Keonn, Impinj automate retail store operations with RFID labeling

Every year, retailers lose an estimated $1.7 trillion annually to inventory distortion – the combined impact of out-of-stocks and overstocks – as a direct result of inaccurate, periodic inventory processes that are slow, labor-intensive, and error-prone. To reduce these losses while supporting increasing demands for just-in-time replenishment and omnichannel fulfillment, retailers are increasingly exploring automating their store operations with continuous overhead RFID reading solutions.

Keonn Technologies, a provider of advanced RFID systems for retail stores, has upgraded its AdvanTrack-600 overhead solution, powered by the Impinj E710 reader IC with support for Gen2X. Leveraging Impinj Gen2X and Impinj E Family reader IC optimizations to enhance label and tag reading performance, the updated AdvanTrack-600 significantly improves item-level inventory accuracy and speed across both the sales floor and back-of-store.

“Using Impinj’s innovations, our overhead readers are dramatically reducing inventory times and numbers of missing tags, differentiating our AdvanTrack series from competing solutions,” says Ramir De Porrata-Doria, co-founder and managing director, Keonn Technologies. “Gen2X capabilities are hugely impactful for inventory management efficiency and accuracy, improving scanning automation in retail stores, warehouses, and factories.”

Full-scale testing

To support an ongoing enterprise deployment scenario, Keonn and Impinj recently tested a full-scale retail store layout, with more than 9,000 tagged items and multiple AdvanTrack-600 systems. Historically, achieving the desired inventory accuracy at reasonable cycle times has been challenging, especially in back-of-store where items are more densely packed, resulting in inventory blind spots and slower inventory refresh rates. So Keonn and Impinj upgraded the systems with support for Gen2X improvements in tag read range and inventory speeds, as well as optimizations to E Family reader ICs for overhead reading.

In the past, achieving over 90% inventory accuracy in back-of-store operations took nearly an hour. Using the upgraded AdvanTrack-600 with support for Gen2X reduced the average time for over 90% inventory accuracy to under eight minutes. This represents a greater than 7x improvement.

In addition, the upgraded overhead solution reduced the number of missing items by over 50%, reducing back-of-store inventory blind spots. These improvements allow retailers to identify inventory issues sooner, replenish shelves faster, and maintain more accurate stock positions across stores. They also help reduce out-of-stocks and inventory shrink, lower excess inventory, and support better customer experiences through improved product availability, easier item location, and more effective omnichannel operations.

Area coverage

Area coverage is also another common concern as retailers explore overhead reading solutions. This becomes even more challenging as small next-generation tags are being introduced to reduce manufacturing costs and track smaller form factor items: Small tag replies are harder for readers to hear.

When a reader cannot hear tag replies, Gen2X increases reader listening range. Gen2X improves area coverage significantly while also improving inventory speeds, the companies state.

Reducing inventory distortion is a historic challenge for retailers, but it offers massive rewards for those who successfully implement accurate real-time physical intelligence solutions. Achieving this requires continuous inventory solutions that perform reliably, even in the most challenging retail environments.

Keonn expects to have 1,600 stores online by the end of 2026, with 80,000 devices deployed across more than 20 different retailers in five continents. AdvanTrack-600 demonstrates how utilizing the Impinj Platform with support for Gen2X can help retailers significantly improve inventory speed, accuracy, and area coverage across both the sales floor and back-of-store.