Whenever a notable article about
RFID pops into our feed reader, a battle commences with our inner geek in one corner, and our inner luddite on the other (guess which one wins most often.) On the one hand, the concept of implanting
tiny electronic chips into things is inherently appealing to us; on the other, we're extremely aware of the potential for abuse, especially considering that one of RFID's predecessors was developed by the Soviets for the purpose of espionage. The latest news from the RFID scene is that European shoe company Reno GmbH is to embed RFID tags into the soles of a large proportion of all the shoes that it sells across 1,700 outlets in Europe. Instead of just slapping the tags onto a label (which is easily removable), Reno GmbH has struck a deal with Checkpoint Systems Inc. to integrate the chips within the soles: the justification for this approach (as opposed to using stick-on tags) is that it should curb thefts of products on display, as well as those being tried on by customers / thieves. Now, we're not privy to the figures regarding thefts from shoe shops, but we can't imagine that this crime is common enough to offset the cost that implanting RFID chips into rubber shoes will rack up. Besides, doesn't this plan undermine any kind of trust that may have been present between the potential customer and the shoe shop? Then there's the absurd justification that the tags would prevent the theft of shoes on display: who steals a single shoe? In then end, we're left to accept the inevitability that more products will get tags, and those tags will reveal more information about our increasingly open (some say intruded) lives. Fortunately, this rather unjustified example is only
one of the first steps.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tekdroid @ Mar 3rd 2007 11:01PM
I'm still after shoes with reasonably-priced replacement soles that you can buy off-the-shelf and DIY (that is, remove and put the new ones on) at home. I don't need RFID chips, thanks.
The soles wear out, the shoe upper rarely does. What a waste to go out and buy more shoes (money, natural resources). When they fix that little problem, then we might have some progress at reducing needless waste on the millions of shoes that are bought each year...
Start looking into it, Reno GmBH. RFID paranoia is a sign you're already too big for your boots (pun!).
Morten @ Mar 4th 2007 3:53AM
Reno is a big discounter. As far as I remember, they always have pairs of shoes on display and a very low number of employees in the stores (and a huge amount of shoes...). From my point of view putting some kind of theft protection into the shoe and not labeling the shoe with a tag that the customer could potentially remove in a dark corner makes perfect sense. Of course you could argue that there are different alternative technologies that you could put inside the shoe to achieve the same result but the additional logistical options that arise from having rfid chips within your products make a positive business case.
Finally I am pretty sure that the whole idea came from some strategy consultancy searching for ways to reduce operational costs (incl. logistics and theft) to increase margins.
tekdroid @ Mar 4th 2007 6:36AM
...of course it's a cost-saving measure. Personally, I'd rather give my business to smaller (manned) stores than have RFID chips in my shoes. The huge profits never seem to satisfy some companies. Time to step back and look at what can be done differently.
LittleJoe @ Mar 4th 2007 10:45AM
So I guess the hippies back in the 60's that were living on abandoned farms and making their own clothes, fighting the man, were a little ahead of their time eh?
das shaten @ Mar 4th 2007 12:16PM
this is why all of the reatailers love RFID, inventory loss prevention. from:
http://retailindustry.about.com/od/statistics_loss_prevention/l/aa001122a.htm
According to the recently released 2000 National Retail Security Survey, U.S. retailers lost more than $13.2 billion from employee theft and more than $29 billion total last year.
and there are a lot of examples of this. It also allows the retail industry to tighten it's inventory supply.
For consumers, I'm sure some way of destroying this chips will come to light soon (maybe and old reel to reel tape eraser)??
Martin Trautmann @ Mar 5th 2007 3:52AM
> Then there's the absurd justification that the tags would prevent the theft of shoes on display: who steals a single shoe?
As mentioned before, Reno is a discounter with lots of shoes and little stuff. All shoes are offered in pairs and all available sizes.
PeterO @ Mar 10th 2007 10:58AM
Implanting RFID into shoes has been an idea for a while. Because your shoes are always on the ground at regular intervals when moving, they are the best place to have a tag if the idea is to track someone. A sensor can easily be placed into a floor or under a carpet, and unless you are tracking Shaq, a 1m long sensor over the tracking path is more than enough to ensure that you log everybody going through.