RFID Milestone:Over 1 Billion Consumer Apparel Items Protected By Tyco Retail Solutions Each Year

NEUHAUSEN, SWITZERLAND--(Marketwired - Sep 24, 2013) - Tyco Retail Solutions (www.tycoretailsolutions.com), a leading global provider of retail performance and security solutions, announced today it is the first provider to protect over one billion consumer apparel items annually, an industry milestone for its genuine Sensormatic brand anti-theft source tagging program. This achievement underscores Tyco's leadership position with source tagged goods arriving in more than 10,000 stores across every continent.

Tyco offers two Sensormatic source tagging options for retailers: sewn in Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) labels or recirculated EAS hard tags. Source tagging allows retailers to speed merchandise delivery to the selling floor, and reallocate labor from applying security tags to focus on customer service activities that help drive sales. Ann Taylor, lululemon athletica, and Piazza Italia are among 40 leading retailers protecting their merchandise with Tyco's source tagging solutions.

"We've experienced a number of Loss Prevention benefits with the Sensormatic sewn on source tagging solution, including a reduction in store shortage," said Maurice Cloutier, VP of Loss Prevention, Ann Inc. "Instead of our store associates spending valuable time applying hard tags, we can redirect their focus to interact closely with shoppers to create a more personalized experience. By connecting with customers, our associates can more effectively satisfy their needs and showcase merchandise options for them to enjoy first-hand."

Of the one billion apparel items protected annually, 70 percent of retailers are using the recirculation model -- where hard tags are applied to garments at source and recirculated after use. The program integrates easily into a retailer's existing sustainability program and is also an important building block in the migration towards RFID-based item level inventory solutions.

"Since all our items have hard tags, we were burdened with the chore of applying tags in-store," said Nicola Moretti, Internal Auditing Manager, Piazza Italia. "With Tyco's source tagging recirculation program, we've increased our speed in getting merchandise to the sales floor. This frees up budget dollars which now can be allocated to improving the shopper experience. All these benefits were achieved while also reducing overall shrinkage in our chain."

Leading global management consulting firm Kurt Salmon's shopper behavior study titled "1:1 Retailing Bringing the Personalized Experience to Life In-Store," determined that when shoppers were engaged by a sales associate or started interacting with the products, they were "nine times more likely to try something on. And once they tried on a product, they had a 52 percent chance of buying it." Providing store associates with opportunity for personalized interaction creates tremendous competitive advantage.

"With over one billion items tagged each year, global retailers trust our innovative source tagging programs to protect high value apparel items and their profits," said Nancy Chisholm, Vice President and General Manager, Tyco Retail Solutions. "Retailers can benefit from our global scale and extensive investment in automated re-circulation centers, as well as RFID technology migration capabilities."

About Tyco Retail Solutions 
Tyco Retail Solutions is a leading global provider of integrated retail performance and security solutions, deployed today at more than 80 percent of the world's top 200 retailers. Customers range from single-store boutiques to global retail enterprises. Operating in more than 70 countries worldwide, Tyco Retail Solutions provides retailers with real-time visibility to their inventory and assets to improve operations, optimize profitability, and create memorable shopper experiences.

The Tyco Retail Solutions portfolio for retailers is sold direct through Tyco businesses and authorized business partners around the world. For more information, please visit www.tycoretailsolutions.com or visit www.YouTube.com/TycoRetailTV.

TYCO, Sensormatic, and the product names listed in this document are marks and/or registered marks. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.