Iris Nova Deploys Avery Dennison RFID Technology at NYC Store

Avery Dennison announced the deployment of its newest RFID technology at The Drug Store, a retail experience in New York City, owned and operated by Iris Nova, the company behind the DIRTY LEMON line of premium functional beverages.

The company is backed by investors including Coca Cola, venture capital firm Greycroft, and some of the biggest names in technology, music, and entertainment.

Iris Nova is building a next-generation consumer packaged goods conglomerate made up of best-in-class brands collectively leveraging technology, data, and a direct relationship with the customer.

Its first brand, DIRTY LEMON, launched in 2015, selling direct-to-consumer and has built its brand by enabling its customers to communicate, order and pay via text message. Iris Nova leverages this same technology across a portfolio of brands and at its cashier-less retail shop, The Drug Store.

The Drug Store is an extension of the Iris Nova text-to-order platform and operates via the “honor’ system,” where the only point-of-sale is the customer’s cell phone.

The Drug Store features three refrigerators and offers customers easy access to the Iris Nova portfolio of beverages. The process is simple, customers walk in, take what they want, and send a text message to complete payment. As of January 2020, The Drug Store is fully enabled with Avery Dennison RFID solutions to further progress the tech capabilities of the space.

The Avery Dennison intelligent label gives each product a unique digital identity – customers can scan the label, gain product information such as nutritional values or date of manufacture and pay for the product via SMS at their convenience – even after they have left the store. The system will automatically register and log the inventory change and keep the brand informed on stock replenishment and buying trends.

The Tribeca store deployment has already delivered inventory accuracy counts of 98% and increased product on-shelf availability, Avery Dennison reported.

Since RFID assigns a unique ID to each beverage, the brand can track product life cycle, decrease theft, enhance consumer experience and support frictionless checkout. This compares favorably with conventional inventory systems which typically operate at between 50-60% stock accuracy, resulting in out-of-stock situations and poor customer experiences.

“With RFID technology as a foundation, we have a lot of potential to make frictionless shopping a reality and engage even further with our customers,” said Zak Normadin, CEO and founder of Iris Nova. “Knowing in real-time when a product leaves the cooler is immensely powerful and this data tells us instantly what drinks customers prefer. It enables us to ensure that we’re never out of stock and maps long term trends to help us drive our product development.

“It’s still early days but already we’re looking at expanding our use of RFID. This will include expanding to 100-150 coolers within existing retail spaces in 2020 and a new dedicated store in the Los Angeles area,” Normandin added.

“We’re anticipating a world where everything we buy and use will have a digital identity,” said Julie Vargas, director Global Market Development, Avery Dennison.