Emerging technologies in the service sector: An early exploration of item-level RFID on the fashion sales floor

Abstract

This paper describes the early weeks of a live pilot of item-level RFID by METRO Group's German department store, Kaufhof. The RFID-Enabled Sales Floor utilizes UHF Gen2 RFID tags on fashion items, combined with RFID-enabled dressing rooms, intelligent displays, and smart mirrors. The pilot represents a pioneering attempt to conduct end-to-end UHF item-level tracking of items through the point-of-sale. Based on an exploratory case study, we reflect on the implications of ubiquitous item-level RFID technology and offer suggestions for further research on the socio-technical implications of this important product and process innovation. © 2008 International Federation for Information Processing.