In line with the retailer's Secure Supply Chain initiative, the retailer will attach RFID tags to its own shipping trays and pallets at its national distribution center in Milton Keynes before being loaded and sent through its supply chain to retail stores.

"What customers want to know when they shop at Tesco is that the items they want to buy are available and on the shelves," said the retailer's IT director.

"By extending our use of radio barcodes in our Secure Supply Chain initiative, we will be able to improve on-shelf availability while reducing shrinkage. We will start with using radio barcodes on high value goods and plan to expand our roll-out across our entire supply chain over the next few years."