The empty shelf is the nightmare of every retailer. One has a customer willing to make a purchase, and the product is not available. It is not a single sale that is lost due to this out-of-stock phenomenon; it destroys trust and drives people to the competitors. This was a long-term problem with one of the countrywide apparel retail stores, as sales floor availability was at a deplorable 85%.
With the rigorous competition on the Internet, they had to find a solution that would add value to their physical stores as opposed to making them their liability. They found the solution in a pivot move to item RFID tagging. Start using an RFID inventory tracking systemthat can transform your business.
Check Out the Problems of Shoppers with Invisible Inventory
The problems of the retailer were typical:
1. Inaccurate Inventory Count
Cycle counts had been outdated and prone to error. Associates would be unable to locate 10 units of a popular sweater, which were displayed in the backroom.
2. Ghost Effect
Products were frequently in the store but not on the floor, where they were either in the backroom, misplaced elsewhere in the department, or in the fitting room.
3. Slow Process of Replenishment
The replenishment of the sales floor was a manual process and was slow and taking time to complete, and was usually only done once a day, usually during the night.
How Can the Use of RFID Give You a Clear Vision?
The difference in sales floor availability was directly affecting their bottom line and customer satisfaction by 15 percent. The retailer has initiated the complete rollout of item-level RFID. All the clothes were sewn with RFID tags. This was the only alteration that changed their operations.
1. Blitz Scan
Associates traverse the sales floor and the backroom with an RFID handheld reader, instead of a monthly and disruptive inventory count. They were able to scan all the items in the store with a 99.9 percent accuracy in less than an hour.
2. Intelligence in Real-Time
The system did not merely tally items, but it also identified their location. It may indicate that there are five black jackets in the backroom, there were two in the Men’s Casual section, and one in Fitting Room 3. We use a similar method in the RFID hospital inventory managementsystem.
The information supplied by the RFID system gave the staff the power and simplified processes and thus resulted in a drastic 20 percent growth in the availability of the sales floor.
Farther Improvements
- With a final list of what was in the basement and where it had been supposed to be on the floor, restocking became an operation that was precisely focused.
- Associates would not have to spend time roaming the stockroom thinking of where the gaps were.
- This gave the chance of having a number of mini-replenishing cycles throughout the day so that the shelves were kept full during the prime shopping time.
- Make Customer Experience Count: It is not that they should have a better inventory accuracy, it is that they should have a better shopping experience. Get the program based on the eradication of customer aggravation.
To this retailer, RFID was an unlock to the opened door of their physical inventory. They did not simply make the invisible products visible, but made them visible, which in turn boosted the availability, customer confidence, and sales.
