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RFID in the Apparel Retail Industry: A Case Study from Galeria Kaufhof

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Unique Radio Innovation for the 21st Century

Abstract

This contribution deals with the business value of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in the apparel retail industry. We present a case study of an RFID project at Galeria Kaufhof, a subsidiary of Metro Group and one of the largest department store chains in Europe. The trial shows that operational efficiency gains through the automation of logistical in-store processes, such as inventory counting or goods receipt, are possible. Moreover, RFID enables new customer applications on the sales floor, which allow for a redesign of the customer interface, and thus an improvement of the service processes and the service quality. In addition, the analyses of the gathered data on the sales floor help to close the “data void” between the goods receipt and the point of sales of the department store, thus offering the opportunity to directly observe and analyze physical in-store processes. The RFID data analyses allow for deriving valuable information for the department store management in the areas of inventory management, category management, store layout management , and department store processes .

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Auto-ID Labs St. Gallen/Zurich, and SAP Research CEC St. Gallen, Institute for Technology Management (ITEM-HSG), University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Jasser Al-Kassab

  2. Supply Chain Innovation, MGI Metro Group Information Technology GmbH, Duesseldorf, Germany

    Philipp Blome

  3. METRO AG, Duesseldorf, Germany

    Gerd Wolfram

  4. Auto-ID Labs St. Gallen/Zurich, Institute for Technology Management (ITEM-HSG), University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Frédéric Thiesse

  5. Department of Management, Technology and Economics (D-MTEC), Auto-ID Labs St. Gallen/Zurich, Institute for Technology Management (ITEM-HSG), ETH Zürich, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Elgar Fleisch

Authors
  1. Jasser Al-Kassab
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  2. Philipp Blome
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  3. Gerd Wolfram
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  4. Frédéric Thiesse
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  5. Elgar Fleisch
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jasser Al-Kassab .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electrical & Electronic, Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005, Australia

    Damith C. Ranasinghe

  2. School of Electrical & Electronic, Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005, Australia

    Quan Z. Sheng

  3. Dept. Computer Science &, Information Technology, University of the District of Columbia, Connecticut Ave. NW., 4200, Washington, 20008, USA

    Sherali Zeadally

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Al-Kassab, J., Blome, P., Wolfram, G., Thiesse, F., Fleisch, E. (2011). RFID in the Apparel Retail Industry: A Case Study from Galeria Kaufhof . In: Ranasinghe, D., Sheng, Q., Zeadally, S. (eds) Unique Radio Innovation for the 21st Century. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03462-6_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03462-6_13

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