“In times of economic slowdown, a quick positive return on investment is especially important to potential RFID users,” says practice director Michael Liard. “We asked the respondents to our survey about their hopes and expectations for ROI on their RFID investments. While a substantial majority saw 12 to 24 months as a reasonable expectation, more than one third anticipated a return within the first year.”
| Less than 12 months | 12-18 months | 18-24 months | More than 24 months | Do not know | |||||
| 36.7% | 25.0% | 13.3% | 6.7% | 18.3% |
These responses included all flavors of RFID deployment: closed- and open-loop across a variety of applications, and at various stages of trials, rollouts, and fully deployed systems.
One of the great problems in formulating useful ROI models and setting goals has been the reluctance of many end-users to share what they have learned. “It’s tough,” says Liard, “and has been holding parts of the industry back. But somebody who’s getting great results with RFID is often understandably wary of letting competitors know how much more competitive it is making them. But if we want this market to move forward in a recession, we need to start talking about these things as proactively as we can.”
Some RFID projects are still moving forward; others have been delayed by the recession, or put on hold. “The good thing,” Liard concludes, “is that we’re not hearing much about cancellations. That’s a positive sign.”
ABI Research’s Annual RFID End-User Survey (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/market_research/Annual_RFID_End_User_Survey) provides the high-level, top-line results from this online survey. The study offers a sample snapshot view of the broader end-user community trends to consider during the development of more detailed market models and business strategies.
It forms part of the firm’s RFID Research Service (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/RFID_Research_Service) which includes other Research Reports, Research Briefs, Market Data, ABI Insights, ABI Vendor Matrices, and analyst inquiry support.
ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of emerging trends in global connectivity. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advise thousands of decision makers through research and advisory services in seven key practice areas. Est. 1990.