The likes of Myer, Country Road Group and Super Retail Group have joined forces to form a Radio frequency identification (RFID) coalition that will look to exemplify the benefits of intelligent bar codes.

The coalition, which brings together competitors, has agreed to share projects, experiences and solutions around the implementation the inventory tracking technology in the local retail sector.

The formation of the group has been in the works for more than six months and will also include Spotlight Retail Group, Puma, Nike, Target and a host of other industry stakeholders.

Initial areas of interest include loss prevention, improved customer experience, inventory control, reduced labour costs and improved point-of-sale checkout.

Global barcode giant GS1 has overseen the creation of the coalition and says that local retailers will increasingly be able to enjoy the benefits of RFID, currently already being used around the world by businesses like Zara, Uniqlo and Lululemon.

“Some time ago, GS1 worked with tag manufacturers to develop the Gen2 EPC tag,” said Sean Sloan, manager – Business Development and Partnerships for GS1 Australia.

“This standardised tag coding and reading across the sector opened up closed loop supply chains. However, we have yet to see the rapid expansion of take up that we expected, so we believe this group can pave the way for a greater understanding of the benefits and faster adoption of the technology.”

Sloan said the best way to achieve this is through an industrywide approach, “with an industry approach, suppliers can be confident they are investing in the right technologies for all their customers,” he said.

Gary Stones, Myer’s National Retail Operations manager – who has spent a considerable amount of time convincing the department store’s executives to peruse RFID – said the trials they have already run with this technology have brought great benefits to Myer.

“The trials we have already run with this technology have proven to bring great benefits to Myer. We are keen to continue further RFID business benefit testing in other store locations across additional merchandise categories,” Stones said.

Myer worked with the team at Checkpoint Systems to implement an RFID pilot using GS1 standards at the Melbourne store on Apple products.

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