A leading convenience retailer has successfully completed a major in store digital installation programme - and hit its 12-month rollout target.
Following successful trials, Scotmid has now deployed more than 550,000 electronic shelf labels (ESLs) across its food stores in Scotland and the north of England, in a move aimed at providing more user-friendly, easy to read product information for customers and improved productivity across its stores.
Scotmid is the first retailer of its size in the UK to install ESLs across its national food store estate, further elevating its position as an innovative, forward thinking brand leader within the sector.
The cutting-edge technology is manufactured by SoluM, a Samsung invested company, and is run in partnership with Cambridge-based technology integrator Herbert Retail. It enables retail information on shelves, such as pricing and promotion details, to be updated centrally.
The new labelling system has been shown to increase wider store efficiency, improve pricing and product information compliance, reduce paper wastage and enhance store team morale.
Stewart Dobbie, Head of Innovation and Change at Scotmid, remarked, “Using innovation to benefit our colleagues and customers is very important to us. I am proud of what we have achieved.
'The project began in collaboration with our friends at Southern Co-op and has reached this stage through the hard work and determination of colleagues across our Society.
'We strive for continuous improvement; we are already thinking ahead to the many ways that ESL can further enhance the in-store experience. Our store teams are delighted with the change from paper ticketing to Electronic Shelf Labels, it has given us all a morale boost!”
Martin Johnston, Store Manager at Scotmid’s Inverkeithing store, added, “We were the first store to have Electronic Shelf Labelling installed and we haven’t looked back. They have transformed how the store looks and how we work.
'The old process of paper labels was laborious, a task we all dreaded. The installation instantly boosted morale and increased our pride in maintaining store standards.
'My colleagues have more time to interact with our customers, the part of the job they most enjoy. I can’t imagine going back to a retail environment without ESLs.”
The installation programme was delivered in partnership with Southern Co-op, which is hoping to complete its ESL installation programme to all stores in 2023.