A Systematic Review of RFID-Based Inventory Tracking in the Retail Industry International Findings and Relevance to Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction Inventory tracking is an aspect of inventory management and control that retail companies use to monitor stock from the time that procurement is done to when the products are purchased by customers. Understanding the flow of inventory across the Supply Chain (SC) is key to making operational decisions that enhance operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Purpose This thesis examines how RFID-enabled inventory tracking can be applied in the Saudi Arabia retail industry to enhance operational agility and resilience and customer satisfaction. Methodology The methodology is based on internationally accepted guidelines of systematic reviews incorporating an extensive search strategy, a prior-set inclusion and exclusion criteria, and a systematic screening procedure with the PRISMA framework operationalized to do that. Results The descriptive basis of this review indicates that there is a general consensus worldwide that RFID is a developed technology that has been tested and has considerably enhanced inventory tracking and operational efficiency. Nevertheless, its operational efficacy is profoundly predetermined by retail setting, organizational preparedness, as well as the degree of RFID incorporation in the wider strategies of digital transformation. Implications Saudi Arabia is undergoing the national transition of digital transformation, economic diversification, and modernization of trade. Retail can be called one of the most rapidly developing areas and is at the crossroad of many priorities of the Vision 2030 such as the development of logistics, the development of e-commerce, modernization of the workforce, and work with technologies.