Inventory management systems and methods are provided for various applications. Such systems include a first RFID reader system having an RFID reader and a host. The RFID reader attempts to communicate with a plurality of RFID-readable tags, while the host is programmed to receive data from the RFID reader, which relates to the RFID-readable tags with which the RFID reader has successfully communicated. The host generates instructions based at least in part on the data and transmits the instructions to the host of a second RFID reader system. The host of the second RFID reader system modifies the operation of an associated RFID reader as it attempts to communicate with the plurality of RFID-readable tags, with the modification being based at least in part on the instructions received from the host of the first system and improving the performance of the RFID reader of the second system.