American Apparel finds the right fit with RFID

American Apparel retail stores operate boutique-style, stocking only one item of each style, color and size on the floor at any time. Inventory turns over quickly in the apparel business, and with more than 26,000 SKU items to manage, store staff constantly battled to keep inventory counts 100% accurate and the sales floor 100% stocked.

The effort was time-and-labor intensive and expensive. But the cost of inventory errors and stocking delays was even higher – lost sales and disappointed customers.

American Apparel was looking for a smarter way to meet their goals and, from what they had learned, item-level RFID looked like precisely the solution they wanted.

Given the control the company has over its own manufacturing, distribution and retail operations, the plan was to reap the benefits of RFID not only on the retail floor, but throughout its closed loop supply chain.

But the first step would be testing the capabilities of RFID for accuracy, performance and adaptability to their business processes.