RFID-based inventory system for an internal app for Bijou Brigitte

Project

• Jaspis – a staff tool that is responsible for inventory, stock management and the automation of store product range management using RFID technology. 
• Quartz – a tool for managers to complete and submit report forms after a store visit.
• Amethyst – a software used by POS in stores. It allows the operation of a TSE (fiscal USB) from Diebold Nixdorf. The app is written in Java, based on Springboot.

Customer

Bijou Brigitte is Europe’s leading supplier of fashionable jewelry and accessories. The first Bijou Brigitte stores appeared in the 1960s, and by the 1990s the company had more than 100 stores nationwide. Today, the Bijou Brigitte Group operates a network of 990 stores located throughout Europe.

Business

e-commerce

Employment level

2000-2500

Cooperation start date

May 2018

Task

• Simple and comprehensive UX/UI. Creating an app to be used by store staff of all ages and nationalities.
• Tool scaling. Implementing the app in nearly a thousand stores, taking into account different scenarios for the process.
• Interoperability with external devices such as Bluetooth RFID scanner, cash register, USB TSE devices or label printer.
• Integration. Seamless integration of new systems with existing infrastructure and tools.
• Continuous development of mobile apps for Android and iOS devices, integration of apps with RFID readers, POS, optimizing their operation and processing of substantial amounts of data.

„I am satisfied with the team’s work, flexibility, and commitment. It’s been a model of excellent cooperation from the very beginning.
It was beneficial and time-effective for us to outsource the implementation of the new tools. J-labs uses the best and the most effective ways of delivering software.

Mathilde Kowitz, Head of IT, Bijou Brigitte

Implementation

• Create and perform inventory sessions, with the option to select an inventory for the full product range in a store or just part of it.
• Track incoming packages to a store, confirm their contents and automatically add them to the stock.
• Creation and editing various options for warehouse releases, such as theft, breakdowns, replacements or returns.
• Viewing a product catalogue and pricing management.
• RFID-based scanner operation

The kick-off of the Jaspis project followed in May 2018. As a result of the progress and numerous tests, the app was deployed to production in March 2020. This allowed inventory to be reduced from at least 24 hours and the work of four people to 4 hours with one person. In addition, the RFID reader-based solution helped to almost completely eliminate the number of human errors made during inventory.

The Quartz app entered production at the end of 2022. This dashboard reduces both the amount of paper and the time it takes for reports to reach headquarters. Additionally, Quartz is an app being developed for Android and iOS platforms.

The projects assume further expansion and the addition of new features.

Team

j-labs has been Bijou Brigitte’s Technology Partner since 2018. We provide the company with a team of highly specialized engineers whose main domain is backend work (Java/Kotlin), mobile (Android SDK, Flutter) and QA. This is a cross-functional team of:

• Team Leader
• 2x Backend Developer
• 4x Mobile Developer
• QA

The j‑labs team, in collaboration with third-party vendors, created a number of proprietary solutions, addressing all of them. The testing conducted, the detailed planning and the close cooperation with customers resulted in positive feedback regarding the user experience of the app, the scalability and the simplicity of implementing these tools in more stores of the Bijou Brigitte chain.