Spatially-aware inventory scanning

An off-price retailer’s stores had high RFID scan success but no location data. Inventory existed; it just wasn’t on a map. A one-week sprint asked whether that gap was the thing standing between the chain and a working buy-online-pickup-in-store program.

Problem

The retailer’s stores audited inventory with handheld RFID scanners walked across the floor on a weekly cadence. Scan success rate was high; the data showed an item was in the building. What it didn’t show was where the item was in the building. Without a location signal, store associates couldn’t fulfill a buy-online-pickup-in-store order without searching the floor by hand. RFID was solving the wrong half of the problem.

Approach

Led a one-week discovery sprint to test whether spatial-data scanning could pair a where with the when, and whether the resulting location-paired scan log would give associates enough signal to fulfill BOPIS orders without a manual hunt. Sketched the technical pattern, surfaced the operational implications for store associates, and pressure-tested the hypothesis against the chain’s existing inventory cadence.

Outcome

• Working hypothesis: location-paired RFID scanning is the missing layer for BOPIS at off-price scale
• Discovery sprint produced the technical pattern, operational implications, and next-step pilot scope
• Quick-turn engagement; output was a decision-ready brief, not a build