Radio frequency identification data capture and its impact on shelf replenishment

The final few metres of a retail supply chain can be the most critical. No matter how efficient the supply chain is in delivering to the retail store, inefficient backroom to shelf replenishment will lower the total supply chain performance. This paper provides a systematic means for describing different shelf replenishment policies and, in particular, investigates the role of readily available product information in improving shelf replenishment performance. The motivation for such an investigation comes from the observation that there are emerging automated identification technologies that may be used in the retail environment to enhance product information capture. In particular, radio frequency identification (RFID) can provide accurate and timely unique item level information to influence current shelf replenishment operations. Based on the literature and a series of retail case studies, this paper examines current replenishment policies, and factors that influence the effectiveness of these policies are discussed. Specifically, the issue of timeliness of information, decision and operations is assessed in order to determine the potential impact of RFID technology on shelf replenishment policies.