James Hall & Co. Ltd is marking the milestone 50th Spar North of England store to have Electronic Shelf Edge Labels (ESELs) installed.
The company has reached 50 stores in its roll out in just over 18 months as high demand from independent retailers has driven a rapid programme of installation of the digital displays.
Two thirds of the 50 stores to have had ESELs fitted are independent retailers, and they range from single site stores through to multi-site forecourt and non-forecourt operators.
Spar North of England retailers have quickly understood the benefits of the innovative solutions ESELs deliver in the convenience retail environment with James Hall & Co. Ltd using SOLUM’s wireless communication technologies and devices for its roll out.
Benefits include the display of more accurate pricing, significant time savings during price changeover periods, a reduction in paper usage, and clean and bright shelf edges. ESELs also enhance the customer shopping experience and can display more product information – especially fruit and vegetable specific lines.
The ESEL system works at the push of a button when the retailer sends any prices changes from the back-office IT system in-store to the till. Prices are then communicated wirelessly with a gateway device fixed onto the ceilings of stores, and this in turn sends a signal to the ESELs to deliver the price changes within seconds.
ESELs are available in a range of sizes as alternatives to conventional convenience store POS. These include the standard size digital shelf edge label which can display a single price in black and white or can vibrantly display promotional mechanics with colours – in the case of Spar North of England, this could be its ongoing Price Locked promotion or Spar Rewards scheme.
The standard size shelf edge labels can also be split in half to accurately price single faced products in tightly merchandised areas like herbs and spices, while freezer versions of standard digital shelf edge labels are available to withstand sub-zero temperatures.
Small versions of digital shelf edge labels are also an option to be implemented in tightly ranged areas of shelving, while stack card sized ESELs similar in size to POS traditionally found in alcohol sections, sit on stands with feet to elevate them from the floor.
ESELs in a similar size to a half shelf barker POS have also been introduced in Spar North of England stores purely dedicated to highlight items on promotion or as part of a deal.
Shaun Chandler is a director of Chandler Retail Ltd, whose family business at Spar Pateley Bridge in North Yorkshire has become the 50th Spar North of England store to have ESELs fitted. He said: “A huge thank you to the team at James Hall & Co. Ltd for implementing our new shelf edge labels. The install went like clockwork and the IT team we had on site were great.
“The ambition was to enhance the appearance of our store and save time and money with price changeovers going forward now we can do these electronically. We are very impressed with the labels which are easy to use and look appealing, particularly the chalkboard style ESELs which really work well in our community store in our fresh produce area.”
Lawrence Hunt & Co. Ltd have ESELs installed at 10 of the business’ 22 Spar stores. Jack Hunt, Retail Development Director, said: “We wanted to improve pricing accuracy, reduce labour spent on ticket changes, and decrease printing costs. ESELs offered the perfect solution to streamline operations and stores can do price changes at 6.45am before we have even opened.
“ESELs deliver a modern, professional feel to our stores which feel cleaner and tidier, and the integration of a deal mechanic onto the ESEL is a bonus as it is clear to both customer and staff member. As a multi-site retailer, the more we install ESELs, the more they are visible to customers who leave with the impression that you are forward thinking and competitive.”
Justin Entwistle, managing director of Darin Ltd, installed ESELs into his forecourt Spar store in Hambleton, Lancashire. He said: “I invested in ESELs as I believe they are the future and Spar through James Hall & Co. Ltd is ahead of the curve in this area.
“The digital displays look superb, and my prices and deals are always displayed correctly. As I can now implement price or deal changes at the click of a mouse, this has saved my retail team a minimum of eight hours of work every week which equates to a cost saving of thousands of pounds annually.”
Peter Dodding, sales director at James Hall & Co. Ltd and chair of the Spar Northern Guild, said: “We recognised that ESELs would be popular when we introduced into our comprehensive package of support for Spar independent retailers, but the uptake in ESEL installations has been fantastic and has exceeded our expectations.
“With the rapidly changing convenience retail sector, retailers have really embraced the strengths of ESELs. From single store to multi-site, Spar independent retailers are reaping the benefits operationally of investing in SOLUM’s solutions that we at James Hall & Co. Ltd are delighted to offer them.”
James Hall & Co. Ltd is a fifth-generation family business which serves a network of independent SPAR retailers and company-owned Spar stores across Northern England six days a week from its base at Bowland View in Preston.
