News

Thanks to mobile, consumers can track the lifecycle of what they buy

April 29, 2013

Before the horsemeat scandal that rocked European businesses, a growing number of consumers had been questioning the origin of their food and clothing, according to an article on finchannel.com, citing data from Cisco.

"Consumers are becoming more concerned about product origins, from where they were produced to how they were produced, and by whom," said Paula Rosenblum, managing partner at retail research firm RSR Research, in the article. "I believe retailers are going to be ultimately driven to provide this information."

The following is an excerpt of the article's analysis:

The continued spread of smartphones could provide retailers with a relatively cost-effective method of doing so. In the fourth quarter of 2012 smartphone sales rose 38.3 percent from the same period the previous year to reach 207.7 million units worldwide, according to research company Gartner.

Already a small handful of retailers are testing or deploying mobile technology that enables consumers to check the provenance and sustainability of the goods in their stores. One is the high-end clothing brand, Burberry, which at the London fashion show in February showed a radio frequency identification (RFID) service that enables customers equipped with smartphones to track the entire production process of an item of clothing.

Read more about RFID technology.