Brick-and-mortar retailers have been challenged for years before the COVID-19 pandemic upended life across the world. The rise of eCommerce and growing consumer adoption of online shopping to fulfill almost every imaginable need has changed the retail landscape. In this blog post, Christine Rex, Managing Director of Business Development at Compass Marketing, dives into the strategies, tactics, and technologies retailers are adopting to attract consumers and remain competitive.
ELECTRONIC SHELF LABELS (ESLs)
At their most basic, ESLs are a digital, Internet of Things (IoT) enabled replacement for traditional price tags. These small, electronic signs often use an electronic paper or liquid crystal (LCD) paper to display information.1 Instead of requiring employees to manually replace tags, adjust prices, or add sales or special offer signage to the shelf, ESLs allow retailers to update tag information. Depending on the technology, ESLs can be managed from within the store or from a central location outside the store. Either way, ESLs help retailers save time and reduce labor costs. In fact, more than 50% of retailers implementing ESLs did so to increase their profit margins.2
Many companies and organizations are involved in this space, including the world leader in electronic shelf labels, SES-imagotag based in Nanterre, France. Recently, SES-imagotag and Cisco announced a partnership to develop an IoT infrastructure that could be applied across a broad range of offline, brick-and-mortar retailers.3 The goal of the platform, named VUSION, would be to allow stores to automate many of the previously manual pricing processes, while also enabling better inventory management, including stockout detection.3
Although an emerging technology trend in the United States, ESLs are widely used in Europe and Asia. The technology is expected to grow in the coming years, especially as the pandemic has made many businesses eager to show their consumers that they are embracing contactless processes. The category is expected to grow more than 20% by 2027, according to Fortune Business Insights.4
ON-SHELF VIDEO & ADVANCED SHELF DISPLAYS
Some retailers are pursuing even more advanced in-store technologies. Kroger, the largest supermarket retailers in the United States, recently partnered with Microsoft to develop a new shelf-edge technology, Kroger EDGE (Enhanced Display for Grocery Environment).5, 6 The system is designed to completely replace the traditional shelf-edge rail. It is designed to function as an advanced ESL—displaying not only pricing and product information, but also video ads, coupons, and other promotional information.5 Kroger EDGE can also monitor temperatures to ensure food being stored at safe temperatures.6 In the future, the platform will also gain the functionality to communicate with consumers’ smartphones and other devices to help them quickly and easily find items on their shopping list.5
