AutoID & Data Capture Blog




Checkpoint Systems Aims to Further its Connected Store Ambitions with Latest Announcements at NRF 2018

by Michael Clarke, with Richa Gupta | 01/18/2018

Checkpoint Systems Inc. (a division of CCL Labels), a leader in electronic article surveillance (EAS) and RFID solutions for the retail industry, announced two new product offerings at the recently concluded NRF conference in New York. Thus, this blog will detail the latest products and the company’s outlook for the retail space in 2018.

Checkpoint Systems places a strong emphasis on inventory accuracy, customer experience, and loss prevention with its solutions. Checkpoint announced its new EAS platform, NEO, to deliver enhanced detection and connectivity through its improved antenna range that boasts nearly nine feet, a thirty-five percent increase over the industry average. With this greater frequency range, NEO provides retailers with superior detection capabilities and greater protection for smaller retail items such as health & beauty/cosmetic products, a category that has seen a rise in shrinkage in recent years. Additionally, as a RF-compatible solution, NEO offers wireless Bluetooth connectivity, trimming the cost and time required for installing traditional underfloor cabling. In conjunction with Checkpoint’s live system health checks, online service support, and cloud-synced alarm data, NEO offers real-time insights to retailers. It offers retailers an additional safeguard to their bottom line while aiming to facilitate further top line growth through actionable data analytics.

Checkpoint also announced its newly designed underfloor RFID antenna, UF-1 for theft prevention at retail store entrances and exits.  Utilizing unique RFID reader technology, the UF-1 antenna offers a more powerful range and sleeker design to offer retailers unobstructed entrances that challenge traditional EAS antennas.  Using Checkpoint Wirama RadarTM technology, the UF-1 can identify the direction in which the tag is passing over the antenna, whether in or out of the entrance. The UF-1 can determine if an item is simply located near the exit or is under threat of theft, which provides greater sensor accuracy and minimizes false alarms.

Checkpoint is also set to launch HALO, its comprehensive cloud based platform that combines these core focus areas, in early 2018. The company highlights HALO as a singular integrated platform solution that will help retailers optimize revenue by offering actionable intelligence and retail metrics such as shelf life analysis, success rate of sales, and fitting room abandonment analysis in real-time. The goal is for retailers to have deeper insights into their day-to-day sales and be able to leverage these metrics to optimize operations. The solution is designed to be highly modular in nature—in terms of both features/functionalities as well as pricing structure—allowing pick and choose what capabilities meet their unique needs. HALO aims to optimize retail sales performance through inventory accuracy and plans to mitigate business loss due to theft in a cost effective manner.

With these latest new product introductions, Checkpoint aims to reach a global retail audience by adding more value to their EAS investments while also elevating the overall customer experience and improving loss prevention functionality. The NEO platform and UF-1 both have the potential to reshape retail operations by enhancing the overall shopping experience. However, VDC believes retailers’ appetite for in-store RFID use will drive their investments in such solutions, especially given how their focus is now primarily on supporting their omnichannel/unified commerce goals.

View the 2017 AutoID & Data Capture Research Outline to learn more.