Electronic shelf labels (ESLs) are a digital upgrade for product labelling that has major advantages for retailers. These digital price tags can drastically improve efficiency and accuracy on everything from price updates to restocking, lowering labour costs and enhancing the shopper experience.
Are the many benefits of electronic shelf labels enough to justify the expense of their installation and upkeep? Discover the factors that affect the pricing of electronic shelf labels and determine whether they are a worthwhile investment for your business!
Factors that influence electronic shelf label price
Store size and number of products
The cost of upgrading to electronic shelf labels depends first and foremost on the number of labels you want to buy. The size of your store and the number of products you offer will determine the number of labels you need and consequently, the cost of the upgrade.
Type of shelf label
There are several different types and sizes of electronic shelf labels available, each with its own features and advantages. Note that you can use more than one type of label in your store!
LCD shelf labels
LCD shelf labels are a great option for smaller businesses that are looking to upgrade their signage in a cost-effective way. These price tags bring all of the main benefits of digitalization, such as automatic price updates and flash-guided restocking, but lack some of the additional features of their more sophisticated counterparts. LCD labels come in small and medium sizes.
Graphic shelf labels
Graphic shelf labels, while more expensive but offer a better ROI, come in high-definition display and have a variety of additional features and sizes for more customizable digital signage. Available features include:
- SmartTAG Power+, which provides a bright 4-color display that will increase the visibility of promotions and enhance the customer experience.
- Instant Flash with 7 different colours, which can be assigned to different people from your staff, making it easier for employees working on a single operation such as Click-&-Collect or Shelf Replenishment to locate and process their assigned products.
- A built-in NFC function, which customers can access by tapping their smartphone on the label to get more information and features about the product being sold, enhancing the shopping experience.
Infrared (IR) or Radio-Frequency (RF)
Most electronic shelf labels receive commands via either radio-frequency or infrared technology. While infrared communication is a more expensive option, due to the fact that it is unique on the ESL market and only Pricer electronic labels from JRTech Solutions have the ability to operate on this communication system, it offers many more benefits than a radio-frequency system:
- Infrared communication is bidirectional, meaning that the labels can acknowledge when commands are received.
- Product information is received in seconds, whereas radio-frequency communication takes longer.
- It can be difficult for radio waves to make it through an environment already cluttered with other wireless signals such as WiFi and Bluetooth, whereas infrared will remain unaffected and has zero interference.
- Radio-frequency communication takes much more energy, meaning the label’s battery will deplete faster than its infrared counterparts.
Check out this testimonial from hardware giant Rona attesting to the benefits of switching from radio-frequency to infrared electronic shelf labels!
Are electronic shelf labels a worthwhile investment?
Despite the initial start-up cost, electronic shelf labels are a worthwhile investment in the long run. Having digital price tags eliminates the need for printing and manually changing paper labels for each price update, resulting in considerable savings on labour and materials.
Once purchased, ESLs require very little upkeep. Businesses that implement electronic shelf labels can generally recoup their investment within 8 to 15 months, and a high-quality infrared electronic shelf label has a battery life that can last up to 10 or even 20 years. Avril Supermarché Santé has been using theirs since 2010!
Get an estimate for your store’s electronic price tags
JRTech Solutions is the North American supplier for digital pricing solutions from industry pioneer Pricer. If you’d like to find out more about the cost of our electronic shelf labels, contact us for an estimate! We will be happy to discuss your needs.
