03 Jun Now is the time to invest in ESL technology – or risk being left behind

Andrew Dark is a highly experienced CEO and has a strong record of delivering business growth. His retail experience includes senior roles with NCR, Dione, RIVA Group PLC and TEC. He joined Displaydata as a non-executive director in 2005 and was appointed CEO in 2013.

An increased adoption of Electronic Shelf Label (ESL) technology has been predicted many times over the last decade and a half. However, while the technology has been there during this time, retailers have been relatively cautious until recently.

Now, all the signs show us they are ready to invest so they can compete more effectively with bricks-and-mortar rivals and online competitors.

Managed remotely via your ESL system

ESLs are a genuine game-changer. Smart retailers want the ability to update shelf-edge content in a matter of seconds. At the same time, they want to engage with their customers at the point of purchase by giving them all the information they need to buy.

Accurate and timely promotions and discounts, detailed product information, price matches with competitors, up-to-date product review information, and real-time ratings can all be managed in-store and remotely via your ESL system.

Opportunity cost to pay

Retailers who are reluctant to embrace ESLs run the risk of being left behind. Remember the maxim: if you don’t reinvent or innovate, there is inevitably an opportunity cost to pay.

My ESL take-up prediction is mirrored by the publication of the IHL 2021 Retail Experience Market Study entitled “Store Matters – How Retail Still Runs Through Local Stores Even In The Digital Age.”

The findings of the North American research pinpoints three key takeaways that stand out.

ESLs are second only to self-checkout in terms of investment priorities for top-performing retail leaders.

One in five major retailers are planning to implement ESLs over the next 24 months — 8% within 12 months.

ESLs are the number one planned priority in the food, grocery, and convenience categories.

Here is independent proof of the importance of ESLs to successful retailers who are really looking at what’s mature, what’s ready, what works, and what can be deployed right now.

Remarkable operational efficiencies

Without question, our ESLs help retailers improve the store environment, launch price, and promos with unprecedented agility, as well as connecting with customers in new and engaging ways.

They help retailers grow sales and protect margins. They can achieve everyday low pricing and react instantly to match or beat competitors’ offers and promos. ESLs can avoid damaging flash sales that eat into a retailer’s margins.

Every ESL is a sales opportunity

At the same time, there are remarkable optional efficiencies that improve staff utilization, decrease replenishment time and shift more time and focus to helping customers.

All of these benefits are readily available. One of our jobs is to provide a blank canvas at the point of purchase to enable retailers to inform their customers about the product, its specification, and its provenance. In fact, all of the information the consumer needs to make a considered purchase. Every ESL is a sales opportunity. Customer ratings, cross-selling, and up-selling are all tools at a retailer’s disposal to encourage impulsive buying.

Exciting opportunity for retailers

Everything is collected and analyzed in real-time. This is a really exciting opportunity for retailers, one they can readily embrace in the here and now.

One of the many advantages of our ESL technology, and the Dynamic Cloud managed services it sits on, is our ability to quickly design, develop and implement pilot schemes and roll-outs.

Our Dynamic Cloud solution removes the need for licenses and in-house hardware from a retailer’s start-up costs. There is no need to purchase and set up servers or infrastructure to test and prove our ESL solution.

A pretty convincing case for retailers

What’s more, we’ll automatically provide retailers with the bandwidth they need as the deployment progresses, so together, we can focus on proving out the business case, category by category.

Just as impressive, utilizing the Dynamic Cloud managed service means that there are no requirements for in-depth training for in-house teams to run and support this enterprise-level application.

All in all, it is a pretty convincing case for retailers to explore ESLs and the Dynamic Cloud as a priority. If you want to find out more, contact us at contact@displaydata.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,

Andrew Dark,

CEO, Displaydata