RFID Application in Retail Marketing : A Conceptual Framework

Purpose – This paper aims to examine how retailers can adopt radio frequency identification (RFID) to achieve overall business excellence from the marketing perspectives.Design/methodology/approach – A two stage methodological approach was developed. The first involved a basic framework for identifying business value added for a retailer upon the RFID implementation. The second involved the design of a financial framework for calculating ROI (Return on Investment) for RFID initiatives by retailers.Findings – Retailers can achieve superior shop floor performance through implementation of RFID. Reduced stock out, reduced labor cost, reduced inventory cost, enhanced visibility, and increased customer satisfaction are some of the key benefits of RFID adoption. Research limitations/implications – The paper presents a basis for adopting RFID in retailing. Future research may be directed to calculate ROI of such investment in RFID by retailers. Practical implications – The paper gives a better understanding of potential benefits of RFID deployment for retailers by presenting 7P's model.Originality/value – The paper evaluates role of RFID deployment by retailers in enhancing business value added, provides an evaluation framework for ROI calculation and supports a research agenda for further research