News

Checkpoint introduces source-to-store merchandise visibility solution

April 7, 2009

THOROFARE, N.J. — Checkpoint Systems Inc., a supplier of shrink management solutions, has announced the release of its Merchandise Visibility Solution, which enables apparel and other retailers to optimize the entire supply chain from source to store.

Available immediately, the new solution delivers high-resolution visibility for retailers and addresses the challenges they face in managing their operations and ensuring adequate on-shelf inventory to meet customer needs. Checkpoint has brought together the hardware, software and services to deploy a complete standards-based, source-to-store, RFID-enabled merchandise visibility solution.

"Checkpoint's Merchandise Visibility solution transforms retailers' operations, enabling them to improve their supply chain and in-store operational effectiveness in ways never before possible," said Rob van der Merwe, chairman, president and chief executive of Checkpoint Systems. "This solution positions retailers to gain unprecedented visibility to reduce out-of-stocks, reduce shrink and reduce working capital, while improving the consumer's experience and increasing sales."

Industry studies show that retailers' inventory numbers are accurate only 35 percent to 45 percent of the time and merchandise is out-of-stock 10 percent to 12 percent of the time. As a result, retailers face margin-reducing pressures across a variety of fronts, including lost sales due to out-of-stocks, lost sales of items that would have been purchased along with the out-of-stock item (such as a belt with a pair of designer jeans), end-of-season markdowns caused by overstocks, and increased operational costs associated with manual counting and stocking processes.

"Our Merchandise Visibility Solution provides apparel retailers with comprehensive visibility from the source to the store," said Prasad Putta, general manager of Merchandise Visibility for Checkpoint Systems. "Checkpoint's comprehensive portfolio of products and services enables us to design and implement solutions delivering benefits to the entire retail supply chain, from the point of manufacture into the hands of consumers. Checkpoint is the only company that can provide retailers with the complete, proven solution that they need to cost-effectively optimize shelf availability to meet customers' needs."

The Merchandise Visibility Solution addresses these challenges by seamlessly integrating the combined strengths of several key Checkpoint capabilities:

• RFID software from Checkpoint's OATSystems division, delivering information management and real-time event processing to automate and error-proof the entire supply chain
• RFID tags, delivered to the point of manufacture and applied at the source, through the company's unique Check-Net service, providing visibility at the start of the supply chain
• Shrink management solutions, including portals and readers to track inventory throughout the supply chain in real-time.
• Installation services for all of the equipment that provides real-time insight as merchandise moves throughout the supply chain