Digital Price Tags

Digital Price Tags, or Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL), are wireless displays. The primary use is to atomically and remotely update pricing. They run for years on a single battery due to the ultra-low power consumption of their ePaper technology.

Operational Efficiency

Digital price tags make pricing updates fast and accurate. The typical solution drives the updates from a central location. The true benefit comes when synchronizing pricing between the Point of Sale, digital marketing, and e-commerce platforms. Such a solution can scale the product count, number of stores, and campaign frequency. Networked updates allow marketing to work in a centralized location.

Flash Sales

Flash sales are promotions that run for a short time. Digital pricing tags help them by updating thousands an hour. It allows the store to run flash sales across many products simultaneously.

Price Optimization

Price optimization adjusts costs to maximize profit. Sticker prices that are too high reduce sales volume, while excessive discounts cut profit margins. Digital shelf labels automate the collection of analytic data. The following chart shows how the blue unit price changes with the green profit margin.

Price Elasticity

Price Elasticity measures how sales volumes change with price. Sensitive products react strongly to discounting. Inelastic ones benefit more from promotion. A digital shelf label makes it easier to collect elasticity data. The following chart shows an elastic product in blue and an inelastic in green.

Digital Shelf Label Technology

Digital shelf labels are not backlit displays. Instead, they use electronic paper to hold screen images indefinitely without consuming power. That allows them to run for years on a small battery. The power consumption mainly comes from updating the display. Frequent changes to the label reduce battery lifespan. Battery failure leaves the displayed image in place, but updates are no longer possible.
Most labels come with an LED light that can flash. The feature makes visually finding the display easier. There is a few seconds delay between sending the command to flash a light and when it starts flashing.
Digital shelf labels have a limited color pallet. The most common are black and white, plus either red or yellow. There is no color depth or shading to a pixel. Gray scale simulation is possible by turning some pixels on and others off. But that degrades resolution. Adding logos requires a graphic designer to rework the source image to fit the display capabilities.
Digital shelf labels range from 1.5 inches (3.5 cm) to 12 inches (30cm). Most stores buy a minimal number of sizes because they come in packages containing hundreds to thousands of devices. Reducing the range of sizes minimizes the time spent designing the display layout for each one. Retailers typically focus on petite sizes because they are more affordable and fit onto standard shelving.
Premium labels protect devices from harsher environments. They can work in refrigerators and withstand moisture. However, they are not waterproof and not for outdoor use.