Japanese retail tech advances.

Retail technology is taking another step forward in Japan. Tests of various applications for just over three-quarter inch square Integrated Circuit (IC) chips were reported in a March 27, 2007 posting on the Web-Japan.org website. The government sponsored website is an aggregator of trend news and other information about Japan.

IC chips can store a very large amount of information that can be scanned instantaneously.

In one application, a large Japanese convenience store chain affixed IC chips to all of the products it stocks in its outlets. Shoppers filled baskets with the products they needed and took the baskets to the checkout counter where the entire basket was scanned in an instant with the total appearing immediately.

The application cut customer waiting time in half, and consumer approval ratings were high. There was no need to scan individual barcodes. In another retail application, IC chips affixed to products allowed very rapid audit of an entire store's inventory.

A related application supplied shoppers with smart cards loaded with individual consumer preference information. Consumers use scanners located at various places in the store to receive product recommendations. Currently, the chips are too expensive for other than testing purposes. But prices are expected to decline in the medium term.