Good old days? – Price tags as a perfect spearhead for digital retail

At EuroShop 2017, there was a remarkable event at the SES-imagotag booth. The market leader in connected price labels had invited to a discussion with the philosopher Richard David Precht. Michael Gerling, Managing Director of the EHI Institute, brought to the conversation a special utensil: a large plastic number for a petrol station price sign outdoors from the 80s. The gas station attendant had to go to the ladder every day to update the current prices. 30 years later, this is hardly conceivable.

Two things are shown in this example:

1. Where digital price tags are introduced, the old days are passé.
2. Those who do not know analogue price signs do not miss them either.

It pays to think about this change. This has consequences for today's physical stores.

The price tag as a door opener

Where should the digitization of retail start?

For SES-imagotag the price is the interface between customer and product. That's why the price tag is the starting point for modern digital commerce. This price tag should work like a door. A door that is always open in both directions between customers and retailers. And that opens all the other doors where the customer wants. And a door that fits exactly to the respective product. This is exactly what the new generation of electronic shelf labels (ESL) from SES-imagotag does –increasing store efficiency and shopper engagement bidirectionally.

Reinventing Retail

Today, in-store and online shopping are increasingly merging - price, content, customer loyalty programs and means of payment converge. That's why omni-channel solutions are indispensable. They generate a true seamless shopping experience between brands, stores and shoppers. This is the strategic challenge of retail. In this new era of ubiquitous commerce, stores must offer an optimized service, blending the best of both worlds: the benefits of digital and the five-sense experience of in-store shopping.

Pricing automation
With the ESLs and the intuitive VUSION Display Manager, prices are right in all places – everywhere in-store and in the online shop.

Pricing intelligence
The program Pulse analyzes competition, stock, demand and makes the right pricing decisions for each store.

Click & Collect
Click & Collect is popular. With SES-imagotag the service becomes productive and profitable for retailers.

Store inventory and on-shelf availability
The digital price tags and Total Shopfloor Optimization provide real-time shelf and stock status plus geolocation.

Interactive customer relationship
Connect makes all digital product information available for shoppers and retailers know what their customers want.

In-Store Services
Storefront turns free customer Wi-Fi into a personal shopping guide in the store.

Advertising & promotional labels
Studio & AdShelf bring advertising campaigns right to the ESL.

Micro Web Page
The price tag becomes the website for the entire product.

Worldwide unique

SES-imagotag currently runs around 160 million connected price tags globally. Recently, a first Alibaba store in China was equipped.