10 Mar How Do Electronic Shelf Labels Work?
ESLs, or Electronic Shelf Labels, are transforming the retail industry by replacing paper tags and enabling stores to run real-time price updates. But exactly how do electronic shelf labels work and what sort of technology powers these tiny but revolutionary tools? Let’s find out.
What Does An ESL System Consist Of?
A fully operational ESL system consists of three individual components working in sync to display prices on your shelves. The three core elements are:
- A central management software or CMS, that serves as the control center and allows users to update prices and other label information.
- Communication gateway that connects each individual ESL to the CMS.
- ESL tags, which are the display units or labels attached to store shelves.
Display Tech Behind ESLs
There are two main display technologies utilized by electronic shelf labels.
Electronic Paper Displays or EPDs
Primarily known as e-paper or electric ink, EPDs use a tiny amount of electricity to mimic the appearance of ink on paper. Each ESL using an EPD contains tiny capsules of charged particles suspended in fluid. Once the electric field is applied, the charged particles rearrange to form texts or images. These EPDs are bi-stable, meaning that they need the charge influx only once when updating the text or image, not to maintain them. This results in low energy consumption and a longer life span.
Liquid Crystal Displays or LCDs
Some ESLs also use LCD technology. They rely on liquid crystals that rearrange when an electric field is applied to form texts and images. However, unlike EPDs, LCD ESLs require a continued supply of electricity in order to operate.
The Wireless Connection
One of the most fascinating aspects of ESLs is that they are wirelessly operated. Meaning that they don’t require you to run wires all across your stores and shelves. Instead, they use a number of different wireless communication protocols to receive updates from the central system, such as:
Radio Frequency
Most of the Electronic Shelf Labels are based on radio frequency (RF) communications. They operate on a predefined frequency ranging from sub 1 GHz, 2.4 GHz, and 433 MHz. Display Data use sub 1 GHz as this RF gives the largest area of coverage and best penetration rates.
Bluetooth Low Energy
Next up is the Bluetooth Low Energy protocols, or BLE. These allow faster, more efficient connections requiring minimum energy consumption. They don’t require any additional equipment, such as transmitters and can be easily integrated with existing devices. However, their shorter range makes them ideal for smaller stores only.
WiFi
Some modern ESLs also come packed with WiFi networks, enabling high-speed, real-time data transfer. They are also fairly easy to integrate within the existing WiFi network. However, WiFi tech requires more energy, which may impact your ESL battery life. WiFi is also slow to process data and can conflict with other WiFi powered systems, so congestion can occur.
Near Field Communications
NFC allows for close proximity communication. Users can update the ESLs by bringing a device such as a smartphone near the label. Even though such ESLs are highly energy efficient with a long battery life, they do require users to physically visit each label and therefore, they cannot be updated in real-time.
How Do Electronic Shelf Labels Work
Now let’s have a closer look at how all of these components work in sync to make the ESLs work.
Data Input
Each ESL appears on the CMS list individually thanks to a unique identifier. A user selects an ESL from the list and updates the price or product description. Users also have the option to update several or all ESLs at the same time. For instance, if the whole stock is going on a 50% sale, users can simply select all ESLs listed on the CMS and cut the prices by 50%.
Synchronization
Once the data is updated, the CMS retrieves it and prepares it for distribution.
Transmission
Once the data is prepared, the CMS sends the updates to communication gateways, which then broadcast it to the selected ESLs using designated wireless protocols outlined above.
Display Updates
Upon receiving the data, ESLs refresh their displays to show the updated information.
How Are ESLs Installed?
Installation of electronic shelf labels is fairly easy and involves only a couple of steps.
Step 1 – Initialization
The first step involves unpacking the ESLs and initializing them to make sure they all work properly and there are no glitches or errors. For labels with buttons, the button is pressed for approximately 2 seconds until the screen turns on. For ESLs without buttons, an NFC controller is used to turn them on.
Step 2 – Mounting
The second step is to mount the labels on the shelves. This can be done using adhesive tapes, clips or slides in rails, depending on the model you choose.
Step 3 – Gateway Installation & Configuration
Once the labels are installed, the next step is to install the communication gateways or access points. It’s a technical step, as it requires a complete survey of the store to ensure maximum coverage for each access point – usually a 25-meter radius.
Step 4 – Calibration
The next step involves setting up the Central Management Software (CMS). This once again depends on the model or specifications you have purchased. Some ESL systems might require you to install specific software on your systems or they can also be controlled using a cloud-based CMS. Next, you will have to connect ESLs to the CMS using communication gateways to calibrate and name them as per each item they are displaying.
Step 5 – Testing & Validation
Lastly, you’ll need to test all the components, run some price updates on the ESLs and ensure everything is running as expected.
Closing Down
ESLs are the future of shelf labels. With so much tech behind each label, they enable real-time price updates, streamline operations, and most importantly, enhance the customer experience with seamless, accurate pricing. Not to mention, they save you a ton of money over the long term compared with laborious paper label alternatives.