Wal-Mart Radio Tags to Track Clothing
Wal-Mart Stores plan to install electronic ID tags to track jeans and
underwear. The company believes it will better controls inventory but customer
are concerned about privacy issues. Starting next month, the retailer will
place removable "smart tags" on certain garments that can be read by
a hand-held scanner. Workers will be able to quickly learn which size of the
particular clothing is missing, with the idea of ensuring shelves are
constantly stocked and will be watched closely. If the idea is successful, the
radio-frequency ID tags will be installed on other products at Wal-Mart's in
more than 3,750 U.S. stores. "This ability to wave the wand and
have a sense of all the products that are on the floor or in the back room in
seconds is something that we feel can really transform our business," said
Raul Vazquez,
The biggest issue that arises is the concerns about privacy. The tags
are trackable but while they can be removed but they cannot be turned off. This
leaves questions like what if criminals drive by customer’s homes and check
their garbage’s to find what they have recently bought.
There are ways to get around this issue such as putting the trackers on
removable tags instead of imbedding them in the items themselves. This will reinsure
customers that there movements are not being tracked.
While people may be skeptical about this idea I can understand from a
business standpoint why the idea is being pushed so much. There are a few other
companies that have installed similar ideas and it has only helped the company.
The fact that Wal-Mart is a trustworthy company and already has a large
customer base I believe this will improve their company greatly. I think some
people will be skeptical about buying Wal-Mart products once the idea is
installed but the pros will definitely outweigh the cons. There are several
ways to make customers feel more comfortable about the tags, such as the fact
that they are not going to be imbedded into the items.
![[waltag0722]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-JI543_waltag_G_20100722193101.jpg)
Kevin, I thought that what you mentioned in your summary is very accurate and I’m glad to see you were interested in learning about the new technologies being provided. I think that it’s inevitable that companies were going to do what they need to so that people don’t steal from their businesses. It’s interesting that these “smart chips” are being used in clothing and underwear whereas there are many other products that I would consider high ticket items. But, realistically, I think it’s less noticeable for people to steal smaller low-cost items rather than larger higher priced products. I’m surprised to learn that Wal-Mart launched their security system after a small company American Apparel which has been using a system that helped increase their revenue by more than 10% which is obviously going to help jobs be created and more hours for employees to work. It was a neat article because it also directly relates to what we have spoke about in class recently.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article i think that Walmart is going way overboard with the traceable stickers they want to use for inventory. yes i understand that it will help with whats on the shelf but isn't that the job for the Walmart employees? does this mean Walmart is slowly windleing down to computers to save money? I believe Walmart is making a huge mistake putting peoples security at risk just to save a couple bucks. That's just wrong not to mention they are putting these stickers in the weirdest places, why dont they put them on all of their cloths? that would sound less sketchy.
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