SML Releases Industry Report: Real-time inventory visibility to be the top priority for 43% of retailers

HONG KONG,Feb. 18,2022 --SML,a worldwide leader in digital identification technology and solutions provider,has announced today that it has released part two of its State of Retail Insight Report: Better Serving Customers Through Technology,finding that 43% of retailers believe enhanced stock level visibility would help them better serve customers and increase the overall customer experience.

The second of a two-part series,The State of Retail in a Post Pandemic Era,analyses responses from over 500 independent senior decision-makers and executives from apparel retailers across the US and UK. The report discusses the impact of COVID-19 on the retail sector,specifically highlighting the pivotal role of digital transformation in the post-pandemic retail market,potential concerns surrounding technology implementation in-store,the issues associated with a depleted workforce,and the need to find abalance between online and in-store sales channels.

Retail is on the road to recovery globally. Even before the pandemic,much of the retail landscape was in desperate need of digital transformation. SML's research highlights a lack of stock visibility as being one of the most prominent current issues within retail. Paired with ongoing labour shortages,this has presented new challenges to the post-pandemic terrain.

The report reflected these issues around stock visibility,and found that 48% of UK and US retail decision-makers experience that out of stock items are the primary challenge for retailers in the current climate. While a short-term fix of revamping online channels allowed retailers to stay afloat during the pandemic,the research shows that issues in back-end processes still remain. SML found that 24% of respondents see an unclear view of inventory as their biggest concern,with 21% also claiming that it takes too long to locate items in-store.

Dean Frew,Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of RFID Solutions at SML Group,said: "In a lockdown landscape,retailers now have the task of accommodating their customers back in-store,whilst retaining their online presence. Although associated with a number of early-stage challenges,the implementation of Item-level RFID technology can provide retailers with the solution to help provide improved customer satisfaction,operational efficiency and profits."

"By investing in Item-level RFID technology,retailers can have a dramatically more accurate and consistent view of their inventory. This significantly streamlines both online and in-store sales challenges and frees employees' time,which can be reassigned to the customers' direct needs."

For more information,visit: https://www.sml.com/resources/state-of-retail-insight-report-part-2-helping-customers-prosper-through-technology/

About SML

With a presence in over 30 countries,SML Group is the global end-to-end RFID and brand identification solutions provider,delivering proven results and rapid ROIs to brands in the new era of retailing. We offer innovative Inspire™ and EcoInspire™ labeling and packaging products,high-performance RFID tags and encoding services across industries. Our proprietary software Clarity® is the only item-level RFID solution that is engineered and deployment-proven for vertical retailers and brand owners with stores. As an invaluable partner of brands,SML is committed to developing tech-driven solutions that power brand transformation and prosperity. For details,please contact us.