Sports shoe store uses RFID technology to enhance shopping appeal

Spanish shoe company Munich Sports is using passive EPC ultra-high frequency RFID technology to display shoe information to customers, reducing the time they spend waiting for employees to find shoes. The system uses interactive display technology and cloud software. At the same time, when consumers are shopping in the Store, the system can also provide product information that they may be interested in.

In October 2014, the system was put into use for the first time in the Munich children's shoe store in Barcelona. Xavier Berneda, general manager of Munich Sports, said that this system is loved by consumers, it accelerates the speed of consumer shopping, improves the efficiency of employees and enhances the innovative image of the store.

In the past few years, we have been developing and providing RFID solutions to enhance the shopping experience, increase retail store revenue and free up sales staff's time. These include solutions that show the effect of wearing the garment a consumer is holding based on the RFID tag ID number on the garment. The company also launched a remotely controlled RFID Reader this year that can be moved around store warehouse aisles to achieve higher reading efficiency than manual handheld readers.

Currently, retailers are most interested in the rfid solution launched in 2014. This solution is relatively low cost and easy to install, making it a good choice for retail stores deploying RFID technology for the first time.

The rfid system can also provide shoppers with product recommendation information. The interactive display panel measures 41.3 inches tall, 13.8 inches wide, and 2.6 inches thick, and can be recessed into the wall. It also comes with a built-in UHF RFID reader, antenna, and a computer.

Last year, de la Dehesa and the Barcelona Fashion Center launched a new project, 720e-lab. He said: "We intend to build a store of the future with our partners. We began to integrate the AdvanLook and QuickSports PRO systems. Now, Munich plans to use the rfid system, and things are going very smoothly."

De Porrata-Doria explained that in the past, when a Munich Sports consumer found a pair of shoes he liked, he would need to find a store employee to ask for size information. Then, the staff needs to find the size required by the customer in the warehouse, and the customer needs to wait in the store. If shoes of the right size are not found, the staff will recommend other styles of shoes or look for other styles of shoes that the consumer is interested in.

Munich Sports hopes to eliminate this wait for consumers and at the same time allow staff to focus more on selling shoes instead of wasting time looking for out-of-stock shoes.

In the rfid solution, an EPC Gen 2 UHF RFID tag is attached to the heel of each pair of shoes. Currently, Munich Sports uses rfid tags. When consumers pick up the shoes they are interested in and come to the rfid interactive display system, the device will read the shoe ID number. De Porrata-Doria said the RFID reader has a built-in RFID Module as well as Impinj's reader chip.

RFID software resides on the server and manages tag ID data and warehouse inventory. In-store warehouse data is obtained from Munich Sports' existing POS software. Currently, rfid has been integrated with the POS system. The shoe tag ID in the rfid software is also associated with the product image and will be displayed on the touch screen. The system also provides a range of information such as a list of product sizes, colors you may be interested in or a list of similar shoes. Consumers can select their favorite products through the touch screen. Then, the system will determine whether the goods are available in the store warehouse. If available, consumers can select the shoe on the touch screen.

Through RFID software, consumers can also share product information via email or social media.

The solution not only hopes to allow consumers to find the items they want faster, it also hopes to collect historical data to determine the most popular items. Before this system, stores often only knew the sales of goods, but not the number of times the goods were viewed by consumers. With this data, stores have the opportunity to find out why items are viewed more often and sold less. For example, the price is too high, etc.

Since the software is cloud-based, retailer managers can access it remotely. At the same time, managers can also update new product information remotely.

Next, Munich Sports plans to use RFID tags to track inventory information and speed up the payment process. Berneda said: "We plan to install rfid in other stores. We believe it can bring many benefits. In the future, we will also continue to pay attention to new developments in this area."