California Apparel News

According to new research released by ABI Research, global sales of item-level RFID (radio-frequency identification) systems to apparel companies will essentially triple in size over the next five years, approaching $125 million by the end of 2014. ABI estimates the apparel industry will spend $44.8 million on item-level RFID solutions worldwide in 2009.

“RFID’s use in the apparel sector represents the greatest near-term opportunity for business improvements and fewest impediments to growth in the retail industry,” said Michael J. Liard, ABI Research’s RFID practice director, in a statement. “A quick, demonstrable ROI and key business metrics for adoption have been clearly established, and the results of nearly all evaluations conducted have been compelling. As a result, market activity is brisk and promising, especially among early-adopter specialty-apparel retailers.”

RFID—which uses wireless technology to track merchandise at the warehouse and store levels in order to help replenish, stock and track shipments—has been championed by American Apparel. The company has deployed the technology in several of its stores around the country, resulting in improved inventory-tracking rates of up to 98 percent and sales increases of up to 15 percent. Other large-volume companies, including Marks and Spencer and Charles Vouml;gele in Europe, represent the leading users of RFID, though the technology is finding its way into all sectors of the apparel industry.

Apparel companies, ABI found, have come to rely on item-level RFID systems for their ability to drive increased sales and facilitate labor-cost reductions as they improve inventory visibility. Ease of use is another factor in the growing interest in RFID. Tags, which are used to track garments, are shrinking in size, and software makers are making RFID solutions easier to use, with packages that include integration, installation, hardware and software, Liard said in an interview with RFID Journal.

ABI’s research, titled “RFID Item-Level Tagging in Fashion and Apparel,” quantifies the potential for deployments of item-level tagging in the fashion apparel and footwear sector over the next five years and identifies some of the main forces currently driving market growth. The research also touches upon recent technological and product innovation results reported from recent pilot tests and deployments, key vendor-evaluation criteria, and market opportunity by geographic region.

For more information about ABI’s RFID research, visit www.abiresearch.com.—Erin Barajas