Anvil Allows Customers to Scan the Supply Chain--on the Go

Friday, January 28, 2011

Blank T-shirt maker Anvil Knitwear is giving consumers on the go a peak into the lifecycle of its products with a mobile application that includes a version of Anvil’s TrackMyT.com program.

Anvil’s Shirt Scan offers a host of multimedia contacts accessible through quick-response codes on Anvil shirts, labels and hangtags. Customers with the Shirt Scan app can access articles, photos and videos about the company and its merchandise.

Plus, Shirt Scan includes an abbreviated version of Anvil’s TrackMyT.com, which traces the lifecycle of an Anvil T-shirt “from seed to store,” according to the company, which primarily produces imprintable T-shirts for the private-label market (although the company also has a direct-to-consumer program).

Anvil customers can add their own information, such as images of their latest collections, to Shirt Scan’s content, or they can use Anvil-generated content.

“Shirt Scan offers brands and retailers a unique and customizable digital marketing opportunity, using apparel as a storytelling tool for content specific to any company or campaign,” said Anthony Corsano, president and chief executive officer of Anvil.

The company’s products are produced at its own facilities in Honduras and Nicaragua. The company also operates a garment dye plant in North Carolina and warehouse facilities in South Carolina. According to the company, it is the sixth-largest organic-cotton program in the world and the largest U.S. purchaser of U.S.-grown organic cotton and transitional cotton (cotton grown by farmers in the process of converting to organic methods).

“When we approached this project, we saw the T-shirt as not just a product but also an identifier. It signifies a brand’s biggest fan,” said Adam Lauer, account manager at Agencynet, which developed Shirt Scan for Anvil. “With Shirt Scan, brands can speak directly to those individuals using the power of digital.”

For more information about Anvil and Shirt Scan, visit www.anvilknitwear.com.—Alison A. Nieder