Florida shoe retailer Peltz Shoes has saved approximately 1,500 man-hours in the past year by applying a passive EPC Gen 2 RFID tag to every box containing a pair of shoes at each of its four stores, and by employing an RFID-enabled cart to manage its inventory. But that's just part of the benefit, according to Gary Peltz, the retailer's co-owner. In the past 12 months, he says, the company has accomplished five complete inventory counts, consisting of around 30,000 pairs of shoes in each store, whereas previously, the counts were typically managed once annually or less often. This has led to a more accurate inventory, he says, ensuring that customers, whether in the brick-and-mortar stores or online, can purchase the shoes they want.

The family-owned Peltz Shoes, which has been in business since 1957, has increasingly been selling its wares online, and with the growth of that online business, the need for accurate inventory counts became more pronounced. After all, Peltz says, if a customer comes into a store seeking a pair of shoes that are not in inventory, the sales team can often sell that individual another pair of shoes instead. That isn't the case with online customers, however, who are likely to simply take their business elsewhere if the footwear they seek is listed as out-of-stock. In addition, Peltz-who says he has a penchant for organization and enjoys technology-has been eyeing RFID technology for some time to make the inventory process more accurate and reliable.

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