RFID tag on the clothing
The RFID tags on clothing operate under a different logic than those in factory workwear—they are a standard practice in the apparel industry, utilized across the entire chain from production and warehousing to retail and settlement. Let’s break it down into several key points.
1. Why use RFID (instead of just attaching a barcode) on clothing
Barcodes must be scanned one by one, while RFID enables batch reading across boxes and bags. This delivers several direct benefits:
Inventory Receiving: Full boxes of clothing can be counted without unpacking, reducing store inventory time from hours to just a dozen minutes
Inventory accuracy: improved from the industry average of 60–70% to 95%+, reducing instances of "system shows in stock but shelves are empty."
Loss prevention and theft protection: Conduct exit detection in conjunction with the door reader
Self-checkout: Whole baskets of clothes are scanned at once, eliminating the need to scan each item individually
End-to-end traceability: from factory to store to customer, each piece of clothing has a unique code
II. Technical Selection of Garment Labels
type
Characteristics
Where to use it
RFID tag
Make it into a paper/synthetic paper hangtag, integrated with the price tag
The most mainstream, attached to clothing, and cut off after sale
RFID for Fabric Labels/Washing Instructions
Stitched into the label, soft and washable
Premium brands require long-term retention
Adhesive labeling
Attach to the packaging bag or shoebox
Footwear, Accessories, E-commerce Shipping
Hard tag (anti-theft buckle)
With RFID + Alarm Function
Store security requires a dedicated unlocking tool for removal
In the frequency band, the apparel industry almost universally uses UHF (860–960MHz) for batch reading and long-range reading. HF is only used in a few special scenarios.
Key points: Clothing is a hybrid of soft, water-containing, and metal-containing (zippers, buttons) materials. Tags must use flexible antennas and avoid zippers, metal fasteners, and thick fabric layers, otherwise the read range will significantly decrease.