Fashion giant with 100 US stores wants to remove security labels within a year – and thereby reduce self-checkout time by 50%
ZARA has announced changes to its security measures that will reduce the time customers spend at checkout by half.
The fashion company plans to implement the change by 2025 as a time-saving, customer-focused transition.
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Zara is owned by larger textile company Inditex, which has used this tagging system since 2014 but will be changing its method across all stores.
The business has used RFID radio frequency technology has been monitoring their products as an anti-theft measure for years.
The clothing comes with a plastic tag that allows the company to track its product. It must be removed at checkout at the time of purchase.
The new technology still uses RFID technology, but will be nearly invisible to the average buyer.
Instead of bulky plastic labels that have to be removed, garments have radio frequency-equipped chips built into the fabric or labels.
“The new technology will significantly improve the customer experience, making it easier to interact with our products and improving the purchasing process,” said Óscar García Maceiras, CEO of Inditex.
Inditex predicts that this new technology will reduce time spent at checkouts by 50 percent.
Considering that stores also have self-checkout lanes, this change should also reduce customer frustration somewhat.
The chips are deactivated via radio frequency instead of completely detaching from the product.
The hardware required for this new system, including RFID radio frequency antennas, has already been installed in stores.
While a testing phase is currently underway, the CEO reported that the system “perfectly meets our expectations…” [there haven’t been] major incidents.”
This new security measure also comes as the store launched a Pay & Go feature on its app, allowing shoppers to bypass checkout queues.
The problem is that Pay & Go customers currently still have to stop and have security tags removed. With this new technology, the store hopes to eliminate the need for this step.
Zara currently accounts for 75 percent of Inditex’s textile sales.
After the system is rolled out in Zara stores, the company will implement it in its other stores.
“Intensive” security
Following the company’s announcement that it would introduce new safety measures, Zara customers took to social media to discuss the store’s safety.
“Shopping at @ZARA is stressful – there are more security guards than shoppers. Remember to have only pure thoughts, otherwise they will pounce on you like bouncers in a nightclub. Not a great shopping experience.” wrote an X user.
“Shopping is a terrible experience. Went to Westfield with my daughter. At Zara there is no place to sit while waiting for her. Jobs like a security guard didn’t let me sit on the display case for 5 minutes. Grim.” claims another customer.
A customer spoke directly about the safety tags Zara uses and posted a pair of leather gloves with the plastic tags still attached.
“Riddle me the riddle @ZARA: What’s the point of online shopping if I still have to go to the stores to remove this security tag? And this isn’t the first time either,” said the angry buyer wrote about her glove purchase.
The store’s account responded to the poster and asked to resolve the issue via direct message.
“Shocking experience at the Leicester Highcross branch today. I had to return to the branch because the cashier didn’t remove the security tag on an item and felt like a common criminal. I won’t shop there again x” wrote another customer upset with the current tag system.
The store has again committed to resolving this complaint via direct message.
Other Buyers claim that they were followed around the store by security for no reason and others claim they were even kicked out unjustified.