As a step towards our vision for offering an Intelligent Store solution which would help to digitize the store processes completely, we released an enhanced version of the Fiori app for Transfer Products with S/4HANA 1809. The app can now consume RFID sensor data. It helps retail companies to close a season faster and ahead of their competitors by using an RFID mobile antenna to read all products at once and accurately as oppose to the classical time consuming and error prone scanning. This is complementary to the SAP’s In-Store Merchandising solution on S/4HANA.
Why RFID right now?
There is a rise in the demand for shifting retail stores from their traditional mode to modern and technology-oriented ways. RFID is not new, but it is on the rise and is adopted as a mean to fill the gap between online and physical stores.
As a response to the pressure from online companies, the brick and mortar stores must compete with the experience and service. Item-level sensors are the source of power and essential for transforming retail stores towards experience and service.
Successful retail companies view a product as a service. They help consumers at retail stores to find and buy the product that they need, as opposed to just sell products. Many retailers have already started using RFID or are making some experiences with RFID because of the business needs and also because of the fact that the RFID tags have fallen in price to about six cents which makes it more affordable.
RFID sensors could be leveraged for many modern In-Store business processes such as: the inventory accuracy and the product location on the sales floor vs. backroom (this use case has the highest ROI value), display audit, how shoppers view products and journey through the sales process, to power a more seamless checkout, as a tool to drive future customer engagement and more.
What does the app Transfer Products with RFID do?
The original version of the app Transfer Products was co-innovated with a well-known Fashion company in the US and they are using it today. They described the app in a quote “…one of the most thoughtful apps…”. The app helps retail companies to transfer products from one store to another store, DC or outlet for different reasons such as closing a season, stock rebalancing, or a customer request. The original version of the app requires scanning of each product before putting them into the shipping box or containers. The scanning of products can take time and the store associates tend to make errors. The new enhancement eliminates the scanning of the products. The store associate can simply put the products into the shipping box, once the box is full, she or he can move a mobile antenna around the box to read quickly all products at once and add them to the app automatically, print the content and shipping labels, and finish is the transfer.
The app and the enhancement are available on S/4HANA 1809.
How does it work?
At a high level, you can use the app on smartphone, tablet, and desktop. Assume you are running the Fiori apps on a smartphone. You can sled the smartphone to a RFID mobile reader such as Zebra RFD8500 for a complete one-piece solution. Or, you can put the smart phone in your pocket and use the reader in standalone mode. The Bluetooth-enabled reader pairs with your smartphone. You must install a custom version of the Cordova plugin on your smartphone
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