A decade later, 96% of retailers deploying RFID tags on apparel

As with many business decisions, the cost-benefit analysis for implementing the technology must have changed, and in the case of RFID, various case studies suggest lack of affordability, industry shifts and time to implementation may have all played a part in the adoption delay. First, the early hype of the technology led to a potentially overpriced tag. Early adopters like Wal-Mart may have bought into the benefits without full evidence, but even the retail behemoth had trouble reaching full implementation due to the high cost of compliance for suppliers.  Second, while the tags have been around for over a decade alongside other must-haves like Big Data, only recently with the rise of the cloud and fully-integrated platforms has the promise of data analytics and mass-implementation of the Internet of Things become evident across various industries.