The product is in the system, but not on the shelf. A customer books Click & Collect online and arrives in-store to hear: “Sorry, that’s not in stock.” A scenario that costs more than just one sale. C&A and Nedap have solved this at the root: with item-level RFID.
Why Traditional Inventory Systems Fall Short
Inventory accuracy of 60–70 %, that is the industry reality for fashion retail running conventional systems. Goods are scanned once at goods receipt and again at the till. Everything that happens on the shop floor in between remains largely invisible.
The consequences: undetected out-of-stocks. Online availability displays that are wrong. Click & Collect orders that cannot be fulfilled. Lost revenue that never shows up in any report, because the customer simply left.
The core problem: Inventory data is a snapshot taken at goods receipt. By the time a customer checks online availability, that data can be hours or days old, and completely unreliable.
The RFID Approach: Item-Level Transparency Across All Stores
C&A implemented Nedap’s Inventory Engine in its e-commerce warehouses. RFID read points at the shipping stations scan outgoing items and automatically assign them a shipping status. Click & Collect items are removed from store inventory in real time as soon as they are picked for dispatch. The result according to Nedap: higher inventory accuracy and an improved Click & Collect customer journey.
Typical industry benchmarks from RFID projects in fashion retail
Three Factors That Determine Success or Failure
1. Source tagging. RFID transponders must be attached as early as possible , ideally at the manufacturer. Retrofitting in stores is time-consuming, error-prone, and costly. Industry experience confirms: tagging at the origin is the decisive success factor.
2. Process integration. RFID data only creates value when embedded in existing workflows: ERP connectivity, till system updates, alignment with omnichannel processes. The technology works, integration is where the real effort lies.
3. Staff training. RFID changes how store teams work. Regular cycle counts replace manual stocktaking. The transition requires targeted training and clear procedures , otherwise data quality erodes over time.
According to Nedap, the solution creates the foundation for a responsive and agile retail organisation (Source: ident.de).
What This Means for Your Business
The C&A case is not an outlier. Across fashion retail, RFID is becoming the standard infrastructure for inventory management. Any retailer aiming for a credible omnichannel experience, reliable Click & Collect, accurate online availability, smooth returns, needs item-level inventory accuracy.
The technology is mature, the business case is proven, and implementation paths are well-established. The question is no longer whether to deploy RFID, but how to do it right.
Questions about RFID in your operations?
We advise retailers and manufacturers on RFID strategy, technology selection, and implementation, fully vendor-independent.
C&A is not an OPAL customer. All project information is taken exclusively from the public source cited above.Source:
ident, Magazine for Automatic Identification: “C&A setzt auf Nedap zur Verbesserung der Omnichannel-Prozesse” (June 2026), ident.de
Source:
ident, Magazine for Automatic Identification & Digitalisation: “C&A setzt auf Nedap zur Verbesserung der Omnichannel-Prozesse” (June 2026), ident.de
