March 31, 2020
RFID has proven its worth in inventory management, authentication, and customer experience solutions. Enabling these solutions together used to require both, NFC (HF) and RAIN RFID (UHF) products. Smartrac’s new dual-frequency RFID inlays and tags combine both technologies in one innovative, high-performance solution.
During NRF 2020: Retail’s Big Show in New York in mid-January, Avery Dennison Smartrac’s long-term IC partner EM Microelectronic attracted plenty of attention with its second-generation dual-frequency “echo-V” IC. The RFID industry pioneer appeared at Avery Dennison Smartrac's customer and market partner event in New York to present details about the holistic, omnichannel experience enabled by its “RAINFC” branded RAIN RFID / NFC ICs embedded in appropriate RFID inlays and tags. With these new dual-frequency RFID products, brands and retailers can now allow shoppers to purchase products anytime, anywhere, and interact with them throughout the entire product lifecycle - without compromising data privacy.
Spearheading RFID innovation with two dual-frequency products
In parallel on the show floor, Smartrac was already showing prototypes of inlays based on the EM4425 echo-V IC. These prototypes helped to develop two new dual-frequency RAIN RFID / NFC inlays and tags that Avery Dennison Smartrac will be introducing in the coming months – Belt DF and Midas Flagtag® DF. These products are based on existing RAIN RFID (UHF) inlays and tags, but fully leverage echo-V’s capabilities to meet even the most demanding retail, industrial or logistics application requirements.
Belt inlays and tags are designed for item-level tagging, brand protection, supply chain management and logistics applications. Midas Flagtag is a technically sophisticated yet simplified, innovative RFID tag for consumer goods and industrial components with metallic surfaces. It is the first choice on-metal solution for authentication of retail, pharma, healthcare or industrial items, as well as supply chain and asset management applications.
With these new dual-frequency RFID products, brands and retailers can now allow shoppers to purchase products anytime, anywhere, and interact with them throughout the entire product lifecycle - without compromising data privacy.
Track, trace and engage – all with one IC in one tag
The combination of NFC with RAIN RFID in both the Belt DF and the Midas Flagtag DF inlays or tags will provide powerful all-in-one solutions for supply chain management, consumer engagement and product authentication, offering the possibility to manage distribution channels and fight the black and grey markets. The consumer can verify the authenticity of a purchased product, while the retailer can verify the authenticity of a returned product. Moreover, the interaction with the product before, during or after purchase, in-store or at home, offers a consistent consumer experience, regardless of the initial sales channel.
Shared memory – an overlooked game changer?
One remarkable and inconspicuous benefit of echo-V, Belt DF and Midas Flagtag DF lies in the IC’s shared memory that is accessible via both operating frequencies. As a result, it is possible to take advantage of the data content of full-featured RAIN-RFID (UHF) inlays and tags through inexpensive, widely available readers: NFC-enabled smartphones, which can be used to supplement dedicated UHF or HF readers along the B2B and B2C channel.
Want to learn more about NFC? Check out our dedicated NFC for all page.
Have you ever stood in front of a defective parking machine? Or waited in line trying to get to one? If the answer is yes, Avery Dennison Smartrac and its partner HonkMobile have good news for you: the world’s first virtual parking meter, HonkTAP is there.
Aquabit Spirals, a Tokyo-based startup company, is exclusively using Avery Dennison Smartrac NFC tags to take offline products online, without the need for apps or online searching.
NFC is not the next big thing. It’s THE big thing, right now. If you’re selling physical products to consumers, you should be aware of it. And if you’re into higher-value or branded products, you should consider deploying it – especially in the light of iOS 13.