NEW LIFE FOR "OLD" BOOKS: The business case for item-level RFID tags on the bookstore selling floor.

One of the beauties of new technology is that it makes older products and services more competitive by increasing supply chain efficiencies, including in retail transactions. (Look what ATMs did for retail banking.)

While the use of RFID tags on individual books is gaining ground exponentially in libraries, the book publishers have looked at RFID only on cases and cartons in warehousing and distribution.

All that changed in 2006 with the remakable pilot in Almere (Amsterdam) NL, where item-level tagging by the BGN bookstore chain has met with remarkable success -- creating a new retail environment, increasing revenues, and raising customer satisfaction.

This presentation will highlight the business goals and dynamics involved as BGN investigated the potential of RFID, implemented its pilot in Almere in 2006, and is now expanding to include RFID-tagging in all 16 retail stores in Holland. Comparison with library usage and possibility for "convergence" of technology across the book industry will also be explored.