Supply chains are at the beating heart of businesses in delivering products to the end customer. In retail organizations, efficient supply chains can have a transformative impact on operations. To improve efficiency, retailers need to have full visibility of their inventory, and this is where RFID can play a leading role.
A Lack of Automation
McKinsey’s State of Fashion 2024 report mentioned that shifts in consumer demand have created a situation where order volatility reverberates unpredictably through supply chains. Today, the increasing demands of customers are exposing retailers that struggle to keep up with expectations around omnichannel fulfilment such as buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) and next-day delivery.
Inflexible supply chains can’t adapt to these ever-changing requirements, with many warehouses still operating with manual processes that create inefficiency and inaccuracy within the supply chain. Some retailers are manually counting inventory within the warehouse, for example. Not only is this time consuming, but it’s also prone to human error. As a result, retailers cannot guarantee accurate visibility over their stock. This leads to either overstocking, increasing supply chain costs in manufacturing, transport and storage, or understocking of products, which reduces sales opportunities and sacrifices customer experience.
Automation, when properly implemented in warehouses, can have a positive impact on fulfilment for customers and all those who work in supply chain environments. When retailers incorporate automation they also have improved levels of visibility over their stock and can achieve the right balance between overstocking and understocking.
Why Time is of the Essence for Retailers
In the fashion sector, speed and reliability are both business critical. Some cycles can change after 12 weeks, and emphasizing the need for speed, efficiency and reliability in supply chains is paramount — particularly when it comes to fulfilling orders.
Automation delivers this speed. With RFID technology deployed within warehouses, retailers can scan 400 RFID tags per case at speeds of up to 1,000 cases per hour — all while driving inventory accuracy up 99.92 percent. RFID scanning delivers a robust, reliable and fast solution that allows retailers to have clear visibility of their inventory and make faster, better-informed decisions around forecasting. With fast-moving fashion cycles, visibility over purchasing trends enables retailers to maximize sales opportunities.
Operating With Omnichannel Capabilities
Omnichannel fulfilment has become a must-have for retailers that are looking to maximize sales while delivering high-quality customer experiences. However, in order to optimize the effectiveness of any omnichannel strategy, retailers must first build the right foundations. RFID can help to deliver these foundations.
With clear visibility of stock across the supply chain, including product types, sizes, location and availability, retailers can fulfil orders from any location. Effective inventory management enables retailers to provide a range of purchasing options to their customers through all sales channels — this includes BOPIS and next-day delivery, as well as buy online, ship from store (BOSFS) and even buy online, return in-store (BORIS).
Putting Customers First by Implementing RFID
High-quality fulfilment processes and efficient supply chains provide the end customer with enhanced levels of choice by facilitating where and when they want to shop. To best serve the modern retail customer, the right foundations have to be in place, especially regarding data.
Providing choice and fulfilling orders efficiently creates loyalty. Furthermore, the fulfilment options enabled by RFID strengthens a retailer’s flexibility in keeping pace with future trends. Streamlining fulfilment can help to drive long-term business success. Businesses that don’t adopt new technologies will be behind the curve of the competition as the savviest retailers will look to implement new solutions at every opportunity.
Manolo Reguart is the director of strategy and business development at Clustag, a company that specializes in RFID devices designed for real-time mass reading and encoding, ensuring a 100 percent reading reliability.
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