Gray markets are more than annoying for international brands. They are poison for their bottom line and call for an effective remedy. Our partner Cisper has selected Tageos EOS-241 U9 ETSI inlays as a key ingredient of a remedial solution conceived for a well-known clothing brand.

Based in the Netherlands, Cisper is a leading European distributor of auto-ID and automatic data capture products. Cisper does business with IdeaPura, a Swiss-based company that describes itself as an “e-commerce and RFID management consulting boutique.” As such, IdeaPura was in contact with a well-known clothing brand suffering from the existence of parallel markets. This highly undesirable practice is also referred to as ‘parallel import’ or ‘gray market’ and means that branded clothing is uncontrollably brought into markets or areas where it is otherwise officially imported. The goods are authentic but are sold by unauthorized resellers and by authorized resellers outside their agreed-upon territories. To counteract that problem, the brand asked IdeaPura for a solution to help eliminate the parallel and gray market and make its logistical processes more efficient.

Gaining transparency and efficiency

IdeaPura proposed a solution using RAIN RFID technology to provide each branded item with a RAIN RFID inlay carrying a unique ID. That unique ID can be tracked with RAIN RFID readers throughout the entire supply chain. RAIN RFID hence makes it possible to identify and track all branded items so that companies can record all their movements. In this specific case, the clothing brand knows exactly which individual piece of clothing was sent to which address, bringing the gray market under control. Through full control over and insight into its shipments, the brand also benefits from increased overall efficiency and a significant reduction in costs.

Cost-effective solution for item-level applications

To achieve all these benefits, IdeaPura proposed a hybrid solution based on RAIN RFID inlays and an infrastructure consisting of fixed and mobile reading points. For the mobile reading points, the Nordic ID EXA21 handheld reader was chosen. All individual products sold by the brand come fitted with EOS-241 U9 ETSI inlays – the cost-effective solution for item-level applications from Tageos.

The EOS-241 U9 inlay is optimized with an antenna size ideally suited for use with item-level retail and logistics packages. It is ideal for inventory management not only in retail apparel, but also in a wide range of other non-food industries including supply chain, logistics, and pharmaceutical/healthcare.

For more detailed info about our partner and the project, check out Cisper’s homepage.

For comprehensive info on EOS-241 U9 ETSI inlays, download the datasheet.

To learn more about our products for brands and retailers or specific application areas, go to our Product Selector or contact our Sales Team.