I did something this week that I don’t often do: I shopped for (non-grocery) things in person. Like, in a physical store. So I recognize that this isn’t entirely bleeding edge. Still, I am thoroughly impressed by the self-checkout process at Uniqlo.
All of their items now include RFID tags, which means you don’t need to scan anything. You just place your basket or items down, and then everything shows up automatically on the screen. Done. The most frictionless checkout that I have ever experienced.
My understanding is that this was done more for supply chain management and that it is now possible because the cost of these tags have come down to something like a few cents per unit; but the added benefit is that they have greatly improved checkout throughput and the overall experience.
This has been a part of the promise of RFID tags for many years. And this week I experienced it IRL for the first time. It was awesome. Now I hope this same experience comes to grocery stores in the near future.
BRANDON DONNELLY 
Decathlon has had these for years. It probably only works financially above a certain average item price. It’s the kind of innovation Canadian companies need to be better at piloting as clients and selling as providers.
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Agreed.
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A couple of weeks late…
But, I’ve experienced this at Uniqlo as well and loved it. Easy, simple, slick.
Then! The other day, it happened. I was checking out, and as I completed payment and started gathering my things… and realized – I had the wrong size of pants. Turn to the check-out assistant and asked if I could simply swap for the correct size. The answer was unfortunate – I had to get into the returns/exchange line, because of said new technology. Perhaps this is just a minor hiccup in the grander transitionary period… but I definitely felt I at least needed a counter-balance: Technology that keeps me from making human errors.
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Ah, makes sense though. If every item has an RFID tag, then you really have to do the full swap.
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