Curr­ently, things are chan­ging in the retail sector. Compa­nies are retoo­ling and inves­t­ing in the future. One big topic is elec­tro­nic price labels. In an inter­view with Chris Harder, Custo­mer Direc­tor Retail, we shed light on the topic that moves the trade.

What are the advan­ta­ges of elec­tro­nic price labels compared to conven­tio­nal ones?

Chris Harder: Elec­tro­nic shelf labels (ESL) have the great bene­fit that paper beco­mes redun­dant. The CO2 foot­print is redu­ced for the retailer. Another advan­tage can be found in the process costs. With conven­tio­nal paper labels, every label has to be repla­ced when­ever prices are adjus­ted. These costs can be saved with digi­tal price tags.

There are diffe­rent suppli­ers of elec­tro­nic price labels. Isn’t it diffi­cult to attach all the diffe­rent labels to the rails?

Chris Harder: Yes, this is a chall­enge. Due to the multi-supplier stra­tegy, diffe­rent tags are used in the bran­ches. Thus, a rail has to be desi­gned in such a way that as many types of tags as possi­ble can be atta­ched.

POS TUNING is curr­ently working on a large ESL (Elec­tro­nic Shelf Labels) project with a drugs­tore chain. What is special about this project?

Chris Harder: We have to inte­grate two diffe­rent tag manu­fac­tu­r­ers in one profile. In addi­tion, various adver­ti­sing mate­ri­als such as promo­tio­nal signs are to be atta­ched. In any case, the tags should only be able to be moved to a certain extent. With our univer­sal rail, we can solve these requi­re­ments very well.

How can it be preven­ted that the tags are simply stolen from the rails?

Chris Harder: A special unlo­cking mecha­nism allows the tags to be moved — but to remove them, the user must know how the mecha­nism works.