Real-Time Inventory Visibility Solutions Allows Retailers to Avoid Out-of-Stocks and to Enhance the Customer Shopping Experience

ADT Fire & Security has launched its Sensormatic Item Level Intelligence (ILI) solution suite.  By integrating RFID technology with Sensormatic Ultra•Max EAS technology, the suite is designed to help retailers improve operational efficiency and profitability through real-time visibility of inventory throughout their stores.  The solution suite helps them gain greater inventory accuracy, so they can address one of their largest sources of loss – lost sales due to inventory inaccuracies.

Inventory inaccuracies can lead to out-of-stock situations that may disappoint their customers and cause them to shop elsewhere. In fact, customer satisfaction/experience is a top concern of retail executives interviewed for a 2009 study published by RIS News. This concern was followed respectively by cost management and workforce efficiency. By preventing out-of-stocks, optimizing inventories for maximum turnover, and saving employee time in taking inventory cycle counts, the Sensormatic ILI solution suite can help retailers address these three significant concerns.    

For example, Messcalino of Spain, a top apparel retailer, turned to ADT and Cetemmsa (an RFID system integrator based in Spain) to implement RFID technology through the Sensormatic ILI solution suite. “Our focus on improving operations for our original designs and contemporary collections was achieved with the unique concept provided by ADT that integrates RFID technology with Sensormatic Ultra•Max EAS technology,” said Joel Roch, Messcalino’s chief operating officer. “We envision the use of item-level RFID as a single technology within the shop floor for inventory management, point-of-sale transactions and advanced customer merchandising through our unique catalog information solution for the fitting rooms.”

Traditionally ADT has focused on helping retailers safeguard billions of in-store items against shoplifting. Now its Sensormatic ILI solution suite creates a platform to help retailers address shrink and improve inventory accuracy at the same time. By improving data integrity at the item level, the Sensormatic ILI solution suite helps to drive intelligence back into the supply chain. This intelligence can help improve existing operations by providing visibility into store and enterprise inventories to drive increased profitability and revenues. 

At the end of 2009 the University of Parma in Italy conducted an ILI solution suite performance study to measure real-life selling floor activities for data acquisition at the item level. “RFID in fashion is becoming more and more important, especially in helping retailers address out of stocks and gaining better access to their merchandise,” according to Antonio Rizzi, full professor of Industrial Logistics & Supply Chain Management Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Parma. “ADT has tremendously supported our RFID lab in creating an RFID fashion store and an RFID enabled retail environment. They provided us with their innovative technology solutions for the intelligent management of merchandise to ultimately improve retail operations.”

According to John Smith, Tyco’s vice president of Retail Sales for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, “Listening to the needs of our customers enables ADT to deliver a total solutions approach offering benefits such as greater product availability, accurate replenishments and effective inventory cycle counting on the retail selling floor. The Sensormatic ILI solution suite, combined with ADT’s global reach and service delivery capabilities, will help retailers worldwide scale and execute real-time inventory visibility solutions to help optimize profitability, cut costs and better serve customers.”