The Australian Retailer speaks to esLabels

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2019 the year of Electronic Shelf Labels!

Although widely used internationally electronic shelf labels have been slow to take off in Australia, until recently. Independent retailers are rapidly installing the technology and we've noticed it's become a much talked about topic in the retail industry.

For those less familiar with the technology, electronic shelf labels, also known as digital price tags, are a digital replication of a paper price ticket. They use epaper technology (like a Kindle) to display pricing, product and promotional information on the screen. Being digital this information can be updated remotely, at the touch of a button, as frequently as required. This is a huge advantage for retailers, who have previously had to rely on staff to manage the implementation of paper price tickets and promotional assets.

To gain more insight into how this technology has impacted Australian retailers we spoke to Future Shelf (formerly esLabels), Australia's leading digital pricing solutions provider.

“The biggest benefits to our clients are the speed, ease and accuracy of price change implementation, along with the increased flexibility in pricing that this brings”,

states Neville Sundel, Managing Director of Future Shelf (formerly esLabels).

“How this affects the business strategy is slightly different for each retailer”

continues Neville.

“For example, for some clients it means they can ensure their prices always match or beat their competitors. For other clients, it's about keeping their margins consistent, electronic labels allow them to change the price of any (or all) products depending on fluctuating costs - wholesale prices, currency exchange etc. Omnichannel is another key driver, having synchronised online and offline pricing simply isn’t plausible for most retailers, without using electronic labels.“

In addition to this core benefit, there are a range of other benefits electronic labels can bring to retailers. Many display QR codes on the screens, driving customers online for further information, (specs and reviews) that help convert the sale in store. Alternatively, dynamic reviews can actually be displayed on the label screen, giving customers access to additional information typically only available online. There are also multiple operational efficiencies, other than pricing, that can be achieved via electronic labels. These surround customer service, restocking, click & collect and more.