Baseline Reviews RFID at Wal-Mart

BaseLine Magazine reviews Wal-Mart's RFID initiative to date. Describes it as 'faltering', and says it has not met its financial goals since its inception in 2003. Evan Schuman, in reviewing that article, suggests that Wal-Mart is altering its plans as a result. The Baseline article also provides a good overview of the challenges involved.

" ... "We haven't lost faith in the potential of the technology," says Simon Langford, head of Wal-Mart's RFID initiative. "But we have had to change our strategy to provide more benefits to our suppliers."

Wal-Mart's change of plan demonstrates the need for retailers and suppliers alike to tread carefully with RFID. As retailers such as Best Buy have observed, widespread adoption is still years, not months, away. At the same time, some of the greatest benefits may not be in applications first thought to be ripe for the technology, such as automating distribution centers. Instead, retailers are finding early gains closer to the sales floor, where they are using RFID to track consumer buying patterns and ensure products are on shelves in time for promotions ... "