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Kroger tests digital shelf labels: Will it change life in the aisle?



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Kroger tests digital shelf labels: Will it change life in the aisle?

Kroger is testing a digital shelf label that could open the way to an entirely different set of shopping experiences – ones in which customers literally interact with the shelf when they’re looking at the product. These screens embedded in the shelf edge can deliver information as well as price, which is a big step up from the last generation of electronic labels.

So far, other shelf label experiments haven’t been very successful, but some valuable lessons have been learned from the failures.

Ownership is important. Earlier experiments were usually owned by third parties. It isn’t clear who actually owns this, but it is very clear that Kroger is invested.

Give it time. Many earlier tests were expected to produce results right out of the chute, and that’s hard to do.  Several years ago, we worked on a one-year test that wasn’t long enough; Kroger has been working on this idea for a long time.

It has to be durable. The store is a hostile and unforgiving environment, both on the shelf and for back room support systems. Previous trials couldn’t stand up to the wear and tear, but this one looks like it might be built to last.

Looks like it just might meet the requirements

The most valuable space in the store is the space that’s immediately adjacent to each product on the shelf. If Kroger deems its test successful enough to roll out to more stores, it could turn that space into a powerful shopper marketing tool – one that allows shoppers to engage when they want to and creates new opportunities for collaboration between retailers and product manufacturers.

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BlackBeltDavid Lubert said:
This will be interesting to follow to see how well this continues to be received by shoppers as it could open up interesting shopper engagement possibilities for Kroger on many fronts!
BlackBeltEdris Bemanian said:
It would be interesting to know what Kroger's success criteria for the test might be. Durability, of course. But are they able to track engagement and tie individual engagements to transactions?

Kroger continues to impress!
BlackBeltJohn Caron said:
Considering that shoppers ignore 99.3% of products/SKUs in a grocery store (a Catalina stat), why would they pay attention to a digital shelf label? This was a great idea before the smartphone. And, shoppers are smart. They perceive digital shelf tags (for pricing) as a retailer's way of quickly changing pricing... and not to the shopper's benefit.
Now, if you replaced these with smart beacons and a brilliantly designed mobile app that allowed for direct communication with the shopper, then you're on to something...
Alfred Lim said:
I for one can not wait to have this in our store. It would eliminate the stress and hours on hanging and replacing sale tags. Having to work extra hours spending time walking every single aisle. Talk about accuracy and no more discrepancy on the checkout.

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