GS1 5.0Apparel and General Merchandise. Voluntary Guidelines for Hanger Specifications for Floor-Ready Merchandise
The Hanger Specifications are intended to increase efficiency in the supplier-to-retailer pipeline by minimizing order-to-sales floor cycle time. The guideline provides for continuity of presentation within retail stores through color consistency; facilitates supplier application by reducing hanger stock-keeping units (SKUs); and enables those efficiencies associated with mass production, re-use, and application of the hanger.
The original benefit of the Hanger Specifications was to aid in the elimination of significant waste in the supply chain process. The specifications enabled apparel manufacturers to eliminate the use of “shipping hangers” and replace them with retailer-requested floor-ready hangers. This also enabled the retailer to display the apparel immediately, as opposed to the previous process of removing a shipping hanger and re-hanging the garment on a floor-display hanger in either distribution or the store. The specifications also facilitated consolidation of numerous hanger styles and SKUs down to a more manageable and profile-consistent number.