Consumers need to know that radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is not an Orwellian nightmare and that it can provide real benefits if properly deployed at retail. That's why, Bob Willett, CIO at Best Buy, believes it is up to his company to explain the benefits of the technology to consumers.
According to a Computerworld report, Mr. Willett said Best Buy is concentrating its efforts on the front of the store to provide consumers with concrete examples of how RFID can be used to help make shopping easier.
One future opportunity, he told an audience at the ERIexchange show, was using RFID to automate the payment process and move consumers through the store.
"Before I'm carried away in a box, I'd like to see checkouts gone from the store," he said. "The technology is there to do it today with RFID. The first major retailer that can do it will be remembered forever and a day as a champion of the consumer."
To date, said the Best Buy CIO, the company has run pilot RFID projects focused on the front of the store even though most others have concentrated on the back end. One project, he said, involved using Generation 1 RFID technology to help customers more easily locate items in Best Buy stores. In one of its tests, Best Buy was able to increase video game sales using RFID to take the hunt out of the shopping experience.
Discussion Questions: Where do you see the greatest potential for RFID technology to be deployed on the selling floor? Are consumers ready to hear a message about the benefits of RFID and put aside doubts connected to the privacy issue?