Retail Accessories for Electronic Shelf Labels and Where to Use Them

For retail businesses to succeed, they often have to implement certain technologies, retail equipment, and accessories. These will help strengthen the retail operations, as well as enhance the overall customer experience and satisfaction. There are even specific retail accessories used by retail stores to implement their electronic shelf labels or ESL. So, where do they use these ESL accessories?

In the context of retail operations and technology, retail accessories refer to various tools, equipment, and solutions that make everything easier for the retail staff. These retail accessories are used to facilitate and enhance the overall retail experience, streamline operations, and improve efficiency. When all are utilized correctly, retail accessories in a retail environment can help businesses grow.

Retail accessories can encompass a wide range of items, both hardware and software, that are employed in the day-to-day functioning of a retail business.

Here are some examples of retail accessories:

• Point of Sale (POS) Systems: POS systems are crucial retail accessories that include hardware like cash registers, barcode scanners, receipt printers, and software that enables transactions and tracks sales.
• Inventory Management Systems: Retailers often use technology to manage their inventory efficiently. This includes barcode scanners, RFID systems, and other solutions that help track stock levels, reorder products, and manage supply chains.
• Security Systems: Surveillance cameras, alarm systems, and electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags are accessories used to enhance the security of a retail store, prevent theft, and monitor activities.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems: These tools help retailers manage customer information, track preferences, and personalize the shopping experience. This can include loyalty cards and programs, customer feedback systems, and data analytics.
• Mobile Devices: Tablets and smartphones are increasingly used as accessories in retail operations. Sales associates might use them for mobile POS, inventory checks, and providing information to customers on the sales floor.
• Queue Management Systems: Queue management systems are technologies that help manage and optimize the flow of customers in and out of the store. This reduces wait times and improves the overall customer experience.
• Digital Signage: Digital displays and interactive kiosks can serve as effective tools for advertising, promotions, and providing information about products and services.
• Payment Processing Accessories: Beyond traditional cash registers, retailers use various payment accessories. This includes card readers, contactless payment systems, and mobile payment options.
• Customer Feedback Devices: Devices like survey kiosks or digital feedback forms that allow customers to provide feedback on their shopping experience.
• Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL): ESLs are digital or electronic price tags that can be updated remotely, replacing traditional paper tags. They provide retailers with the ability to change prices quickly and accurately without manual intervention.
• Electronic Shelf Label Accessories: ESL devices might need additional accessories as well. These accessories enhance the use of ESL and make it easier for retailers to adjust and streamline their day-to-day operations.

All these retail accessories play a crucial role in retail operations, especially in the modern world. Together, they will help businesses stay competitive, improve customer satisfaction, and adapt to the evolving landscape of the retail industry.

Electronic shelf labels (ESL) are digital labels used in retail environments to replace traditional paper price tags on store shelves. And while ESLs themselves are the primary components, there are supporting accessories associated with their implementation and usage.

ESL accessories are retail accessories specifically designed for electronic shelf labels in retail environments. These accessories will simplify ESL integration, price updates, daily functions, battery replacements, and more.

Some ESL accessories include software platforms, communication infrastructure, sensors, mobile devices, mounting hardware, and more.

For ESLs like the SOLUM Newton labels, the additional ESL accessories are usually for mounting, display, and the daily function of the ESLs. This is because SOLUM labels already come with their own label management system called Aims. Aims provides a platform for retailers where they can oversee hundreds of digital labels, facilitate the assignment and updating of prices, manage inventory, and more.

SOLUM label accessories will help store and display ESLs in various retail settings. These are tools that will help retail staff with mounting or taking down labels, completing price updates, and more.

Here are common electronic shelf label accessories from SOLUM:

1. Rails

Rails are used to place ESL on shelves and other surfaces. Most of the railings come with hinges to allow movement or oscillation. This gives flexibility and ease of use to SOLUM’s interactive ESL features.

Rails come in 14 variations, most of which can also be customized when it comes to length and color. This is to provide maximum style, identity, and usage for the retailer. SOLUM created rail ESL accessories for various kinds of shelves, including glass, wood, and more. These rails allow easier access and movement and help protect the actual ESL devices from dust, any outward impact, or more.

2. Adapter

While railings can hold multiple ESLs in a single unit, adapters are the ideal choice for retailers that need to showcase or display ESLs individually. As label accessories, SOLUM’s Adapter comes in 29 variations. This allows for versatile and flexible ESL display options in a retail environment.

Adapters include table or inclined supports, clips, peg hooks, hanging hooks, clips for shelves, easels, easel stands, hanging brackets, and more. Retailers will be able to use these ESL accessories for the labels on bulky products, delicate items, and other unconventionally sized products for sale.

3. Beeper

SOLUM ESL Beeper, on the other hand, is for the daily display and use of ESL devices. This is a multi-purpose tool retailers can use to immediately wake up labels for price updates, flip through the multiple pages of the label, and check the work status of each label.

The SOLUM Beeper comes in two variations, depending on the connectivity used by the retailers. They can use NFC-based Beeper (near-field communication) or RF-based (radio frequency).

Electronic shelf label solutions are commonly used in a variety of retail environments. This means that ESL devices and their associated accessories are particularly popular in settings where dynamic pricing, rapid updates, and efficient information management are essential.

Some of the types of retail stores that frequently adopt ESLs include:

1. Supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores - ESLs are widely used in grocery stores and supermarkets to display prices for a vast array of products. They enable quick and accurate updates, particularly useful in an environment where prices may change frequently. Supermarkets, groceries, and convenience stores can use rails and beepers, which are ideal ESL accessories for the actual shelves.
2. Apparel and fashion retailers - Clothing stores use ESLs to display prices for individual garments or accessories. They allow for easy updates during sales events, promotions, or seasonal changes. These retail environments can make use of rails and adapters to showcase various types of clothes and merchandise for their shoppers.
3. Specialty stores - Stores specializing in specific product categories, such as sporting goods, outdoor equipment, or pet supplies, can benefit from ESLs to manage prices for diverse product lines. And because this type of store has a diverse product catalog, they make use of rails and adapters (such as clips, hooks, and easel stands) as their ESL accessories.
4. Pharmacies and drugstores - ESLs can be found in pharmacies and drugstores, where they help display prices for a wide range of pharmaceuticals, health and beauty products, and other items. ESL accessories like rails and beepers are used in these stores as most products are on shelves and the ESL pages contain a wealth of information that needs to be checked by the staff.

Do you think you need these ESL accessories for your retail store? Talk to SOLUM experts now and find out how you can bring these to your retail operations!