UK retailers have been slow to adopt electronic shelf labels but with the proliferation of dynamic pricing this could be about to change, discovers Retail Focus.
Electronic shelf labelling (ESL) is not a new technology, but it is yet to be widely adopted in the UK. This is possibly because the high costs of implementation have been too much for retailers to justify investment. However, with prices coming down and new developments in the technology, things could be about to change. ESLs enable retailers to adjust pricing information quickly and efficiently from a central server. This is a huge benefit when you consider that Tesco, for example, manually changes between five and 10 million shelf edge labels every week. Time that Tesco chief information officer, Mike McNamara says could be better spent serving customers. Another benefit of the technology, notes McNamara, is that it provides even more confidence that the price on the shelf edge is correct. ‘When we are changing 10 million labels, mistakes can happen,’ he says. ‘With electronic labels, prices are changed instantly. That means that the price on the shelf will always be the same as the price at the till.’ Tesco is already using ESLs in some of its other markets, including Hungary, and is currently trialling the technology in its Letchworth Express store in Hertfordshire and its Enfield Superstore.
View full article here on Retail Focus.
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