Friday, July 30, 2004
Ask and You Shall Receive
(or be careful for what you ask). Back on June 27, I wrote about changing gas prices: "Have you ever wondered the real reason why the gas prices go up and down so fast? ... but why is it only gas prices? Why not bread or bacon?"
A couple of weeks ago in a magazine, I got my answer. Perhaps you've heard of the RFID tags that retailers are beginning to use. Basically they're a tiny passive device that will radiate a 96 bit number when queried with the right signal. There are a lot of privacy issues being brought up with them now, based primarily on the fact that the tag will continue to respond even outside the store. Conceivably they could be queried in your home and broadcast what you have happened to bought recently. One item I've seen would require them to be able to be deactivated by a consumer.
Anyway, it's probable that a lot of retailers will be putting them on most products in their stores. These can be continuously scanned to see what you are buying, how you buy it (did you pickup brand D before brand F, etc.). The main benefit to retailers is that it allows for very precise inventory. One of the additional gadgets to be added to the RFID would be LCD pricing on the shelves. This could result easily result in continuous, or at least daily, price changes. For instance, if MegaMart has too many Dreck Power drinks on hand and they are approaching their expiration, they could lower the price to help sell them. On the other hand, if the temperature outside is forecast to be HOT, they might raise the price of iced-water until the thirst goes down.
Man, if you thought getting a price check on aisle 4 was hard now...
2fers: Yes - RFID FAQs and No - RFID FAQs
