National Retail Federation NRF14
National Retail Federation NRF14

Retailers who have not yet implemented available loss intelligence technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), can expect damage to the retail bottom lines to remains high going forward, with $35.28 billion in preventable dollar drain for 2012. According to a University of Florida study, this is how your retail dollars leave the store:

  • 44.2% of all loss is a result of employee theft
  • 25.8% comes from shoplifting and organized crime
  • 12.1% is faulted to administrative error

Attendees at the National Retail Federation’s BIG SHOW in NYC, January 12-15, 2014 will have the opportunity to see firsthand how these levels of loss can be reduced to near zero with the powerful solution developed by Truecount Corporation working in tandem with rugged portals from Jamison RFID. Zander Livingston, CEO of Truecount, an innovator in RFID software solutions for the retail industry, and Anthony Dublino, Director of N. American Sales for Jamison RFID, a division of Jamison Door Company, the leading supplier of RFID equipment enclosures, will be hosting continuous live demonstrations of their technologies at Booth #600 during the NRF expo, the retail industry’s largest annual event.

As more stores add technologies such as RFID to their back-end systems to tighten security, the annual rate of shrink seems to be “shrinking”, from 1.49 percent of total sales in 2011 to 1.42 percent in 2012.

“Deploying item-level RFID, whether alone or integrated into other EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) systems has proven time and time again to deliver fuller, more intelligent data on every stolen or lost item than any other available technology, “ says Livingston. “Using the data transmitted by RFID for the what, how many, when and where of every loss, retailers, can move quickly to correct errors, restock lost or stolen merchandise and uncover the “who” of costly retail theft and fraud. Some of our largest retailers are reporting that since implementing RFID, internal shrink alone is down an average of 55 percent, and even as high as 75 percent. That’s a significant recapture of lost revenues.”

With RFID, there is accountability on every item. RFID tags transmit real time tracking data for all merchandise as it moves throughout the supply chain, from source to final sale. “RFID wraps a tight security blanket around the entire retail supply chain,” he adds. “With shrink under control, retailers can offer better prices and better service to their customers, while increasing profitability.”

Results at leading stores such as Macy’s and Sax’s continue to prove the business case for RFID, heightening overall interest in RFID capabilities beyond inventory management processes. “With RFID in place, a retailer can rely on a single, high performance device for multiple applications impacting the retail bottom line, including inventory controls that are 99+ percent accurate, supply chain optimization and the highest degree of loss reduction possible,” adds Livingston.
According to Dublino, as RFID becomes more and more important in retail, the form factor of fixed reader infrastructure at gateways, and read pinch points within an operation become a critical issue. “With RFID playing a larger role in loss prevention and mitigation, RFID has to be rugged, built to last, and had better look great in order to fit into a retailer’s customer experience,” he says.

For RFID-enhanced loss prevention systems, Jamison RFID offers attractive, unobtrusive portals, gnome pedestals and wall-mounted strips. At NRF, Jamison will be demonstrating how its thin portals work with Truecount RFID technology.

“Truecount has proven that it has one of the most uncomplicated and intuitive retail focused RFID solutions available,” says Dublino. “That, coupled with our 10 years of experience in ruggedized, and streamlined RFID portals can make the difference in a more successful deployment for any size retailer looking to keep shrink under control.”

Jamison RFID and Truecount will hold ongoing demonstrations of RFID for Loss Intelligence throughout the NRF Big Show, at Booth #600.

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