Analyzing RFID's Impact on Supply Chain Management in Fashion Retail

This report, submitted by a student, investigates the impact of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology on supply chain management within the online clothing retail industry, specifically focusing on the UK market. The study begins with an introduction to the fashion industry's evolving landscape, highlighting the need for efficient supply chain management to adapt to changing trends and customer behaviors. It explores the rationale for RFID adoption, addressing the challenges of volatile markets and unpredictable demand. The report examines the concept of supply chain management, particularly in the fashion retail sector, and delves into RFID technology basics, its applications, and associated security and privacy considerations. The research methodology includes a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative data analysis to assess RFID's impact. The findings reveal insights into the benefits of RFID implementation, such as improved inventory management, streamlined processes, and enhanced customer satisfaction. Challenges and potential strategies for mitigating issues in the fashion retail industry are also discussed. The report concludes with recommendations for future work, emphasizing the importance of RFID in optimizing supply chain performance and adapting to the dynamic demands of the fashion industry.

Running head: IMPACT OF RFID IN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN ONLINE
CLOTHING RETAIL INDUSTRY
Impact of RFID in supply chain management in online clothing retail industry
Name of the Student
Name of the University

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................5
1.1 Background.......................................................................................................................5
1.2 Rationale...........................................................................................................................6
1.3 Problem statement.............................................................................................................7
1.4 Aim, objective and research questions..............................................................................8
1.5 Research structure.............................................................................................................9
Chapter 2: Literature Review.........................................................................................................12
2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................12
2.2 Concept of Supply chain management................................................................................12
2.3 Supply chain management in fashion retail industry...........................................................15
2.4 RFID Technology Basics.....................................................................................................17
2.4.1 Application of RFID.....................................................................................................19
2.4.2 RFID Security and Privacy...........................................................................................20
2.5 RFID and Retail Supply Chain............................................................................................21
2.6 Challenges of RFID in retail industry..................................................................................24
2.7 Benefits of RFID adoption in retailing................................................................................26
2.8 Summary..............................................................................................................................27
Chapter 3: Research Methodology................................................................................................28
3.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................28

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3.2 Research philosophy............................................................................................................28
3.3 Research Approach..............................................................................................................30
3.4 Research Design..................................................................................................................31
3.5 Data Collection Method.......................................................................................................32
3.6 Sample Size.........................................................................................................................34
3.7 Data Analysis Method.........................................................................................................34
3.8 Ethical Consideration...........................................................................................................36
Chapter 4: Data Findings and Analysis.........................................................................................38
4.1 Quantitative Data Analysis..................................................................................................38
4.2 Qualitative Analysis.............................................................................................................52
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations..............................................................................57
5.1 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................57
5.2 Recommendations................................................................................................................58
5.3 Future Work.........................................................................................................................59

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Background
Fashion industry has been facing a lot of changes and advances in the market. Fashion trends
have been changing at rapid pace in the market. An efficient supply chain has been required for
the implementation of new trends in the fashion trends (Christopher 2016). However, there have
been various ups and downs in the market of the fashion industry. The UK fashion industry has
been facing a number in changes in the recent years. The economy of the country has been
fluctuating with the changes in the fashion industry. The modern retail industry has been affected
by the customer behavior. Therefore, in the volatile market and unpredictable demand of
customers regarding the fashion outfits have been leading it the adoption of proper supply chain
management system (Hugos 2018).
The implementation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in the supply
chain in fashion retail industry. There have been enormous development in the supply chain
management and logistics in the market. Therefore, this has been becoming an important topic
for research. Various researchers have been identifying the impact of RFID on supply chain
management systems in fashion industry. The introduction of new technologies have been
claiming that it can help in improving supply chain performance in an organization. However
this research has been focused on the fashion industry in the UK (Monczka et al. 2015). The use
of RFID in the supply chain management system has been helping in maintaining keen approach
in the fashion industry. The purpose of the research has been focused on analyzing the
relationship between applications of RFID in fashion industry in the UK with relation to supply
chain management system. The benefits and limitation sf this collaboration has been mentioned

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in the research. The use of different approaches in order to complete the research have been
mentioned in the research.
1.2 Rationale
The UK retail fashion industry has been facing a lot of changes in the market. There have
been huge change in the demand of customers related to their fashion trends. Therefore,
companies have not been able to maintain keen approach in identifying the demand and
expectations of the customers. The use of the RFID has been helping in providing a proper
approach in maintain the expectation sift h customers in the market (Mangan, Lalwani and
Lalwani 2016). The implementation of RFID technology has been new in the market. Therefore,
there have been less knowledge and data related to the RFID technology in the market. The use
of the in the fashion industry might help in providing keen approach. The supply chain
management has been an important factor in satisfying customers in the market. The use of
supply chain management system helps in providing a keen approach. The UK supply chain
system has been exceed one billion dollar by 2017 (Fredendall and Hill 2016). This increase in
the economy has been due to the implementation of new technology including RFID technology
in the fashion retail industry.

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Figure 1: Economic outputs in fashion retail industry in the UK
(Source: Fahimnia, Sarkis and Davarzani 2015)
Supply chain management has been referring to managing of supply chain operations in an
organization or industry. Therefore, the supply chain management of fashion industry get
disturbed and interrupted. There have been lack in order delivery including raw materials and
stock in the warehouse of fashion companies.
1.3 Problem statement
Fashion industry has been facing many issues regarding changes in the behavior and demand
if the market. The life cycle of specific product has been short. Fashion products have a limited
time in the market as the fashion trend has been continually changing. The market has been
unpredictable and volatile in demand of customers. The purchasing behavior of customers keeps
on changing with time.

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Figure 2: Product lifecycle in the fashion industry compared to other markets
(Source:
According to the exploration done by Stadtler (2015), store network the board alludes to joint
effort of incorporated arranging, control and coordination over different procedures and
capacities in the production network. It has been helping in giving additional esteem included
administrations by limiting absolute expense of partners in inventory network. Production
network the board has been a progression of exercises and procedures that has been helping in
exchanging physical techniques along chain. Production network the board is a procedure
arranged methodology that has been centered on sourcing, creating and conveyance of
merchandise to clients. Supply can the executives is giving a basic job in the improvement of
association by expanding revenue in the market. Store network the executives is moving
towards key coordinated effort among provider and authorities. There have been rivalry included
on adaptability in time creation with less inventories. Be that as it may, there have been
increment in the consciousness of client, conveying free items and on-time conveyance (Heizer
et al. 2017). Effective Customer Response (ECR) and Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) is a significant purpose of store network the board. CRM has been pursuing for
expanding association with real clients for upgrading association with real clients with the
assistance of improving quality gave to clients. In this manner, for improving assets in business,

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the crude materials and precision of conveyance items have been kept up legitimately. The
production network the executives helps in giving business in an improved and synchronized
route for upgrading their business stage. According to different investigations, inventory network
the executives framework helps in giving additional esteem increased the value of included
administrations (Wang et al. 2016). This assistance in diminishing expense of all partners present
in store network and their monetary position in the market.
1.4 Aim, objective and research questions
The aim of research has been focused on identifying impact of RFID technology in Supply
chain management system of retail fashion industry in the UK. Supply Chain management has
been the integration of key processes of business from end user with the help of original
suppliers that have been providing products and services that might add value to customer and
stakeholders. Therefore, it can be referenced that supply chain management has been helping in
Following are objectives of the research:
 To identify the issues faced by fashion retail industry in the UK
 To identify the impact of RFID in Supply chain management system in fashion industry
of the UK
 To recommend strategies for mitigating issues in the fashion retail industry related to
supply chain management system
Following are the research questions:
 What issues are faced by fashion retail industry in the UK?
 What is the impact of RFID in Supply chain management system in fashion industry of
the UK?

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 What strategies can be recommended for mitigating issues in the fashion retail industry
related to supply chain management system?
1.5 Research structure
This research include five chapters including introduction, literature review, research
methodology, data findings and conclusion and recommendations. The first chapter has been
focused on the basic introduction of the research topic. The use of different concepts of the
fashion industry has been caused in the chapter. The aim of the research along with objectives
and research question shave been initiated in the chapter.
The second chapter deals with literature review in the research topic. Various journals and
theories have been studied for gaining knowledge about RFID in supply chain management
system in fashion retail industry. The use of RFID in supply chain management system has been
discussed in the chapter. Detailed concept of supply chain and RFID has been discussed in the
chapter.
The third chapter focuses on the research methodology of the study. The chapter consists
of various subsections including research philosophy, approach, design, data collection, data
analysis and ethical consideration. This chapter helps in providing outline of the study. Data
collection and analysis method has been proposed in this chapter.

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Figure 2: Research Structure
(Source: Created by author)
The fourth chapter deals with the data collection and analysis. Data has been collected
from both primary and secondary method. Data analysis has been done using mixed data analysis
method including both quantitative and qualitative method.
The last section is about concluding all the outcomes and results of the study. There have
been recommendations provided in the section that helps in conducting future work on the
research topic.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
Chapter 4: Data Findings and Analysis
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recomendations

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Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
Several studies have discovered the effective use of supply chain management for
efficient allocation and distribution. Many retail companies in the UK potentially encounter
various problems related to supply chain due to the lack of formal collaboration and transparent
communication between the supplier and retailer (Genovese et al. 2017). One of the most
common supply chain problems that UK companies suffer from is excess inventory and flaws in
supply chain distribution. Thus, several factors such as these create a dire need for a proper
integration in supply chain in order to provide a way for replenishing processes and supporting
collaborative forecasting with an aim to reduce the cycle time and inventory investments and at
the same time increase sales. In this context, Esposito et al. (2015) has suggested that RFID
(Radio Frequency Identification) is potentially useful to retail supply chain management. In other
words, RFID integration and collaboration with supply chain primaryly enables the retailers to
improve their business performance in an effective manner. According to Choi et al. (2015), the
adoption of RFID technology in supply chain management is one of the most challenging and
innovative idea in this modern era of constant technological evolution.
2.2 Concept of Supply chain management
As per the research done by Dubey et al. (2017), supply chain management refers to
collaboration of integrated planning, control and coordination over various processes and
functions in the supply chain. It has been helping in providing extra value added services by
minimizing total cost of stakeholders in supply chain. Supply chain management has been a
series of activities and processes that has been helping in transferring physical methods along

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chain. Supply chain management is a process oriented approach that has been focused on
sourcing, producing and delivery of goods to customers. Supply can management is providing a
critical role in the development of organization by increasing revenue in the market. Supply
chain management is moving towards strategic collaboration between supplier and officials.
There have been competition included on flexibility in time production with less inventories.
However, there have been increase in the awareness of customer, delivering free products and
on-time delivery.
Efficient Customer Response (ECR) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is
an important point of supply chain management. CRM has been trying for increasing relationship
with major customers for enhancing relationship with major customers with the help of
enhancing value provided to customers (Touboulic and Walker 2015). Therefore, for improving
resources in business, the raw materials and accuracy of delivery products have been maintained
properly. The supply chain management helps in providing business in an enhanced and
synchronized way for enhancing their business platform. As per various studies, supply chain
management system helps in providing extra value added services by providing extra value to
added services. This help in reducing cost of all stakeholders present in supply chain and their
financial position in the market. The basic concept of supply chain management have been
focused on providing organized sequence of operations and activities providing a proper
sequence of operations for facilitating production in the organization. As commented by Wang
and Cullinane (2015), supply chain has been focused on concept of process oriented approach
based on implementing manufacturing, sourcing, logistics and final delivery of products to
customers. The global business platforms have been affected by the supply chain management. It
has significant influence for increasing the work efficiency and growth in business. The supply