Walmart Goes Back to the Future

19 years ago, we at ACSIS published a brochure called “Get ready for RFID with ACSIS.” It was aimed at Walmart suppliers who needed to comply with Walmart’s “new” RFID initiative. In 2003, Walmart said its top 100 suppliers must begin tagging pallets and cases by early 2004. But then — the initiative was placed on hold. Indefinitely. No RFID requirement was implemented.

Fast forward to 2019. The RFID requirement was announced again, directing all suppliers of Apparel, Footwear, Sunglasses and Watches to begin applying RFID tags to their merchandise. But once again, the initiative was put on hold — this time, due to a global pandemic.

Fast forward with us one more time to February 2022. With the pandemic no longer the force of disruption it once was, and global supply chains slowly returning to health, Walmart has again mandated that its suppliers tag most home goods, sporting goods, electronics, and toys with RFID-enabled labels by September 2022. It has further announced plans to later extend that requirement even more broadly to additional product categories.

Since 2003, we at ACSIS have successfully implemented RFID, making it the foundation of our cloud-based visibility and traceability solutions. We have baked RFID (as well as 1D or 2D barcodes and QR codes) into those solutions to drive item-level tracking and serialization, data collection at the edge, visibility across multi-partner ecosystems, and regulatory compliance. We also help enable sustainable supply chains and compliance with emerging environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards that reduce supply chain-related waste.

We’ve been preparing for the Walmart mandate for almost 20 years now. We’re ready. And we can get you all the way to compliance and beyond.

Are you a Walmart supplier with product in any of these departments?
• Home departments: D14, 17, 20, 22, 71, 74
• Entertainment departments: D7, 72, 87
• Hardlines departments: D9, 10 tires, and batteries

Don’t scramble to put stop-gap measures and SOPs in place to meet the September 2022 deadline. ACSIS can help you rapidly implement a proven, long-term, high-value solution that enables profitable compliance with the Walmart RFID initiative — as well as RFID directives from Target, Nordstrom, Macy’s, and others. In fact, we see RFID fast becoming a General Retail Initiative that all of us will want to adopt. Get in touch about a long-term RFID roadmap that brings you into full compliance with your partners now and in the future — as well as delivering real business value with higher efficiency, sustainability, and faster movement of goods.