Wal-Mart's RFID strategy leader, Ron Moser, has put a number on the financial benefits Wal-Mart expects to see from RFID. And it's just a cool $287m.
Speaking at the Taiwan International RFID Applications show in Taipei, Moser said the figure comes from the fact that for Wal-Mart, 41% of lost sales are due to inventory problems. If RFID could fix just 10% of those problems, Wal-Mart would benefit to the tune of $287m by recouping some of those potential lost sales.
Significantly, Moser expects RFID to have a bigger effect on Wal-Mart than bar codes when they were introduced in 1984.
Although there have been a perception that Wal-Mart's RFID pace has slowed and it has missed some of its targets, Wal-Mart is still widely regarded as the company that pioneered RFID development in the retail and consumer goods chain, and so it has become something of a bellwether for the health of the RFID industry.
If Wal-Mart is struggling with its RFID deployment, given its huge resources, where does that leave everyone else? The fact remains that Wal-Mart now has RFID installed in close to 1000 stores - and is predicting benefits from its use of a quarter of a billion dollars, just for starters.
I know Wal-Mart has put the squeeze on its suppliers to help deliver its RFID push. But benefits of $287m - that's a pretty good reason for companies across other sectors to seek out their RFID ROI as well.