturers of standard EPC Gen 2 readers claim to be able to reach thousands of tags per second, the premise of achieving this is in a laboratory environment. In addition, this RF protocol can also provide higher security and confidentiality due to the unique ID code authentication technology. So if a customer buys a tagged item in the store and takes it out of the store, the customer doesn’t need to worry about other readers getting the tag information.
Currently, Giulio has installed two e-rails systems, each with a 3.5-meter linkage with a built-in reader. Clothes hanging from the links have tags attached. An e-rail system can support up to 100 garments, Moran said.
At the same time, Giulio has also installed a touch screen, which is wired to the reader. When the garment is removed from the link, the e-rail software detects changes in the signal strength from the garment tag and updates the garment status. For example, if a consumer takes off a sweater and looks closely, the touch screen will display the sweater information and recommend it. In this way, consumers can find clothes that suit them more quickly.
When the clothes are put back on the link, the touchscreen will update to show this data after 5 minutes. This delay time can be set manually. In addition, the software also provides analysis data on the frequency and time of product take-out.
For customers, the system also provides the ability to browse items online. When a customer picks up an item, even if there is no purchase, the software will still record the customer’s action.
Store owner Giulio Cinque said: “We hope this technology can increase our sales. We believe it can improve the buying experience for users, which in turn helps sales.”
The price of the Silent tag and ordinary EPC, Moran says RFIDThe labels are not much different. The reader and software are also inexpensive and affordable by the average independent retailer.
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