Zebra Study: Nearly Six in 10 Warehouse Leaders Plan to Deploy RFID by 2028

Zebra Technologies today released the findings of its 2023 Global Warehousing Study, which confirmed 58% of warehouse decision-makers plan to deploy radio frequency identification (RFID) technology by 2028 to help increase inventory visibility and reduce out-of-stocks.

Over the next five years, a majority of warehouse decision-makers plan to deploy fixed, passive or handheld RFID readers and fixed industrial scanning solutions that can better track assets, workers, and goods throughout the warehouse environment. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the invention of RFID which has become a problem-solving tool for front-line workers in warehouses and other industries.

The survey also showed 73% warehouse decision-makers globally have or will be accelerating timelines of modernisation projects. This should help with returns management which climbed to the top operational challenge cited by nearly half of the respondents —an increase of 10 percentage points year-over-year.

“The significant growth of returns aligns with e-fulfilment growth over the last several years, and it is a mandate for change across every part of the supply chain,” said Andre Luecht, Global Strategy Lead for Transportation, Logistics and Warehouse, Zebra Technologies. “This means warehouse leaders must modernise their operations with technology solutions to handle returns and increase agility, inventory visibility and demand forecasting in order to improve efficiency and make better decisions in real time.”