Spanish retail giant Tendam has selected Dutch firm Nedap’s iD Cloud platform as part of its digitisation strategy; the platform will be deployed in 1222 stores throughout Europe, Russia and Mexico.

Tendam, known for brands such as Women’secret, Springfield and Cortefiel, has an omnichannel focus and wants to become an innovative fashion retailer, while keeping the environment in mind. RFID is the key enabler towards a fully transparent supply chain, allowing for full item traceability from source to consumer.

Knowing the exact location and status of an item allows for lean operations, which results in lower safety thresholds, enabling Tendam to sell more with less stock and using more efficient fulfilment methods such as ship-from-store or click-and-collect.

“By using RFID technology, we are taking a major step in our digitisation strategy,” said Manel Jimenez, chief operating officer at Tendam. “Knowing exactly which items are in stock and where these are located in real time enables us to always choose the most efficient fulfilment method. For example, if a customer lives just a few minutes away from the store, we think it is a waste to have a parcel sent from a distribution centre. To us, it makes more sense to have this shipped from the nearest store or to have this picked up at a moment that suits the customer, as this is more efficient and more sustainable.”

Besides lean fulfilment processes and inventory accuracy, Tendam leverages product availability to enhance customer experience.

“RFID brings us closer to implementing omnichannel services that further enhance our customer experience, such as smart fitting rooms and seamless checkouts using secured in-app and mobile payment on the consumer’s own smartphone to provide a true omnichannel shopping experience,” said Jimenez.

After implementing RFID in all 1222 stores, the project will be expanded to the rest of the supply chain. The deployment of RFID readers in distribution centres and warehouses allows for the automation and optimisation of data capturing, verification steps and seamless integration with the merchandise flow. This allows for, for example, more effective return handling and efficient ecommerce order fulfilment, limiting human error and time spent preparing an order.

“Tendam is a retailer with ambitious goals and a clear vision on the benefits of RFID for the organisation,” said Sergio Gutiérrez, business development manager at Nedap. “This allows us to be agile so that the benefits are quickly realised by both Tendam and their customers. We are proud to add this major retailer to our ever-growing iD Cloud platform community and we are looking forward to continuing this journey with them.”