Thomas Pink Piloting IoT System With RFID to Manage Inventory, Traffic
The solution, provided by BT Global Services, is known as the Acuitas Digital Alliance retail platform. It uses Intel RFID IoT Responsive Retail Platform hardware, SATO Global Solutions software to manage RFID data and RetailNext camera-based data and interpret that information for store management.
BT has been offering RFID-based solutions for retailers of apparel, cosmetics and luxury goods since 2004. However, says Tom Wolf, BT Global Services' VP for global retail and consumer packaged goods, the company opted for a more integrated IoT platform-based approach approximately a year ago. Combining multiple technologies on a single platform enables retailers to use an integrated solution that provides the basics of RFID-based inventory management, as well as other applications. These include fitting room management, smart mirrors, cameras, infrared (IR) technology and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons.
In January 2016, BT helped launch the Acuitas Digital Alliance to develop a more holistic solution. The alliance's members include BT, Intel (which provides the RFID technology), RetailNext, NexGen Packaging (which supplies RFID tags), SATO Global Solutions (which supplies the software to manage sensor and RFID read data) and digital technology brand protection company Valmarc Corp.
Thomas Pink is the first retailer to publicly announce a pilot of the solution.
