About this project

UK-based fashion retailer River Island has selected Nedap for the international roll-out of RFID hard- and software in 280 stores. The roll-out was completed within seven months. In this large-scale project, Nedap was the main contractor responsible for delivering the cloud-based software iD Cloud and RFID handheld readers as well as ensuring the quality of the RFID labels on the merchandise.

Client
River Island

Sector
Fashion

Solutions
Inventory Management

Challenge
Raise stock accuracy over 97%

Stores
280

Used Products
iD Cloud

River Island is a fast-growing omnichannel fashion retailer with stores across the UK, Ireland, and internationally throughout Asia, the Middle East and Europe, as well as six dedicated online sites operating in four currencies. The array of products includes women’s, men’s, and kids’ clothing, shoes, and accessories.

The Challenge

Becoming equipped to meet shifting consumer demands

With 350 stores across Europe, Asia and the Middle East and six dedicated websites in four currencies, River Island is known as a global leader in stylish, affordable fashion. As more and more customers are purchasing online, the retailer understood the importance of becoming equipped to meet the demands of shifting consumer behavior, especially when it comes to inventory accuracy.

In 2016, River Island used to count stock once a year, which took a day. To manage its transformation towards real-time inventory informatio n, River Island sought guidance and expertise to make its technological and operational evolution a success.

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iD Cloud at River Island

Gaining full control over our inventory

In a world of omnichannel, product availability is king. Therefore, accurate stock data is vital for us to successfully offer omnichannel services to our customers. We are impressed with how advanced iD Cloud is, yet how little IT effort it takes to implement it, which makes adopting RFID extremely easy. This enables us to focus on the most important part right from the start – raising the stock accuracy in all our stores and gaining full control over our inventory through item-level visibility.

Jon Wright
Head of Global Loss Prevention & Safety

The Solution

Shift to real-time inventory visibility

River Island partnered with Nedap to provide the expertise and scale necessary for its goal to transformation towards real-time inventory information.

River Island chose Nedap’s technology solutions to facilitate:

Real-time inventory visibility, to monitor the overall inventory levels within each store, and thereby enable a more accurate automated replenishment, with the goal of boosting sales and enable omnichannel purchases
On-shelf availability, to improve stock accuracy to over 98% which can increase sales

Upon implementing and trialing iD Cloud, accuracy was raised to 97%

Jon Wright, Head of Global Loss Prevention & Safety

The Results

Sales increased by 5%

Using iD Cloud, River Island achieves a stock accuracy of 97+%. Once a week, River Island conducts an RFID full-store stock count with an RFID handheld and the iD Cloud app to cleanse the stock files. The result is an increase in the stock accuracy, which leads to a significant increase in sales and also paves the way for omnichannel services like ship-from-store, Buy Online Return In Store (BORIS) and Buy Online Pickup In-Store (BOPIS).

Sales increased by 5%
Critical out-of-stocks dropped by 11%.
Inventory accuracy rose from 72% to 97%
Inventory counts occur weekly

Impression

Products used

RFID software and hardware used at River Island

iD Cloud

iD Cloud App

The iD Cloud App is designed to raise stock accuracy and product availability in retail stores. The app is easy to use and has multiple features, specially designed for retail stores.

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iD Cloud

iD Cloud Web

iD Cloud Web offers detailed insights into the differences between the ERP system and the inventory counts in your stores, which raises stock accuracy and product availability.

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Handheld RFID reader

iD Hand 2

The iD Hand 2 is an RFID handheld reader with a revolutionary design. It’s very user-friendly, lightweight, and has outstanding RFID reading and writing capabilities.

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River Island Case Study

RFID as omnichannel enabler

About this project

Becoming equipped to meet shifting consumer demands

Watch case study

iD Cloud at River Island

Gaining full control over our inventory

Shift to real-time inventory visibility

Sales increased by 5%