By Stefan Spendrup, VP of sales, Northern and Western Europe at SOTI and Colby Kavannagh, senior VP marketing, at Seagull Software
The online and physical retail worlds are continuing to transform, with customers viewing a fluid, tech enhanced cross-platform shopping experience with a retailer as essential. Recent SOTI research shows that 90% of today’s consumers choose to shop with the same brand both in-store and online, highlighting how these channels must now work as complementary, as opposed to competing parts of the retail experience.
Consumers expect a seamless shopping experience that blends digital convenience with physical engagement. However, they are also increasingly choosing where to buy based on context and ease, rather than loyalty to a single channel. According to SOTI’s report, half of consumers say they shop online to avoid crowds or travel, while 54% cite convenience and price as key drivers.
Additionally, 44% of consumers turn to online shopping for better product availability, however, over two thirds prefer in-store shopping to see, touch and try items firsthand, before they buy. Another 3 in 5 want to avoid delivery wait times and 43% report they are less likely to return items if they shop in-store. Meanwhile, more than a third enjoy the in-store atmosphere: browsing with friends or engaging with staff.
These results reveal that the in-store experience remains key for the modern shopper, despite the benefits that online platforms can deliver. However, at a time when technology is also everywhere in-store, there is still often confusion, disconnect and worse still, chaos at the checkout when this technology is inconsistent or faulty.
Enhancing in-store experiences with label accuracy
One key hurdle at the in-store self-checkout is the inconsistency of label quality and data accuracy causing scanners to not pick up the correct information or fail to scan completely due to label quality. This results in customers needing to spend longer at these “quicker” self-service areas and can result in customers mistrusting the technology, therefore impacting adoption. With customers also prioritising speed at the checkout, and shoppers often completing purchases under time pressures, this issue is compounded by the need to exit the store and therefore risks basket abandonment.
There are four distinct different product labels used to fulfil unique roles for businesses:
- Brand labels for marketing purposes
- Descriptive and informative labels specifically essential for food labels and allergies
- Regulatory labels for compliance
- Tracking labels such as barcodes for product location and supply chain fulfilment purposes
With compliance and regulation changes fluctuating across regions, impacting long-term planning activities, and accurate and timely updates being crucial for day-to-day business operations, this range of product labels result in a further layer of complexity for retailers.
Equally, customers choosing click-and-collect services need to know when their products will arrive in-store for collection, so being able to supply this information to them is an essential part of the wider buyer journey – as well as for the organisations involved in the sales and shipping process.
For today’s retailers, this means transforming product identity into item level intelligence. This enables teams to digitise assets, automate workflows, harness data driven insights and increase operational intelligence and resilience across supply chains.
Crucial to this process is ensuring the right label is used for its intended purpose. Inaccurate labels can mean incorrect pricing, allergy information or use-by dates, resulting in customer frustration, eroded trust and safety concerns. This can leave retailers vulnerable to revenue losses and legal challenges from disgruntled customers, as well as auditing issues and fines for non-compliance with industry standards.
The interplay of label management and in-store tech
Food labelling is complex, with specialist labelling software providers required to be particularly diligent in ensuring the latest global and regional food standards are applied to their systems. This means that all associated consumers can rely on retailer labelling solutions for accurate details to be displayed and ultimately scanned by consumers on demand.
This challenge sits within an environment where expectations for in-store tech is rising, with the same SOTI report finding over half of global consumers want to see more technology enhanced shopping. Some retailers have risen to this challenge through technologies like handheld scanners. These devices enable customers to self-serve even further, enhancing the speed of footfall, helping provide savings at checkout for cost-conscious shoppers and ultimately satisfying the tech savvy consumer expectations.
However, the impact of these technologies going wrong can be significant. Imagine if labels didn’t print out on the shop floor or inaccurate details were on the shelves. If a handheld scanner couldn’t scan an item after four attempts, would goods be put back onto the shelves? Would customers call for assistance or would items be bagged and not paid for? There is a wealth of issues associated with self-service behaviours, with the quality and clarity of the label, and the details it contains being scanned and read accurately serving as a potential tipping point on whether a sale goes through.
Labelling security through an integrated system
The success of these in-store technologies can be secured, however, because of the sophisticated blend of front-end and back-end systems synchronising over decades. This includes the correct, up-to-date labels incorporating all required brand, descriptive, regulatory and tracking details, as well as printers used for accurate label management and printing.
Efficient printing processes and reliable device management are crucial for the smooth and successful operation of companies in the transport and logistics and retail sectors. By integrating reliable systems for mobile printer and industry printer management, alongside intelligent label software, retailers can ensure a comprehensive full circle solution that increases productivity, minimises downtime and enhances efficiency across stores.
