Imagine the grocery store of the future. What would it look like? Some of you may be thinking of flying shopping carts, but many people will imagine improvements on the tedious checkout process. If you consider the process of shopping, the checkout is really one of the worst parts of the whole process.

Imagine: you drove to the store, you found your items, and then you must wait in line for potentially 15 minutes just for the privilege to pay for said items. Sounds more like a Soviet era bread line rather than an optimal customer experience.

Everyone who works in inventory management is well aware of the need to keep inventory levels manageable. There are a number of costs that go into managing your inventory. It is never as simple as just paying for the materials or parts on the shelf. Inventory costs are made up of a number of different factors. The freight you pay to get materials and parts into your warehouse is one cost.

As retailers continue to look for new ways to manage inventory, reduce shrinkage and drive sales revenue, they are starting to take a serious look at Radio Frequency identification (RFID) technology. 

What RFID is and how it works

Similar to a barcode or magnetic strip on a credit card, the RFID device provides a unique identifier for that object and needs to be scanned to retrieve the identifying information. RFID refers to small electronic devices consisting of a small chip and an antenna. The chip can usually carry a maximum of 2,000 bytes of data. 

When it comes to the fast-moving world of modern technology, one of the most talked-about subjects of recent years has been the Internet of Things. Nonetheless, since IoT has yet to become truly mainstream, many consumers and businesses alike are left baffled when they hear the rather unintuitive turn. Others might dismiss it as a passing fad, an expensive gimmick that will never really take on but, once you've familiarized yourself with the reality and, particularly, the potential it presents in the world of retail, you'll likely have a different opinion.

Every retailer wants to get inside the heads of shoppers. How are consumers making buying decisions? Are they showrooming items in-store and buying online? Are in-store associates giving them the help they need—or do shoppers know as much or more than sales associates? Newly released data from Zebra's 8^th annual Global Shopper Study lifts the veil on the minds of today’s connected shoppers, revealing what they want when they shop, whether it’s online or in stores. 

Many retailers are piloting new technologies in their stores, but one type of technology in particular has the potential to change how a transaction occurs between a business and its customer: mobile point of sale (or MPOS). 

Mobile POS solutions consists of a handheld mobile computer or device with a payment card reader and compact, portable printer. Once the store associate swipes the card, the data is encrypted and sent over a 

wireless network. After the charge is authorized, the shopper signs the screen on the device and the associate prints a receipt on the spot. 

In the era of online shopping, the path to purchase often starts way before a customer enters a store. They may spend time reading reviews online, getting recommendations from friends, or clicking on an online ad all before ever entering a brick and mortar location.

Because of this, retailers need to make sure that the in store buying experience for a customer is as simple and enjoyable as possible. If there are any unexpected obstacles standing in they way to the path of purchase, it can result in a customer abandoning their task. Together, the 10 steps outlined below, respond to the all of the needs of your customers in order to meet their expectations in the current retail environment.

RFID lets retailers identify individual items, cases or pallets the same way bar codes do, but through a wireless network, with richer data and without need for a line of sight. Recently a new benefit of RFID became obvious, through omnichannel sales RFID is able to increase customer satisfaction and move customers along the purchase path.