Adoption of RFID Technology: The Case of Adler—A European Fashion Retail Company

Roland Leitz (), Andreas Solti (), Alexander Weinhard () and Jan Mendling ()
Additional contact information
Roland Leitz: Adler Modemärkte AG
Andreas Solti: Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien
Alexander Weinhard: Universität Würzburg
Jan Mendling: Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien

A chapter in Business Process Management Cases, 2018, pp 449-461 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract (a) Situation faced: Adler Modemärkte AG (Adler hereafter) is a fashion retailer that operates mainly in the German-speaking countries. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, first movers in the fashion retail sector began to adopt RFID technology. Adler monitored this new technology and decided to adopt it in 2010, even though it was not sure at that stage whether its use would be profitable. However, Adler hoped to improve process efficiency and effectiveness in the long run to increase customer satisfaction through faster checkout. Moreover, the company expected that RFID technology would help to prevent theft, and to provide better visibility of inventory. (b) Action taken: Careful planning is required if the goals and promises of RFID are to be achieved. With the help of a consultancy, Adler managed the adoption of RFID as a project that spanned 2 years. The overall concept was first sketched and designed, followed by selection of a suitable provider for the required hardware and tag supply. Next, the concept was realized and prepared for rollout before employee training was provided and the new technology was rolled out in more than 170 stores. (c) Results achieved: Most of the project’s goals were achieved. Inventory accuracy and transparency of the flow of items contributed to an increase in sales. RFID also improved the follow-up procurement of items, resulting in additional increase in sales. The efficiency of in-store processes was improved through faster item registration, and the speed of the customer payment process at the point of sale was significantly improved, thanks to parallel scanning by RFID-enabled cash desks. Finally, retail shrinkage was reduced. (d) Lessons learned: Careful planning is required when conducting large improvement projects, including delegating responsibilities, as consultancy companies are specialized and experienced in managing such transition projects; doing an early check on the feasibility of process improvement projects; waiting for the right moment to conduct the project; and considering the project’s critical risks and people’s sensitivities.

Keywords: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID); RFID Technology; Process Improvement Project; RFID Project; RFID Tags (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:mgmchp:978-3-319-58307-5_24

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783319583075

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-58307-5_24

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Management for Professionals from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().