American Apparel to pilot Retail Solutions from Xterprise
20 Oct '08
3 min read
Xterprise Incorporated, a leading global supplier of Solutions for the High Definition Enterprise and a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, announced it has entered into an agreement with American Apparel, Inc. to immediately begin a pilot of its recently announced Clarity-ARS Advanced Retail System.
The pilot is designed to allow American Apparel to validate the solution's store item-level inventory and operations management capabilities in an actual store environment.
American Apparel is a leading brand for young adults, and is well known for cutting-edge advertising and product branding, as well as establishing itself as an innovation leader in the use of RFID for next generation in-store systems.
Its "Made in Downtown LA" operations have contributed to significant brand awareness and a cult status worldwide.American Apparel uses a vertically integrated business model, which minimizes the use of sub-contractors and offshore labor. With over 225 retail stores and plans to grow significantly in the next several years, establishing a repeatable, scalable store item-level inventory management solution is a key component of American Apparel's aggressive growth plans.
“We are excited about the prospect of helping American Apparel to manage out-of-stock issues and item level security in their stores,” said Doug Wallace, Chief Operating Officer of Xterprise. “American Apparel is a recognized leader in the use of RFID technology to solve business problems and we are pleased with the opportunity to pilot our solution in their store environment.”
The Clarity-ARS Store Inventory Management solution from Xterprise was selected for the pilot because of its out of the box item-level inventory management functionality and proven ability to scale to address the complexities and volumes found in retail store networks. The solution uses Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 R2 and its BizTalk RFID capabilities, providing enterprise-class scalability at a low total cost of ownership.
Anticipated benefits include increased sales and customer service, reduced out of stocks, and greater security and loss prevention. American Apparel will also be able to use advanced business intelligence to better respond to stock movements and in-store consumer behavior.
“With mounting competition and consumer expectations, retailers must tap into the next generation of store-level technologies to deliver an exceptional customer experience at the store,” said David Gruehn, U.S. retail industry director, Microsoft Corp.
“Xterprise's Clarity-ARS Advanced Retail System solution, using Microsoft BizTalk RFID, will help American Apparel optimize inventory availability on the selling floor and respond more effectively to shoppers wants and needs in a way that will differentiate their experience at the local level.”