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Wal-Mart Cancels RFID Trial

Posted by timothy on from the is-your-foil-hat-rfid-enabled dept.

EABird writes "CNet is reporting that Wal-mart has announced that they have canceled the RFID trial they were planning. Unfortunately, it looks like they are canceling it to focus on the use of the same technology in the warehouses and distribution centers instead, and waiting for the cost to come down before using the RFIDs in the stores."

8 of 411 comments (clear)

  1. Dammit! by Trigun · · Score: 5, Funny

    I wanted to get a bunch of RFID tags and use them to track my pets.

    Oh well, is Tesco still going to use them?

    1. Re:Dammit! by nocomment · · Score: 5, Funny

      What were you going to do? Rip them off of some products you buy from there, then name your pets accordingly so it will show up on the scanner correctly?

      "Come here CornCobb Holder 6pk you little shnookums"

      --
      /* oops I accidentally made a comment, sorry */
      /* http://allyourbasearebelongto.us */
    2. Re:Dammit! by blibbleblobble · · Score: 5, Funny

      "What were you going to do? Rip them off of some products you buy from there, then name your pets accordingly so it will show up on the scanner correctly?"

      I always use my dog's name as a password. M/g1k-Ø3 hates the name.

  2. Not cancelled, just delayed... by dspyder · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It will happen eventually, the cost/benefit is just too great to be ignored. With the volume that Walmart handles, it will only be a matter of time before the upstart cost will be acceptable for Walmart. Once they say do it, you can guarantee that all the manufacturers will play along, and then every other store can take advantage.

    On a related note, I work at a hospital that is starting a barcode initiative on drugs. We only just now had the power to convince the drug companies that they need to supply us their drugs in individual doses, prelabeled and barcoded.

    --D

  3. Good decision by Walmart. by notque · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Unfortunately, it looks like they are canceling it to focus on the use of the same technology in the warehouses and distribution centers instead, and waiting for the cost to come down before using the RFIDs in the stores.

    Personally, I think it's a much better idea to use the technology in warehouses and distribution first. Hell, I can't beileve they'd even consider moving to a full scale store deployment before a long bit of testing in warehouses.

    I think this is a smart move by Walmart, regardless of the precieved failure that may come by such bold claims, and then a back down.

    --
    http://use.perl.org
  4. But you CAN track your pets with RFID tags... by dpbsmith · · Score: 5, Informative

    I can't tell whether or not the poster was completely aware of this and joking about it, but you CAN track your pets with RFID tags (and it's been possible for many years). Most animal hospitals offer this service, which they refer to as "microchipping your pet."

    Animal shelters scan incoming pets for microchips and contact the owner. It's an ID tag that is hard to lose. The American Kennel Club recommends the procedure.

    See this article for more information.

    --

    "How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!

  5. Privacy Concerns are SO overrrated by Frac · · Score: 5, Insightful

    (Disclaimer: I am affiliated with the MIT Auto-ID Center.)

    All these privacy concerns people bring up, about people tracking you down are really overrrated.

    Why?

    The stores (walmart and others) have the same concerns. They preferably just want their own scanners to recognize their own products. Why? If an average joe can create a reader that identifies the actual product, what's to stop their competitor from parking a van outside their store with a powerful reader? The last thing a store wants to do is let anyone else knows their inventory levels. They're practically on the same boat.

    and why won't they have the incentive to kill the tags when you leave the store? If you're talking about Walmart, people that buy clothes from walmart most likely will go BACK to walmart at some point in the future wearing those clothes. The last thing they need is a line of 100 house-wifes lining up at the customer service center wondering why they were accused of stealing.

  6. RFID in the warehouse by FranTaylor · · Score: 5, Informative
    I used to work in Quality Control for a big grocery wholesaler. One of their biggest problems was inventory control. Not necessarily theft, but human errors such as omissions, extra cases, and mistaken identity (for example, strawberry yogurt instead of strawberry banana yogurt). Sometimes stock was not rotated correctly and it would sit in the warehouse until after its expiration date. We stocked hundreds of grocery stores from each warehouse; I am talking about a LOT of inventory here! They expended a lot of time and energy to track down and minimize these errors. The error rates were watched closely by upper management, because the impact on the bottom line was quite significant. RFID has the potential to detect these sorts of errors ahead of time. The grocery business (in general) is highly competitive and margins are paper-thin, so any technology that helps to cut down on these sorts of problems will show up as lower prices on groceries for you and me. If the RFID tags are associated with cases instead of individual items, consumers will not encounter them, and there is no threat.


    The big problem in retail stores is theft, because they let the public roam the aisles. Stuff on the shelves represents tied-up money, so store inventories are kept to a minimum, therefore keeping track of stuff in the stores is not that big a deal. They already use tags to deter theft of big-ticket items such as health and beauty aids. RFID will not help them with this problem any more than the existing tags, so there is not much incentive to use them there. No worries, at least yet.