Jun 23, 2016I've always been highly skeptical of buzzwords. When I was an editor at InformationWeek, there was a lot of talk about the "real-time company"—organizations that were capturing real-time data and acting on it. Except almost no companies were doing this. It was mostly talk. In retail, one of the biggest buzzwords today is "omnichannel," which means selling to the customer in-store, on a mobile device, on a home computer or by phone—and delivering the correct product or having it ready for pickup in a store.
Lots of retailers are talking about omnichannel. Macy's, which has $27 billion in annual sales, is doing it. And Pam Sweeney is a leader on the executive team that is employing RFID to enable omnichannel shopping.
Why RFID? Because Macy's gets that omnichannel requires a high degree of inventory accuracy—ideally, visibility down to the last unit—and only RFID can provide that.
Sweeney joined Macy's in 1986 and has held various positions within distribution and warehousing. Today, as senior VP of logistics systems, she is responsible for optimizing logistics information systems, which includes identifying new technologies and applications necessary to enhance existing business processes.
When Sweeney attended our RFID in Fashion event in 2006, she was not an immediate convert to the technology. But she saw its potential and kept investigating it and watching it mature. In 2008, Macy's began testing RFID in its Bloomingdale's stores, and three years later, the board had enough confidence in the technology to approve funding for an RFID rollout to all 850 Bloomingdale's and Macy's stores.
At first, the retailer used RFID to replenish out-of-stock items, to improve on-shelf availability. But around 2011, Macy's began pursuing an omnichannel strategy to better serve its customers and compete with online retailers. Sweeney helped bring together teams from various departments, including shipping, online fulfillment centers and stores, to execute this strategy. And she oversaw several major pilots, including one focused on picking to the last unit, which delivered impressive results.
"At first, some people within Macy's were tired of hearing me talk about RFID," Sweeney confesses. "But now, everyone is talking about it." Her commitment to and enthusiasm for the technology has helped improve Macy's operations and deliver the item-level visibility required to give customers a successful omnichannel shopping experience. She credits RFID for sales increases from high single digits to double digits in various categories.
Sweeney has also been a relentless champion of RFID outside the organization, promoting adoption within the broader U.S. retail industry. She has spoken at RFID Journal events, the National Retail Federation's Big Show and GS1 Connect, and she has participated in peer-to-peer meetings hosted by GS1.
RFID Journal bestows its 2016 Special Achievement Award on Sweeney for her commitment to driving RFID adoption throughout Macy's operations and for her work in enabling the company to become the world's first omnichannel retailer. Her efforts, along with those of her colleagues, have set an example for all retailers that aim to pursue an omnichannel strategy. She has been instrumental in making "omnichannel" more than just a buzzword.