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French sporting goods retailer Decathlon said its sales rose 11 percent last year and attributed it in part to RFID technology deployed in 951 stores and 43 warehouses (logistics centers). Jean-Marc Lieby, head of Decathlon’s RFID project, said the company also reduced its merchandise loss rate by 9 percent. Currently, most stores use RFID technology at checkout counters and security gates for inventory checking purposes. Stores in India and Brazil use RFID only for inventory tracking. In addition, new stores opened by the company in the future will also use RFID technology.
The retailer attributed the 5 percent increase in sales to the use of an RFID inventory tracking system. The company added that new store openings and higher commodity prices also contributed to the increase in sales.
(In a Decathlon store, employees are using Embisphere handheld RFID readers for inventory counts)
Decathlon is the world’s largest retailer of sporting goods and sportswear with stores in Europe, China, Morocco, India and Brazil. The retailer uses 50,000 containers to ship 6.5 billion items a year. About 85 percent of merchandise is marked with RFID tags, according to Lieby. Stores vary in size and sell the same products. Typically, they have an area of 1,000 to 12,000 square meters and sell 35,000 different items covering 65 sports.
(Each store has an Embisphere reader built into the checkout terminal)
About five years ago, Lieby said, the company began researching the use of EPC UHF RFID technology to improve inventory accuracy in stores and fulfillment centers, ensuring that customers have what they need when they need it. The work was carried out by Patrice Riboult, who was the head of the RFID project for the Oxylane Group (Decathlon’s parent company). According to the Decathlon survey, the main reason for consumer dissatisfaction is always the same: not being able to find items on the shelves. The company also wanted to make the checkout payment process faster and easier, and began researching the use of RFID tags to achieve this goal.
After investigating a number of RFID companies and solutions, Decathlon established its own RFID company in 2010. The company, named Embisphere (Anbifei), not only designs, manufactures and deploys RFID hardware and software products for Decathlon, but also provides RFID turnkey solutions to other retailers.
In July 2013, Decathlon began to use tags on Passion products for tracking from distribution centers to RFID stores. In the spring of 2014, almost all Decathlon products in the logistics center were marked with labels.
In the second half of 2014, 800 stores in Decathlon stores have installed RFID technology for inventory, cash register and EAS anti-theft. Decathlon’s own products are labelled at the factory, while third-party goods are marked at the logistics center. These logistics centers use Embisphere readers in a variety of ways, including tag reading when receiving and shipping goods. At the same time, Decathlon also attached RFID EAS hard tags provided by Checkpoint to high-value items to prevent theft.
(Some Decathlon logistics centers also install Embisphere readers in the sorter, which are used to read the ID of the goods label to determine whether the goods are correct)
Embisphere is responsible for Decathlon RFID label management, including label supplier selection, quality control and so on. Embisphere also defines and specifies technical solutions for stores and logistics centers.
Decathlon stores use RFID tags from three suppliers: Checkpoint Systems, Avery Dennison and SML Group.
After the RFID tag is attached to the item, the tag ID is bound to the item’s SKU information. This information will be stored in Decathlon’s own software.
Inside the logistics center, employees use mobile carts with built-in Embisphere readers for inventory counts. Some logistics centers also have Embisphere readers installed on the sorters. These readers can help employees confirm that the correct item is being shipped.
Inside the store, employees use Embisphere handheld readers to take inventory counts. Shaped like a small badminton racket, the reader is lightweight enough to easily reach items on the shelf. Employees also carry smartphones that receive data from the readers via Bluetooth. These store employees can view the number of items read on their smartphones and upload the data to the Decathlon database.
All stores also have built-in Embisphere readers at the checkout. When cashing out, employees need to place the goods on the reader to read the label information. For 15% of barcode-marked items, employees are required to scan them individually. If the product has an EAS hard tag on it, employees can use a separator to separate it and recycle it.
(In the logistics center, employees use carts loaded with Embisphere readers to update inventory)
When leaving the store, employees go through the RFID and EAS gate antennas. Checkpoint and Nedap provided the gate reader and antenna, respectively. The EAS system can detect the EAS hard tag passing through the gate, and at the same time, the tag data will be sent back to the software to determine whether the product has been sold. If the item is not sold, the system will issue a warning to remind you.
The installation of these RFID systems was completed between March and June 2014. The company also spent a month training employees. “It’s not easy,” Lieby said. “The company has stores in 17 countries and employees speak multiple languages. Fortunately, employees have responded well to this new technology and understand the value of this technology.”
Lieby said the technology not only improves inventory accuracy, it also reduces the time employees spend on inventory counts. The efficiency of inventory counts in most stores has increased by 5 times, and the frequency of inventory counts has also increased by 2 times.
About Embisphere
Founded in 2009 and headquartered in France, Embisphere is a high-tech company focusing on the R&D and production of radio frequency identification (RFID) products. Shanghai Embisphere Trading Co., Ltd. was established in 2014. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of French Embisphere in mainland China. It sells RFID readers of its own brand Embisphere, including handheld scanners. , handheld scanning cameras, fixed desktop readers and large scanning equipment, etc., to provide professional RFID solutions for retail stores, large warehouses and factories. At the same time, Embisphere also provides services to the aerospace, industrial, transportation and medical industries.
Currently, Embisphere has 25,000 fixed and mobile UHF RFID products in use in 35 countries and regions. Embisphere has deployed and applied RFID readers and tags to Decathlon’s factories, warehouses and stores around the world. These products make work smoother and save a lot of time, allowing customers more time to focus on their main business.
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