Many of us are taking to the stores to buy food, gifts, or other holiday goods—and if we look carefully there is innovation all around us. Retailers are leaning into technologies like robotics and RFID (radio frequency identification), just to name two, to bring goods to market faster than ever before. Let’s look at a few case studies this holiday season.
Walmart’s RFID for Freshness
If you want to see innovation at work in the retail industry, look no further than Walmart. The retail giant has used RFID technology for more than two decades to track packages in order to ensure timely delivery of products. Now, it is using RFID for something a little bit different—to ensure freshness of food.
In October, Walmart and Avery Dennison announced new innovation to address food waste and ensure freshness. The companies are working together to bring RFID labels to the meat department, something that has been hard to do due to the high-moisture, cold environment.
By using Avery Dennison’s RFID solutions in meat, along with bakery and the deli department, Walmart associates can track inventory faster and more accurately—making sure products stay stocked and ready when customers want them. With digital use-by dates right at their fingertips, associates can also rotate products more efficiently and make smarter markdown decisions, helping cut down on unsold food.
In addition, this will help Walmart meet some of its sustainability goals, including cutting global operational food loss and waste intensity in half by 2030. This move to automated item-level identification will certainly help improve efficiency, minimize food waste, heighten freshness, and lead to greater sustainability for all.
Robots in Macy’s Fulfillment Center
As another case study, in China Grove, N.C., Macy’s recently opened a new customer fulfillment and store replenishment center. A look inside this impressive, advanced center illustrates what the future may look like for many in the years to come.
The 2.5 million sq.ft. facility is equipped with automation and an advanced warehouse management system, where robots can pick items. The technology can help automate repetitive and physically demanding tasks, which means the company can invest in training and upskilling workers.
This is the third site to introduce this type of technology. At the first two sites, automation more than doubled productivity. At the new site, the company hopes to see greater gains in efficiency and accuracy. Ultimately, all this technology helps Macy’s to process more orders and replenish stores with greater speed and efficiency, leading to a better shopping experience for all.
At the end of the day, isn’t that what this is all about? Serving the needs of the customer to boost the bottomline? Technology is certainly helping many retailers get there today.
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