Electronic Shelf Edge Labels

I've been in Retail for longer than I care to admit and over the years I've seen many changes and innovations. It's fair to say that most game changers have been technology led. I remember seeing exciting things like guns with lasers, we call them bar-code readers now!
And like all technology, you either jump on at the beginning of the technology train and lead, or jump on at the end and catch up, but normally it’s the big guys who jump early because the new tech is expensive, then it feeds down to us smaller guys.
But for people like me, a smaller shopkeeper, new tech has to give me a return, and quickly. So, when a chance conversation with a colleague at a franchisee told me about something new, I could see that it would be bigger than bar-code readers and self-service.
It’s something as simple as a price label, but unlike any you’ve seen before, this is proper leading-edge, in fact it’s called ELECTRONIC SHELF EDGE LABELS, or ESL’s for short. But the ESL’s are only part of the story.
The installation consists of a WIRELESS COMMUNICATOR and the ESL’s. One plugs into the wall, the other clips on the shelf, without the need for any wires or power leads, so there’s no need to shut the shop to deploy this system. I can just clip them on the shelf, scan the label and the product barcode to link them together, and it’s done.
And I only needed one COMMUNICATOR for my store as it can handle many thousands of labels over thousands of square feet. Apparently, the wireless network runs below 1 GIGA HERTZ, so it does not interfere with existing 2.4 GIGA HERTZ Wi-Fi networks. So, it’s more MY-FI than Wi-Fi.
The software integrates with my POINT OF SALE TILLS and INVENTORY data, so when I change my prices at the till, the ESL’s ‘AUTOMAGICALLY’ update themselves to show the new prices, just where I need it, right at the shelf edge. So the price at the till, always matches the price at the shelf.
Spending the day manually changing prices was boring and inefficient, so my staff love the new system because it gives my staff more time to get on with providing an even greater customer service, which is why they came into retail in the first place.
Unlike most new technology, the cost makes this accessible for the likes of me NOW. So being small and agile means I can deploy this much quicker than the larger supermarkets, to give me a business advantage that benefits both my customers and my bottom line.
And the best thing is, the software lets me easily switch promotions on or off, at a ‘clickity – click’, so there’s no one step back to move two steps forward. I can now price appropriately because ALL my pricing is BEST BEFORE, not after!
So, call CONNECT VM and jump off the front of the technology train with ELECTRONIC SHELF EDGE LABELS and let the big guys catch up for once.