Analyst Insight: With the consumer's hands firmly placed on the steering wheel, omnichannel retailing is driving the retail industry forward with record-breaking speed. Item-level RFID is fueling the journey by providing retailers with real-time inventory visibility, rich data insights, and a means for better trading partner collaboration - allowing for more efficient supply chain operations and ultimately, an enhanced customer experience. - Melanie Nuce, Vice President of Apparel and General Merchandise, GS1 US
Analyst Insight: Data has become as consumable as a box of crackers. As a society, we expect information about product origins, ingredients, allergens and other information will be available at our fingertips prior to purchase. However, data inconsistencies often frustrate consumers on their quest to learn more and can stop them from completing their purchase. As a result, consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are focusing on data quality to satisfy the demands of increasingly empowered consumers. - Angela Fernandez, Vice President of Retail Grocery and Foodservice, GS1 US
Eighteen major retailers and tech companies have joined with GS1 US to develop a common approach for listing and classifying products across all electronic-commerce platforms.
The results of the 2014 GS1 US Standards Usage Survey show that apparel and general merchandise manufacturers and retailers are using item level electronic product code-enabled radio frequency identification to enhance inventory visibility and respond to consumer demands for omni-channel options.
Analyst Insight: Delivering a seamless customer experience will demand a more comprehensive approach to inventory visibility across the entire supply chain. Gone are the days of "offline and online" inventories. Retailers must determine how they will create and leverage one view of all of their inventories, where any location now may become a source to fulfill a customer's order. – Melanie Nuce, Vice President of Apparel and General Merchandise, GS1 US
Analyst Insight: Supply chain efficiencies and dynamics are tested daily by the heightened need for companies to meet a growing set of demands. As efficiency and consumer demand converge, visibility grows in importance and can only be brought about through collaboration. What makes visibility and collaboration between stakeholders possible is a common language of standards that can enable supply chain participants to understand and act on information with agility and precision. Industries achieve remarkable progress together. – Siobhan O'Bara, Senior Vice President of Industry Engagement, GS1 US
GS1 US has developed the GS1 US Data Hub. The new tool allows retailers, e-tailers, data pools, application developers and other providers to access detailed information associated with GS1 company prefixes.
New implementation guidelines for leveraging GS1 standards in apparel and general merchandise ecommerce have been released by GS1 US. The Voluntary Guidelines for Exchanging Extended Attributes for eCommerce were developed in collaboration with more than 15 retailers, vendors and solution providers participating in the GS1 US Apparel and General Merchandise Initiative and are available at www.gs1us.org/eCommerceExtendedAttributes.