Let's imagine a situation where your mobile phone, which you just bought, breaks and needs to be replaced, but here's the problem, you forgot the receipt.

Thanks to RFID technology, this is no longer a problem for many retailers around the world. Each device is equipped with an EPC (Electronic Product Code) tag, which the owner must not remove until the end of the warranty period. With this tag, you can go to the store where the product was purchased, and without a receipt, a specialist will check its warranty status and, if necessary, issue a refund. The tag contains a unique product identification code and other information similar to that contained in a barcode. This significantly reduces waiting time and improves the quality of service.

The store, in turn, also does not want to suffer a loss from the return and wants to receive compensation for the defective product. Therefore, a specialist determines the cause of the defect and prepares a return request.

Since the product was tagged with an RFID tag based on the EPC standard, the employee can log into the secure EPCglobal network and extract the necessary information from there. Thus, You can find the necessary data on hundreds of spare parts for a faulty product and report the problem to the specific company that manufactured the part.

This process is called product lifecycle management. It became possible thanks to RFID technology. This helps retailers and their customers save time and money when faced with low-quality or defective goods. And what is also important, this process reduces the amount of waste that pollutes the environment, since only faulty parts are disposed of, and not the entire product.

Source: discoverrfid.org