SmartStores The future of retail

At its store in Hollola, Finland, women’s clothing designer Naisten Pukutehdas(NP) has extended its RFID system to the sales floor. The company—which sells women’s fashion, marketed under the NP Collection brand, at 500 retail locations in Scandinavia and Russia, as well as in 10 of its own stores—has created what it hopes to be a smart store, employing RFID sensors in its dressing rooms and on its shelves to provide customers with better, more personalized service.The Hollola store, a new retail location that opened in November, is utilizing a Senso Retail Solutions system, provided by Rosendahl Digital Networks (RDN), to help shoppers identify purchases, as well as to assist staff members in improving inventory management and security. The store’s workers will use the system for daily inventory checks, to obtain real-time data regarding which inventory is on the shelves and automatic notices when it is time to replenish.In the first half of 2009, NP expects to have the Senso fitting room and Senso Shelf systems deployed at all stores the company owns and operates in Finland. “RFID has been a strategic decision,” Rosendahl says. “During this [asset-tracking system deployment] process, we have realized that RFID is not only for saving costs. The main benefit for us will be the new shop and service concepts. We believe that better customer service, as well as lower cost, will be very important for our business.”Source: rfidjournal.com