Sportswear brand Fabletique transforms its in-store inventory management system with an application that allows precise tracking of every item that moves through its high-tech physical stores. Key results include faster replenishment and increased productivity, as well as better decision-making based on improved visibility across the company’s store network.
It’s doing it with gStore by GreyOrange retail software, which is now used in stores across North America, the company announced in August. The gStore solution is an end-to-end retail Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) application designed to enhance store inventory management systems. As GreyOrange explains, it’s “just like Google Maps for your store inventory, with real-time updates and AI (artificial intelligence) capabilities, ensuring you always know exactly where your inventory is, reducing out-of-stocks and improving shopping experiences.”
Fabletics now uses the RFID (radio frequency identification) solution to track items in stores from coast to coast, including its flagship stores in New York and Los Angeles.
PRECISE TRACKING
Fabletics is a digitally native sportswear retailer known for its VIP membership-based model, state-of-the-art store experience and flexible omnichannel fulfillment options. The company now uses the gStore app to get extremely accurate information on the location and status of every stock unit in its retail stores.
As representatives of Fabletics and GrayOrange explain, the system works like this: With built-in analytics powered by state-of-the-art, handheld RFID readers, Fabletics team members can see precisely where inventory is located. For example, they can see if items are abandoned in changing rooms or left in the wrong section, and they know immediately if products are almost empty on the floor. The gStore app’s threshold-based “task triggers” alert store associates via smartphone when products need to be restocked and provide guided routes for restocking.
“The gStore app gives us… visibility into where every item is in the store,” said Ron Harries, senior vice president and head of retail at Fabletics. in a statement describing the project. “With our previous solution, we could only see what had been sold. We can now track where items are in real time and act on that information. Our teams instantly know what inventory is missing and where, so we always have the right stock in the right place to generate the most sales. The app improves operations and (ensures) a better customer experience.”
SOLID RESULTS
Since August, gStore has helped Fabletics achieve order fulfillment rates of 95% to 97%, eliminate manual cycle counting, and increase sales per location by up to 20%. At the district and national levels, Fabletics managers use gStore’s live web dashboards to get real-time insights into fill rates, task completion rates, labor utilization, and more.
“Our goal is for gStore to become the single source of truth for all in-store inventory operations,” Harries also said in the release.
Fabletics has launched gStore in 74 stores and is adding the solution to 20 locations per month, according to the two companies. In the next phase of deployment, GreyOrange said it will work with Fabletics to enable efficient store-to-store transfers through gStore, ensuring each item is positioned where it is most likely to be sold.
“Retailers waste so much time and money just trying to figure out where their inventory is. But once they have that real-time visibility, the game changes,” Troy Siwek, general manager of gStore by GreyOrange, said in the release. “It’s not just about saving money, it’s also about generating more sales, managing more accurate operations, and providing a better experience for every customer. This type of intelligence is exactly what gStore was designed for.”