Checkpoint Systems, Inc, a US-based supplier of products for the retail industry, announced RFID-based EAS Overhead 2.0, offering inventory visibility and loss prevention at the point-of-exit.
According to Checkpoint their product offers real-time inventory and demand-driven replenishment. It serves as an EAS system that alarms and identifies stolen merchandise. The Overhead 2.0 uses what the firm terms its OneTag approach, a single open-standards RFID tag for inventory visibility and loss prevention, simplifying use and reducing tag costs it is claimed.
The product is described as a standalone exit door solution in new and remodelled stores, or with traditional EAS in stores as part of a retailer’s RFID. This is claimed to offer high read accuracy through Wirama Radar, a combination of patented hardware and software; retailers can place tagged items at the front of the store without concern for stray reads causing false alarms, it is claimed.
The makers say that the product covers much higher ceilings and wider retail store entrances than the original Overhead, for mall-based speciality retailers and department stores. The hardware is also more compact than previous versions.
Farrokh Abadi, Checkpoint’s president and COO, Merchandise Availability Solutions, said: “By working closely with our retail partners, we were able to better understand how they planned to use the technology. Even as we increased item visibility and coverage for higher and wider store entrances, we also enabled retailers to merchandise hundreds of items closer to the entrance, so that they can make better use of the valuable space in the front of the store and add loss prevention to the inventory management benefits the RFID tag affords.”
Overhead 2.0 is commercially available in North America, in December in Europe, and in January in Asia Pacific. Live demonstrations are available upon request in all regions.
