Fanatics Enhances Inventory Visibility and Checkout Speed with RFID
Fanatics is a leading global digital sports platform specializing in licensed sports merchandise. The company offers a wide range of products across various sectors, all aiming to provide an exceptional fan experience.
Zebra Success Story: Fanatics
Overview: Retail Challenge
Fanatics wanted to optimize its checkout process and improve inventory management. To boost efficiency and reduce inventory count times and discrepancies, the company adopted RFID technology. With RFID implementation, Fanatics achieved faster checkouts and reduced the need for staff at the point of sale. The company also streamlined operations and enhanced the fan experience, showcasing its dedication to innovative technology solutions.
Benefits / Outcomes
- Inventory counts are now completed within an hour rather than 6-8 hours, enabling more frequent checks and reducing discrepancies
- Fewer employees needed at checkout, enabling more associates to assist customers on the sales floor
- Reduced wait times for customers and an enhanced overall shopping experience
Customer
Fanatics
Jacksonville, Florida/USA
Partner
Barcoding
EXO
POSitive Technology
Industry
Retail
Solutions
About Fanatics
Fanatics is a global digital sports platform consisting of licensed sports merchandise. That platform is supported by three stanchions, live commerce and special events, betting and gaming, trading cards and collectibles.
The Challenge
The customer expectations at Fanatics are extremely high and the company takes that very seriously and that's why it wanted to lean into forward-thinking technology that would apply to its long-range plan. Part of that plan is having a best in class checkout process. That's why Fanatics went to RFID. It's speed of checkout really supports what the company tries to do for the fans.
As we look at our long-range plan, we're looking at best-in-class technology. We feel RFID is going to get us there. That's why Fanatics is an early adopter of this program. We are not going to be fast followers. We know this is the way of the future when it comes to the fan experience, and the checkout experience. I'm very, very proud and pleased that Fanatics is doing this in advance.
The Solution
Technology is one of the most important aspects to Fanatics' daily operation. With Zebra and our partners, it gives a lot more visibility into inventory operations. Fanatics is able to do an inventory count now within an hour where before it was taking six to eight hours. And because of that, it can be performed more often. That also helps cut down on shrinkage and inventory discrepancies.
The collaborative effort included EXO, POSitive Technology and Barcoding. POSitive Technology added the point-of-sale display and the point-of-sale software. Barcoding contributed the hardware as well as the labels to the solution.
The customer doesn't have to wait in line for a barcode to be scanned. They can just drop their merchandise into a sink and the embedded RFID automatically reads all of the labels in that sink. And within seconds, they're able to pay and be on their way.
The Zebra Difference: Outcome and Benefits
From an employee experience, operational excellence is critical to Fanatics' success. Instead of having 10 people at a point of sale, only three are needed and the other seven can be placed back on the sales floor, supporting fans and making sure they're helping them along the journey.
The overall feedback from employees has been very positive. They're really excited about this new technology. With this will come a faster checkout, more customers throughout the store on a gameday, and improve the overall fan experience.
Featured Products and Solutions
