Journal Title

Electronic Journal Information Systems Evaluation

Title of the Article

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Adoption in the South African Retail Sector: an Investigation of Perceptions Held by Members of the Retail Sector Regarding the Adoption Constraints

Subject

RFID

diffusion of innovation

adoption barriers

business case

supply chain management

list of authors

Chris Upfold

Haidi Liu

Abstract

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is a method of identifying unique items using radio waves that communicate between RFID tags and readers without line-of-sight readability. Application areas include person identification, logistics, pharmaceutical, access control, security guard monitoring and asset management. One of the areas where RFID promises excellent potential is in the retail industry for the tracking of goods and products throughout the supply chain. There are concerns around numerous RFID adoption barriers. Decision makers in the South African retail sector seem to be adopting a wait-and-see approach. In an attempt to identify and explore these barriers, a literature review was conducted identifying 29 unique barriers to RFID adoption. A survey instrument, informed by these barriers, was constructed and administered to members
of the retail sector in South Africa. The research reveals that the South African retail sector is aware of the benefits in adopting RFID technology, however, they have identified numerous adoption barriers that will need mitigation before they will commit to adopting RFID. The research confirms six main categories with several adoption barriers in each, needing to be addressed. The main categories include, RFID skills shortage, a lack of standardization, high costs of RFID devices, the difficulty of integrating with current legacy systems and a lack of familiarity with RFID systems.

number of volumes

Volume 13

Date Issued

2010

issue

Issue 1