Making the case for electronic shelf labels

Retailer bottom line: The shelf has always been where retailers earn customer trust. Electronic shelf labels ensure that trust is built on accuracy, not undermined by outdated paper systems that regularly fail. 

If you’ve shopped at a grocery store recently, you might have noticed something different: digital displays on shelves instead of paper price tags. These electronic shelf labels, also called digital shelf labels, were once a niche technology in European and Asian markets but have now evolved into a global phenomenon. 

The reason is simple: Paper tags are an outdated, inefficient method of displaying prices on shelves. They require significant employee hours to update and can result in pricing discrepancies at checkout. ESLs ensure the price on the shelf matches the price at the register including discounts or rollbacks. 

Still, some state legislators are now debating whether to ban electronic shelf labels entirely, often based on myths concerning job impacts. Before policymakers make that decision, it’s worth understanding what these labels actually do — and don’t do. 

Electronic labels aren’t new or unusual. At restaurant drive-throughs, digital menu boards display prices, promotions and product information. At gas stations, prices update digitally as fuel costs frequently change. 

For stores, managing price updates across hundreds of thousands of items is a tedious process that can take days to complete. Electronic shelf labels allow retailers to use the same technology other industries already employ to make updates, including rollbacks and promotions, in minutes. They are always monitored by human beings — store managers and pricing teams oversee all price changes. 

The labels are a communication tool, not a decision-making system. Here’s what they don’t do. 

1. ESLs don’t enable surge pricing or constant changes.

It’s important to remember that prices are the same for all customers in any given store and are consistent regardless of demand, time of day or who is shopping. Associates review and push approved changes through a secure system, typically outside of shopping hours, so prices remain stable and consistent. 

2. ESLs don’t track customers.

Electronic shelf labels operate on a closed system and do not interact with shoppers or collect any information about them. There’s nothing like a camera or microphone in them — they just display prices. 

3. ESLs don’t collect personal data.

There’s no customer data involved. Electronic shelf labels show the same information to everyone looking at the shelf. 

What’s more, electronic shelf labels offer solutions to some issues policymakers — and consumers — care about such as pricing accuracy, environmental waste and worker efficiency. They deliver what consumer protection laws already demand in the form of transparent, consistent prices that match at checkout. ESLs also provide employees with tools that eliminate tedious tasks so they can focus on other priories. 

Implementing electronic shelf labels helps retailers ensure accuracy and reliability, an important step to establishing credibility with customers.

Learn more about digital shelf labels in NRF’s explainer video.