Asda has confirmed plans to begin testing radio frequency identification (RFID) technology later this year.

The UK supermarket chain will follow its US parent Wal-Mart by piloting tracking technology to cut costs and improve staff and supply chain efficiency.

The internal trials will involve the tracking of returnable RFID-enabled cages used to distribute goods in warehouses and stores, according to an Asda spokesman.

‘We don’t have timings at the moment, although we are testing readers for use in the UK,’ he said. ‘No suppliers will be involved at this stage.’

Wal-Mart was one of the first retailers to test RFID in its supply chain. The firm ordered its top 100 suppliers to RFID-enable the goods they supply.

Asda recognises that the technology is still in its infancy.

‘Only two to three years ago RFID was still in labs, and small field trials and the form factors were not ready for prime time,’ said the spokesman.

‘Wal-Mart took a lead role in moving the technology into the real world and we saw the technology mature as a result.’

In a White Paper released late last year Wal-Mart identified benefits from its RFID experiences, including a 16 per cent reduction in out-of-stock products and cutting two-thirds off the time it takes to replenish stock.

Nigel Montgomery, RFID specialist at AMR Research, says Wal-Mart’s work will help Asda to progress faster.

‘It would be inconceivable that Asda wasn’t learning from the experience of Wal-Mart, so in terms of the supplier interaction the testing has pretty much been done,’ he said.

‘Asda is a bit late into the game in comparison with Tesco and Marks & Spencer, but it has the advantage that its parent has done the basics already.’