How to Use Electronic Shelf Labels as Part of Your Marketing Strategy?

• Using ESL to enhance store appeal
• Using ESL for discounts and promo announcements
• Using ESL for customer service
• Using ESL to give customers a premium shopping experience
• Using ESL to modernize store operations by offering cashless transactions
• Using ESL to show the target audience that your store is environmentally conscious

One of the most obvious ways to use electronic shelf labels as part of your marketing strategy is by capitalizing on their sleek and modern design. Depending on the ESL provider, digital labels may come in different colors and sizes, but all of them will surely have an appearance that is more pleasing than that of an ordinary paper shelf label. 

The designs of ESLs alone can largely contribute to the store’s aesthetic and attract potential shoppers, but retailers can take it up a notch by customizing their ESL. This can be done in two ways: by using the ESL’s full-graphic display and by using stickers. SOLUM’s Newton LITE, for example, has a case with a sticker bevel that retailers can use for both decoration and branding.

Traditionally, retail stores use big cardboard or laminated signage for discounts, promos, clearance sales, or new arrival announcements. Having ESL, however, provides a more efficient way of guiding customers around the store during a sale. 

Aside from using the digital labels’ e-paper display to tell customers if the item on the shelf has a discount or is a new arrival, retailers can use the ESL’s blinking Light Emitting Diodes (LED). Newton labels are built with LED that can blink in 7 colors. With this feature, retailers can assign the ESL on discounted items to blink red lights or assign the ESL on new arrival items with blue lights.

Retailers can also use electronic shelf labels as part of their marketing strategy by using Newton’s programmable buttons. The two buttons at the side of Newton ESLs can be configured to set as an alert to nearby store staff so customers can click both or one of the buttons in case they need assistance regarding the items on that part of the shelf. The shoppers no longer need to look around the store for staff, hence improving customer service. Moreover, this can help in customer retention. In a study, 96% of customers say that customer service is one of the most important things they consider when being loyal to a brand.

One of SOLUM’s clients, SUNKA, partnered with SOLUM because they believe that Newton ESLs can elevate the shopping experience their hypermarket can provide to customers. This is another marketing strategy where ESLs are used to attract shoppers that are looking for a different type of shopping experience compared to what average retail stores provide.

Adapting to the current shopping trends of the new generation of consumers is a must for many retailers. And since the young consumers often practice and prefer cashless transactions, retailers can use the NFC-tapping features of electronic shelf labels as part of their marketing strategy to attract younger customers. Newton labels are one of the ESLs in the market that has NFC-tapping capability that allows customers to conduct cashless transactions.

Another modern marketing strategy ESL can be used is by enhancing the retailer’s branding image as an environmentally conscious company. When Electronic Shelf Labels are used to replace paper shelf labels, the store becomes part of the movement on saving trees. The amount of paper waste caused by repeatedly changing labels during price updates is eliminated once the store shifts to ESL. Additionally, since ESL is powered by batteries, not by the store’s electricity, it does not increase the store’s electric consumption. And since Newton ESL batteries have 7-10 years of battery life, they don’t need constant replacing, thereby decreasing the store’s carbon footprint.

There are many ways how to use electronic shelf labels as part of your marketing strategy as ESL can do more than just digitize your price display and updates. There are also several models and variants of ESL that retailers can take advantage of depending on what kind of marketing strategy they want to focus on. If you’d like to know more about how installing ESL in your store can become part of your marketing strategy, contact us and we’ll gladly discuss this with you!