Walmart recently made waves across its supplier network with the latest expansion of its RFID mandate. In 2020, the company began requiring its apparel suppliers to add UHF RFID (also known as RAIN RFID) tags to items, in order to improve inventory accuracy, customer experience, and omnichannel fulfillment. Since then, Walmart has expanded its RFID mandate in phases. The continued expansion of mandated product categories compels many more retail supply chain leaders to adapt to the new item-level tagging requirements.  

RAIN RFID is a term that is appearing more in supply chain planning conversations. RAIN is the fastest growing segment of the RFID market, providing a passive, battery-free wireless technology that connects billions of everyday items to the internet. This enables companies to identify, locate, authenticate and engage with every item that’s tagged, providing robust, real-time item insights. 

Why RFID Tagging Mandates Proliferate 

Walmart’s broadened supplier RFID mandate is a move intended to ensure the company has access to item-level intelligence for a wider range of general merchandise products. The latest product categories impacted include automotive, electronics, hardware, home goods and more. So, for retail supply chain leaders to ensure their company’s products stay on Walmart shelves, they must supply goods using Walmart-compliant, item-level RAIN RFID tags.  

The value proposition of this mandate is clear for Walmart and its suppliers. RAIN RFID is a versatile, low-cost solution, and the tag chips are durable, smaller than a grain of sand, and suitable for tagging all kinds of items. Walmart uses these tags to identify, locate and verify their items as they move from manufacture to distribution center to customer. That visibility enables accurate, real-time insights that translate to the business’ bottom line through better inventory tracking and restocking, counterfeit prevention, improved customer experience, and increased supply chain efficiencies.  

Successfully Developing an RFID Tagging Compliance Strategy

Though each supplier will have individual considerations and requirements, there are several common core components to consider when implementing a RFID tagging compliance strategy. 

Identify a RFID partner with industry expertise. Find a RAIN RFID partner that understands and anticipates the complexity of working within specific manufacturing and packaging processes. Retail supply chain leaders should also ensure that their chosen RAIN RFID provider tags are Walmart-ready, including ARC-approved and GS1-compliant.  

Select a tagging strategy. Retail supply chain leaders will need to ensure that each individual product has its own RAIN RFID tag. Other considerations include evaluating a single, multi-use tag or several, use-specific, tags, as well as when and where tags should be encoded with information — at the label vendor, during printing, or after an item has been tagged. 

Define a reading strategy. Once retail supply chain leaders have identified their RAIN RFID partner and determined their tagging strategy, they should decide how to track those tagged items. Walmart requires a reading station to verify that items are correctly encoded before leaving the supplier facility. However, to make the most of a RAIN RFID deployment, consider tracking items for internal purposes, such as at factories, warehouses or distribution centers.  

How to Make The Most of RFID Tagging Beyond Compliance 

The Walmart RFID mandate reflects where the retail industry is headed, and suppliers to major retailers will increasingly find themselves adapting in order to comply with similar mandates. To date, retail supply chain leaders have adopted RAIN RFID to meet a mandate, only to discover that it delivers incredible value to the entire company’s operational bottom line. The technology delivers powerful improvements across the organization.  

These include RTI tracking, which automates the tracking of returnable transit items (RTI) like reusable shipping containers that are shipped out and returned to the business. It also enhances aset management, automating management of tools and equipment to improve utilization and streamline maintenance. Another benefit is operational efficiency. Employees spend less time searching for items, coordinating orders, and contacting suppliers — and spend more time tackling higher-value work. Finally, the technology improves shipment verification, ensuring accuracy for every order, advanced shipping notice and proof of delivery. 

Essentially, once a RAIN RFID system is in place, the data and visibility can generate entirely new business value and innovations. A RAIN RFID solution expert can ensure retail supply chain leaders are landing on the right deployment strategy for the company. Ultimately, RAIN RFID offers retail supply chain leaders the opportunity to gain new item-level insights, bringing automation and agility to the next level. 

Recognizing the Opportunity 

While some retail supply chain leaders may initially feel hesitant about investing in achieving RAIN-tagging compliance, doing so can deliver significant upside potential. Leading retail suppliers can retain their access to Walmart as a customer while also building operational efficiency and resilience. 

Jeff Dossett is chief revenue officer at Impinj.