Also known as Smart Tag, Smart Label has slowly crawled its way up to become a popular name in the field of retail technology. Many would ask, what are smart labels? They are thin transponders configured under a traditional label, which is print-coded. It includes bonding wires, chip, and antenna. It’s product identification chip, which features highly advanced technologies as compared to the data of traditional bar code. The common enhancements in these tags are specially configured RFID tags, QR codes, and Electronic Article Surveillance tags.
A few months ago, I was window shopping at Destiny USA, located in Syracuse. The mall is regarded as one of the biggest in the U.S., holding flagships like H&M, Forever 21, Old Navy, etc. I saw a lady arguing with some managers at the exit door of a store. When I closely followed the matter (not that I’m a gossip monger, call it a curiosity!) I discovered that she was carrying some unbilled item in her bag by mistake. She might’ve tried to pass through the exit gates, but the smart tag went on detected.
While smart tags aren’t something new, the way they’re taking up in the retail industry by the storm is really fascinating. These chips are completely in harmony with the current state of advanced technology. Items are now lined up with these minuscule smart chips. As has been noted, these aren’t just to parade at the scanner located on the checkout doors. These are well-fed to track and share the details of the data they’re carrying. The smart labels can be attached to any package. Henceforth, these are active contributors to the Internet of Technology. In fact, it’s the latest addition to the IoT’s replete arsenal.
How Are Smart Labels Redefining The Future of Retail Technology?
There was a time when RFID tags, Radio Frequency Identification Tags, were used by the country farmers. Eventually, they used to use it for tying it down to their cattle to keep a track on them. Now, the idea has entered the retail market. The producers can now keep a track on their product sales. They can also collect the data of the customers buying their products. The companies can use the data to understand the mindset of customers and manufacture products accordingly. For instance, grocery departments can keep a tab on the temperature and moisture of the groceries without actually going and checking them in person.
Time and again, we’ve come across the stories about shoplifters. Well, no more stealing cases as the smart tag leaves no chance to go unnoticed. Location tracking and collecting product details are two of the best features that smart label uses in the mainstream retail industry.
Smart Labels – How Do They Function?
The chip contains 2KB of memory space in which data can be stored. Once storing is done, the tags wait for information collection. This information is stored in the form of text to save space. The antenna of this tag receives electromagnetic waves from the readers. It then transfers radio waves using harvested energy from the electromagnetic field of the user. The reader, which is usually a scanner, smartphone, or a computer, receives the EM waves, interprets, and displays them as readable data.