Asda completes electronic shelf label rollout across all UK Express stores
Key takeaways
- Asda has completed a £7.5 million rollout of more than 1.2 million electronic shelf labels across its 517 Express stores in the UK.
- The ESLs replace manual paper price changes, helping store staff improve efficiency while displaying pricing, promotions, and product information.
- The rollout reflects growing adoption of digital shelf technology across retail.
(Image credit: Asda).UK retailer Asda has completed the rollout of electronic shelf edge labels (ESLs) across all 517 Express stores, following its collaboration with Vusion and its partners, Renovotec and HL Display.
Asda has invested over £7.5 million (US$10.2 million) to install over 1.2 million ESLs, replacing the task of manually swapping out over 120,000 paper price tickets per week. ESLs are said to enable clearer display of pricing, unit cost, weight, and promotional information.
Matt Harrison, director at Asda Express central operations, says: “Completing the rollout of electronic shelf edge labels across our entire Express estate is a major milestone. By removing manual pricing tasks, we’re freeing up time for colleagues to focus on serving customers and keeping store standards high.”
Boosting efficiency
Asda has introduced Vusion’s 2.6-inch electronic shelf edge label, which features a high-quality screen that is easy for shop workers and customers to read.
The retailer shares that with the ESLs, shop workers no longer need to change shelf-edge prices and can use more time to serve customers, improve availability, and maintain store standards. Customers can also benefit from additional ingredient and allergen information on products such as bakery items.
Roy Horgan, UK and Ireland CEO at Vusion, says: “We look forward to continuing our partnership, building on this foundation to further improve the in-store experience for all.”
Earlier this year, Vusion joined forces with Walmart of Mexico and Central America to deploy the EdgeSense connected store platform across its Walmart Express stores in the region.
Previously, Packaging Insights spoke to Vusion about the growing expansion of e-services in the digital marketplace.
ESL technology deployment is increasing in the EU market. This year, Solum, a spin-off from Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Competera, an AI-driven pricing solution provider, also expanded their partnership to further connect AI-driven pricing intelligence with real-time ESL execution across retail networks.
Last month, Solum supplied ESLs to German pet retailer Kölle Zoo, supporting the digitalization of its store operations.
However, responding to the acceleration of the technology, many US consumers expressed support for the US to ban surveillance pricing and ESLs in grocery stores, according to a poll from this year. Many consumers worried that ESLs would enable corporations to utilize AI and algorithms to set prices based on shoppers’ personal data, the weather, or a variety of factors.
