Macy's, Bloomingdale's Push for More RFID
Cincinnati-based Macy’s Inc., operator of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department stores, is planning a big push into RFID—radio-frequency identification tags—to help manage inventories.
The retail giant plans to adopt “an accelerated timeline” and have all Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores across the country using RFID to track inventory on replenishment goods by the third quarter of 2012.
Replenishment goods, or items regularly stocked in a wide range of sizes and reordered automatically as items are sold, represent about 30 percent of sales at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, according to the company.
The retailer will start with size-intensive replenishment categories such as men’s underwear, intimate apparel, men’s pants, denim and women’s shoes. Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s private-label brands are included.
“To Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, RFID is a tool to better serve customers and drive sales by ensuring we have the right product in the right place at the right time for our in-store and omni-channel shoppers,” said Tom Cole, chief administrative officer of Macy’s Inc. “RFID will allow us to more frequently count item-level inventory with precision so our inventory is readily accessible to our customers. This is technology that has proven effective in our testing, and we believe now is the right time to roll out RFID aggressively.”
RFID will also help with store-wide inventory counts. Currently, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s associates conduct an annual physical inventory. With RFID, associates will be able to count inventory faster and more frequently, which will help ensure the correct merchandise is available on the sales floor, the company said.
Macy’s is participating in the Item RFID Initiative, organized by the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Solutions Association (VICS), an organization whose board includes executives at The Jones Group, Macy’s, Li & Fung, VF Corp., Walmart, Levi Strauss & Co., Jockey, Dillard’s and J.C. Penney Co. Inc.
“Our vendors are joining with us to adopt this technology, knowing the more precise inventory counts through RFID will reduce stock-outs and drive incremental sales opportunities,” Cole said. “This is one of those genuine win-win-win situations in which customers, vendors and our company all benefit.”
With corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, Macy’s operates 850 department stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. In fiscal year 2010, the company reported sales of $25 billion. —Alison A. Nieder
