Dutch fashion retailer Scotch & Soda is turning online and offline shopping into a new experience with technology from New Jersey-based Checkpoint Systems.

The RFID tags from Checkpoint Systems are said to give Scotch & Soda more inventory visibility and improve product availability.

Customers shopping in Scotch & Soda clothing will soon have a stronger chance of finding and purchasing the right trousers, skirt, jacket or shirt thanks to the retailer’s three-year partnership with Checkpoint, which will tag, on average, ten million Scotch & Soda garments with RFID labels per year, providing it with improved inventory accuracy across its estate.

By using this technology, the retailer will gain full, real-time visibility of its entire stock holding, ensuring its omni-channel services, including click-and-collect, are optimised.

Scotch & Soda, which operates 166 stores in more than 70 countries, has been using Checkpoint’s clothing labels for more than ten years. Now the fashion brand is going a step further in its collaboration by incorporating the latest RFID labels featuring the Njord label with the Impinj M750 chip onto all its merchandise worldwide.

Scotch & Soda has expanded the relationship with Checkpoint as it could deliver this project within eight weeks.

With the technology, Scotch & Soda will be able to match its stock to the demands of its consumers. This means the retailer will be able to have the right stock, at the right place, at the right time to serve its customers regardless of in which channel they chose to shop. Being able to optimise stock holding to this level results in omnichannel retailing becoming seamlessly coordinated, enabling stores to optimise services such as click-and-collect.

“Thanks to Checkpoint Systems’ latest RFID labels, we know exactly how many medium blue trousers are still in our distribution centres in Belgium, the Netherlands or Germany, for example, or how many extra jackets our shops in Japan need from our summer collection,” said Rik Kok, global director of procurement and real estate at Scotch & Soda. “In this way, we are not left with a large surplus of unsold items at the end of a season, and we can provide every consumer with the garment he or she wants through his or her most preferred sales channel.”

Imagine shopping and wanting a garment but being told that the size or colour is no longer available. Scotch & Soda believes this should never happen and thanks to the RFID labels, shop staff can now replenish stock quickly and coordinate it with the entire supply chain, from manufacturer to distribution centre to shops and pick-up points.

“Thanks to RFID technology, we know how many garments we have of what size and colour and where they are in our chain,” said Kok. “This means we can immediately help the consumer find the right garment. This also applies to when they buy clothes from us online. We then refer the customer to the nearest click-and-collect or buy-and-pick-up point where the desired garment is located, or they pick it up in our shop that is on their daily route.”

Geert den Hartog, account director at Checkpoint Systems, added: “2020 has changed the buying behaviour of consumers worldwide. Shoppers no longer just buy clothes in a physical shop or online. They buy through their preferred channel as and when it is convenient for them. If retailers want to grow, they will have to accommodate their consumers with this omnichannel behaviour. RFID ensures that shops can perfectly align ecommerce, click-and-collect and other online services. This improves customer loyalty by ensuring that the experience in enjoyable, from mobile and desktop browsing through to collection or delivery.”