Emerging Technologies in the Service Sector: An Early Exploration of Item-Level RFID on the Fashion Sales Floor

This paper describes the early weeks of a live pilot of item-level RFID by METRO Group’s German department store, Kaufhof. The RFID-Enabled Sales Floor utilizes UHF Gen2 RFID tags on fashion items, combined with RFID-enabled dressing rooms, intelligent
displays, and smart mirrors. The pilot represents a pioneering attempt to conduct end-to-end UHF item-level tracking of items
through the point-of-sale. Based on an exploratory case study, we reflect on the implications of ubiquitous item-level RFID
technology and offer suggestions for further research on the socio-technical implications of this important product and process
innovation.