Over the last few years, there’s been a strong focus on automation in the retail industry, which is one of the major contributing factors behind the anticipated surge of Electronic Shelf Label (ESL) adoption in the coming years.

With ESLs becoming more common place, confidence has grown within the broader retail sector, increasing appetite for the technology.

A recent research study found that the global Electronic Shelf Label Market is estimated to reach USD 4.2 billion by 2030 (up from USD 1.2 billion in 2021).

Whilst most industries wind-down around Christmas, retail ramps up! It’s a very busy and competitive time of year.

Decking out the shop in festive cheer is a must of course. But what about individual products; wouldn’t it be great if you could easily update price tickets to a Christmassy design?

Calling out present ideas, stocking fillers and more, can actually make a real difference to holiday sales.

Let’s talk eco. On a personal level we’re all doing our best to recycle, reduce plastic waste and limit our use of paper at home. Most businesses also have a sustainability program, dedicated to making environmental improvements in business processes. These include, energy efficiencies, switching to renewable energy, reducing their carbon footprint, waste reduction, sustainable sourcing and….

We hear it again and again, retailers love the idea of Electronic Shelf Labels / Digital Price Tags, but when you have thousands of SKUs in your store, it is a sizeable investment.

However, if Woolworths, Aldi and Dan Murphys can find the business case, with their tens of thousands of SKUs, then smaller retailers definitely can too.

Our drag and drop Template Editor makes designing striking Electronic Shelf Labels easy! 

Watch the video for an overview of just how simple it is to design a new template for your ESL screen, using our solution.

Recently the AI conversation has exploded. With actors striking this week over the usage of AI in their industry, it’s clear that it has the opportunity to change, each and every market sector; with Retail of course being no different. However in my view, implementing more commonplace technology is the first point of call, before we start using bots to run the show!

For example, many pharmacies in Australia are still to implement Electronic Shelf Labels – digital price tags that replace paper price tickets.

The Hardware and DIY industry has been a strong sector within Australia, withstanding market fluctuations and even booming in the face of adversity when Covid hit. 66% of Australians own their own home, with a whopping 83% being houses, so it’s no wonder there’s so much demand for home improvement goods.

However, the industry does have hurdles to overcome of course.

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been looking in detail at the benefits of Electronic Shelf Labels; week 1 focused on Labour Time Saving and week 2 focussed on Operational Efficiency. This week we’ll be looking at the 3rd and final area where we see substantial benefits – Marketing & Customer Experience.

Last week we looked at Labour, specifically how automating price updates so staff no longer have to implement them, can have multiple benefits aside from the obvious; including, better staff retention, compliance, increased margins and more.

This week we’ll focus on Operations, and how Electronic Shelf Labels can create multiple efficiencies for retailers.

Each week we're going to call out one of the benefits of using Electronic Shelf Label technology; starting this week with Labour.

This is probably the most fundamental reason for deciding to implement the technology. But within this core benefit there are multiple facets; let’s unpack it to understand exactly how this can be advantageous to retailers outside of the obvious.

Electronic Shelf Labels (also called Digital Price Tags) are small electronic devices, that display prices, promotions and other product information on a digital screen (instead of a paper ticket). They provide an automated solution to retail store price changes, which when you think about a supermarket, pharmacy or discount store with 5,000+ products, is an amazing time saver.

But enough about how wonderful the solution is! How do they work?

When FutureShelf first started and we’d discuss the opportunities of the technology with retailers, the operations team would get it, they could instantly see the multitude of efficiencies that could be achieved. However, the marketing team were less thrilled, they worried that removing the bright product discount signage would reduce sales. However, times have changed.

Like with paper price tickets, Electronic Shelf Labels have a range of accessories that are used to install them onto various different product displays.

The main one is of course shelf strips, these are used to attach the labels to shelving.

“The whole system was set up and fully running in 2 days.”

Hear how Autobarn Bunbaberg have revolutionised their catalogue pricing roll outs, ensuring that their staff are now available to work directly with customers on finding the right product solution for them. As well as, streamlining stock management and product way-finding.

Misconception 1: The technology is getting cheaper

Over the years the capabilities of electronic tags are improving, with increased battery life, screen resolution, software capabilities etc. And, like with most things nowadays, the cost to produce the labels is also increasing. This means that the longer you wait the more expensive the solution will be. If there is a business case established for this technology, each month/year you wait, you will be paying the price in opportunity cost.

Last week we looked in detail at the most influential element when determining the cost of an Electronic Shelf Label (ESL) project, the labels themselves – quantity, size, specifications and more. This week we’ll move onto the other elements that influence the cost of an ESL project.

1. How many square metres is the store?

In order to populate the labels, wireless access points (AP’s) are required to be installed in each store. As a general rule of thumb, each label that you wish to update should be within 15 metres of an AP.