Among articles with empirical results from field and laboratory studies, Loebbecke (2005) examines RFID applications in the retail SC based on the early Metro group pilots in Germany, suggesting that IT innovations (including RFID) in combination with the new marketing concept of ‘‘future stores’’ have contributed to a sales increase of about 23% compared to the preceding year while ‘‘reducing out of stock by 9–14% and store space by about 11%’’.