The clothing retailer River Island is implementing an identification solution in their 280 shops worldwide Implementation is the result of a multi-phase pilot conducted in seven stores for several years,es. The retailer will monitor all products within 280 It owns and operates stores, using tags placed by suppliers.

Technology keeps track of the overall levels of inventory at each store and, por lo tanto, will allow automated and accurate replenishments are made, with the aim of increasing sales. According to the enterprise, the pilot showed that RFID made the inventory accuracy River Island outside a 97%, while sales increased significantly.

River Island tackled implementation systematically, explains Wright, starting with identifying the best use case and test it in several stores, then measure the results and plan how to implement the technology in stages.

River Island placed RFID tags on all clothing, in each store (accessories that were not jewels are not labeled). River Island had three key performance indicators for the pilot. Sought to obtain an accuracy of inventory levels 95% in each store, as well as an increase in sales and a positive response from employees regarding availability of products in the store. Wright said, after three months, River Island had achieved the three goals. A continuación, the company eliminated the technology and noted that key performance indicators decreased to previous levels when the system is no longer used. Then he made another three-month pilot test at three different stores, transferring responsibility for the use of the system and data management to a team of employees in each of the stores.

During phase three, the company tested the system at its flagship store and developed a methodology to check whether the increase in sales was, indeed, the result of RFID, as tracking sales rates for each SKU and see when there was a "gap" in the lack of sales.

The company now entered phase four, consisting of a full implementation on their 280 tiendas, with about three sites that already have the system in operation. The goal is to implement RFID technology in all stores by the end of 2017. The retail company plans to install the solution in most of its stores between May and October. The distribution center is still tagging the merchandise already in its facilities. Nevertheless, River Island providers are placing RFID tags on products shipped to the distribution center, and it is expected that these products are in the supply chain or in stores in May.

By then, the distribution center no longer need to label the goods. The application allows multiple employees to count inventory simultaneously on one site!, explica Hook, "This is particularly useful for large stores". In the event that several employees are performing inventory counts in one place at one time, notes, the application will update the count in real time for all staff using readers.

Wright expects, over time, employees of the distribution center of River Island use technology to track when the merchandise arrives facilities and when sent, and to perform inventory counts in place. The solution will allow River Island also start sending Omnichannel products to customers who shop online, to identify which products are geographically closer to the place where the buyer is located and make shipment from that location.