The apparel industry dominates the UHF RFID technology label market

Suppliers of ultra-high frequency (UHF) passive RFID tags eventually found a broad and steady growth of apparel emerging markets. IDTechEx research company found that in the next ten years, the annual demand for clothing labels alone will be close to 20 billion; after 2021, an annual market share of 1 billion can be formed. In addition, after the year of 2021, there will be 670 million U.S. dollars each year invested in the RFID infrastructure of clothing (only 80 million U.S. dollars will be invested this year). At the same time, there are also some problems: the accuracy of reading needs to be improved and the return on investment is not yet clear – the cost of labels, the value of labeling products and the increase in sales volume (from 3% to 20%) Comparison between.

How took so long?

According to IDTechEx's 2011-2021 RFID application in the apparel industry, this year, the use of passive UHF RFID tags in the apparel industry exceeds the sum of all other industries for the first time.

Hundreds of franchised laundries at military bases, hospitals and casinos have first used labels for the rental of clothing and linens, which have been widely recognized. Each year, the use of labels reaches more than 60 million. By 2021, it will gradually increase to 200 million.

In contrast, the application of RFID in the apparel industry has been very clear. The purpose is to reduce the losses caused by out-of-stock in the retail supply chain, and at the same time bring some other benefits. Although most of the apparel industry uses disposable labels, some items can also use reusable labels. About 100 retailers and their suppliers have regretted that they have not implemented the project earlier, and have made profits from profits and customer service. They are actively joining the pioneers who are emulating RFID in the apparel retail industry to make up for losses. Indeed, RFID's growth in this market is far ahead of other industries, with an 8.9-fold increase in market value in 2011-2021, which is twice the increase in the overall RFID market. Marks & Spencer first applied RFID tags to the apparel industry, and Wal-Mart began to compete this year.

Low input, high returns, and relatively low infrastructure investment result in higher returns. In general, most clothing stores only install one fixed reader to monitor the transportation of inventory items from the warehouse to the store. In addition, there are handheld readers for flexible use by employees. The implementation process does not require large capital investment, but it can obtain substantial capital gains.

Smart shelves are still just a dream. Smart shelves will eventually come true one day. The main obstacle now is that the accuracy of reading in tag-intensive environments requires the further development of technology; capital costs are also a major factor to consider. There are still many problems to be solved. However, there is at least one clear path for smart shelves. Once the bottleneck is resolved, the implementation of smart shelves is just around the corner.

RFID tags on apparel brands must be able to withstand the harsh environment of dry cleaning, washing and ironing. Therefore, the clothing label in the next generation of daily life is a considerable challenge both in terms of technology and priority investment return. Existing disposable clothing labels, therefore, should continue to be used for a period of time before existing disposable labels are completely included in everyday textile labels.

Distribution by country IDTechEx surveys users by country, mainly concerning retail product tracking in the supply chain. It also includes research on manufacturing, pallet loading, container transportation, and industrial laundries.

The results of the study concluded that Japan, the United States, and Germany have a wide range of applications.