While radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is not new, it is evolving in interesting ways. And Avery Dennison, a provider of materials science and digital identifications solutions, is applying advances in sensor and digital technology to modernize the supply chain with RFID.
During NRF 2025 in New York earlier this month, the company showcased a series of demonstrations for manufacturers and retailers around traceability, visibility, inventory management, and expiry management of perishable products. Also on display were consumer-facing applications, such as Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology with RFID, where products are automatically detected and charged without checkout lines.
The booth experience brought to life how Avery Dennison enables end-to-end supply chain management through its Optica portfolio of solutions. The Optica suite leverages the latest in RFID technology to give physical products digital identities, enabling traceability, operations automation, loss prevention, and frictionless checkout. Combining Avery Dennison’s intelligent labels with the company’s atma.io connected product cloud with in-field hardware and its full AD Apps software suite, Optica puts actionable data at users’ fingertips, the company said.
How Optica impacts the supply chain
An RFID label is versatile technology for wireless identification and tracking. Each RFID tag contains a microchip — to store unique identification data — and an antenna that communicates with an RFID reader, such as a fixed reader at a warehouse.
When used for the supply chain, the RFID “smart label” can improve how goods, materials, and assets are tracked and managed throughout their journey from manufacturers to end consumers. In addition, machine builders and manufacturers can experience benefits of these intelligent tags in the supply chain in the form of enhanced efficiency, improved accuracy, cost reduction, sustainability, and better decision-making.
Avery Dennison is utilizing RFID to streamline inventory management, prevent loss, and elevate consumer interaction. By placing RFID tags on containers, pallets, and other types of packaging, these labels connect physical items to digital networks for tracking product movements throughout the supply chain.

Retail Reimagined
RFID labels are being implemented across multiple industries, and for products of all sizes and price range.
“Retail leaders are enjoying significant efficiency and accuracy gains by assigning a unique digital identity to physical products for item-level visibility,” said Marshall Kay, Avery Dennison’s global director of retail transformation, in a statement. “The range of consumer goods now getting RFID intelligent labels is astonishing, including some goods that sell for under 99 cents. The resulting valuable data sets are synergistic with other transformative technology trends, such as predictive analytics, to further aid decision making.”
On the consumer side, RFID labels play a key role in providing information and transparency. They also offer increased security and make shopping faster and easier. These tags provide customization and personalization options, to create better brand experience for both the consumer and manufacturer.
“We’re set to see retail reimagined, using the power of data to create more efficient and accurate supply chains with less waste, enabling sustainability, circularity, and transparency, all while creating deeper connections between brands and consumers,” Julie Vargas, vice president and general manager of Avery Dennison Identification Solutions, told Packaging OEM.
Additionally, RFID tags can play a significant role in improving sustainability by enabling more efficient resource management, reducing waste, and promoting eco-friendly practices.

Connecting retail supply chains
Avery Dennison is utilizing RFID to assist retailers in improving supply chain visibility, inventory accuracy, loss detection, and in-store experience.
To that end, Avery Dennison is working with JD Sports, a UK sports retailer that is expanding into new regions, including the United States.
The two are focused on the creation of connected products as part of the JD Sports brand, which utilizes Avery Dennison’s Optica for supply chain solutions. This program aims to improve operational efficiency and transparency by making on-demand access to accurate real-time information. To achieve this, RFID-enabled intelligent labels are connected to a product cloud along with in-field hardware. By combining these resources, manufacturers have easy access to data.
JD Sports leveraged Optica to get full traceability from their entire supply chain, from dye markers to consumers.
“We hope our [work] with JD Sports will inspire other brands to realize the vast potential of connected products to achieve greater traceability and consumer engagement from the point of purchase and beyond,” said Delia Glover, vice president of apparel products for Avery Dennison, in a statement.
Avery Dennison also offers Optica for the food industry, which grants companies access to track from source to store while still optimizing freshness.

RFID’s impact on the packaging industry
While Avery Dennison is pushing RFID technology forward, they are not alone in this effort. Many other retailers and companies are embracing these “intelligent labels,” across packaging and manufacturing. That includes utilizing this technology for labels such as food. Click here to read how one company made RFID labels possible for hard-to-tag food packaging.