The world of retail business is truly the most innovative one because, over the years, it has seen some of the most significant changes. At present, the retail industry is getting acquainted with electronic shelf labelling, which is a digital alternative to price tags. In an electronic shelf label, or ESL, e-ink is used to display the price and relevant information about the product, which is controlled by a computer database nearby. In a very short time, electronic shelf labelling has become quite a phenomenon for retail business owners in different parts of the world.
Electronic shelf labelling is the new way to run a retail business where everything must be organized, dynamic, and convenient enough to attract the attention of consumers. The concept of ESL is no longer surprising because many retailers in Europe have already been using it for quite some time. But those who do not are facing several challenges, such as
Upon walking into a grocery store, among the first few things that buyers notice are the price labels. If it is not updated, then that could ruin the entire shopping experience for buyers. But in a large-scale supermarket, updating the price labels for every single item would be a nightmare for the employees. Which is why it is usually imperfect and incomplete. A significant number of resources are wasted on tasks that could be easily handled with electronic shelf labelling.
An entire team of diligent employees are usually the ones changing, correcting, and checking every single item’s price labels to make sure that a buyer receives only the correct information. It ends up being an expensive setup for any retail business. In most cases, a retail business is unable to fully utilise its resources to its full potential. Not using electronic shelf labelling ends up adding to the overall expenditure and increases pressure on the employees to perform tedious tasks that could have been handled digitally in a few seconds. All this lowers sales and the ROI for retailers.
But with ESL in the picture, handling the dynamic operations in the retail industry becomes easier. It offers the following benefits that are the reasons for its growing popularity in this sector:
- Convenience of keeping up with dynamic pricing
If you are in the retail business that handles perishable consumer goods, then you must have experienced extremely dynamic pricing. Due to these uncertain changes, for grocery store owners and several others, introducing a price change quickly turns out to be an exhausting job. If only such changes could be made digitally instead of manually, the results could be distinct and convenient. With electronic shelf labelling, you can modify pricing and other information on items quickly.
- Enhance the customer experience to increase retention
In every business sector, the best and quickest way to success is through the enhancement of customer experience. As customers in retail are always looking for the easiest and most convenient way of shopping, relying on traditional methods is not going to be of much help. Using modern alternatives such as ESL and computerised systems to handle customer expectations is crucial. Time spent by customers on analysing product information also influences their buying decisions.
- Chance to better utilise a business omnichannel
Omnichannel is what drives every business, and the retail sector is not an exception. But a lot of entities fail to utilise this tactic to scale their business and suffer from dwindling sales. But incorporating a digital approach is slowly turning out to be the future of retail. In a digital business omnichannel, customers are offered a seamless shopping experience, and ESL can help a business reach new customers. Making the most of your omnichannel becomes easier with ESL.
- Simple way of organising by reducing extra costs
Those who have not used electronic shelf labelling consider it to be an expensive method of organising items, but the reality is just the opposite. Just as the internet has transformed the way people around the world shop, digital approaches like electronic shelf labelling are revolutionising checking prices of in-store products. Nowadays, people compare the online and in-store prices, and if they don’t match, they look for a better deal. With ESL, you can change customer interaction.
- Better use of resources without wasting an effort
Retail employees often experience both mental and physical burnout due to their extremely long and exhausting shifts. In a store that does not rely on electronic alternatives, employees are supposed to do every little mundane task that could have been handled with just a click. That is why ESL is being used to ensure that retail resources are being utilised appropriately without wasting time and, most of all, money.
Conclusion
All in all, digital shelves are helping retail businesses to align promotion prices with audits and remove any price-related errors. These reasons make it essential for a future-ready business model.