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STYLING REAL TIME INVENTORY
VISIBILITY IN FASHION

Managing retail inventory for fashion might seem like a tough jigsaw puzzle if you don’t have the clarity or visibility of it. Fashion is influenced by people, events and season. It is a volatile market and one needs to be prepared for last minute trend changes. New RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) solutions work in favor of fashion retailers, since you can let your customers know if you have that particular size or color in inventory just by tracking that tag.

The concept of smart fitting rooms is a newly emerging use case of RFID inventory tracking. RFID tags, attached to price tags carry a lot of information about the garment selected and taken to the changing room for trial. Wall mounted screens show the customer the alternate colors, sizes available, similar style clothing and also pieces to go along with the particular item. This way a customer can put together an outfit without walking in and out of changing rooms. The inventory can be tracked to find the required style, size and color with the help of the RFID tag and information display screen.

Digital Inventory Management for Retailers

Innovative retail solutions are helping fashion retailers to track and manage their inventories to stay on top of trends and customer needs. These solutions help in building marketing strategies with a better view of what you have to offer and how you may incorporate popular demands on your shelves. PRIOS is a solution which can help in getting better visibility of inventory by blending in all best practices of inventory tracking. This innovative Phygital retail solution automates and enables digital inventory management for fashion retailers. Blending digital inventory with physical seamlessly PRIOS gives you a complete view of how things are moving. Compatible with connected devices and various retail channels PRIOS ensures that you can deliver what you promise to your customers.

Did you know?

H&M, they plan and create their inventory one year ahead. Then how do they keep track of recent influences?

They keep 20% of their inventory free for the latest fashion trends. This enables them to keep their inventory flexible enough to incorporate last minute changes.

Testimonial   WHAT THE TRENDS SAY

IoT is everywhere, connected things have made tracking products infinitely convenient. Digital inventory management in retail has also incorporated it. Solutions like PRIOS conttnects inventory with devices like mobile, tab, and lets you track your inventory from anywh0ere. Store associates with handheld devices are also able to track and order to replenish stocks in stores, thanks to smart inventory tracking.

Using RFID tags to track products or optimizing your inventory with analytics, PRIOS can support these trends as well. Customized notifications, alerts, smart tracking from manufacturers to inventory and store help you have a clear view of what you have and what you want. PRIOS helps you optimize your inventory and stay ahead in the fashion market all year long.

How can lack of visibility cost you?

A good retail inventory management system is the stepping stone of good supply chain management in retail. If you don’t have transparency about your goods’ movement you may face the following troubles in fashion retail:

Failing to accommodate recent changes

Planning inventory in advance is widely practiced among fashion retailers. However, they don’t plan it 100%. There is always some space left (H&M, Zara, Walmart) like 10% to 20% to accommodate changes.

A good RETAIL INVENTORY MANAGEMENT system will give you the visibility to see what percent of your inventory you are stocking up and what percent will be empty to accommodate current changes. Otherwise you may stock up fully on products of past demand and your competitor might go ahead with good planning to include some stuff that is currently “hot”.

Over stocking

Over stocking is a common problem stemming from the absence of proper inventory management in retail. Let’s say floral prints are in vogue right now. You start stocking up on products on the basis of that. As a retailer, you don’t only cater to the seasonal customers, there is a huge base of regular customers who might want to stick to their preferred checks or solid colors rather than the seasonal trend of florals. Not having visibility of your true inventory across channels may lead to wrong decision making where you end up neglecting your existing customer base.

Understocking

When you over stock on products you don’t need, you may fail to stock properly on those you do. In other instances, lack of visibility of inventory may mislead you into thinking that you have enough of the products that your demand forecast tells you need.

Stocking on out of fashion products

Applying marketing analytics and trends forecasting is not enough without proper retail inventory management system in place. You know the trends, but you can’t see if you have them enough or have enough space to accommodate new trends without proper visibility of inventory. This mismatch can end up making you a fashion laggard.

Questions you need to ask ?

In stock= In-store?

In Stock= Warehouse

In Stock= How many pieces left on the shelf?

Inventory visibility

Rack vs. stock

The compatibility between the two is everything.

Inventory is not just your warehouse. In-store stock and store racks are also part of your inventory. A solution like PRIOS keeps track of products moving from on shelf, in-store stock and of course warehouse. In this digital age, customers are looking for not only good products but efficient services. When you promise them a product, you have to commit to a timeline as well. How fast can you reach it when a customer is asking for it? Or will you let your customers go back empty handed after promising goods in stock? PRIOS helps you keep track of products and lets your store associates be equipped with a serviceable timeline every time you promise something “in stock”.

It is difficult for customers to resist a purchase if they have the right size, the preferred color and their coveted product at hand. Whereas, customers can easily escape purchase if the right thing is not available at the right opportune moment. Encash on the browsing experience with solid inventory tracking. Track your products by number and at the exact location. Turn browsing into purchase.

Author : Shreyasee Ghosh, Research Analyst

Practice Head: Sunil Bajaj, Retail & CPG