Asda has completed the rollout of electronic shelf edge labels (eSELs) into every Asda Express convenience store, as the supermarket continues to invest in technology across its estate.
Working with Vusion and its partners, Renovotec and HL Display, Asda has invested over £7.5m to install over 1.2 million electronic shelf labels (ESLs) across Asda’s 517 Express stores.
The technology has replaced the task of manually swapping out over 120,000 paper price tickets per week. The staff will no longer manually change shelf-edge prices, meaning teams can better use their time to serve customers, improve availability and maintain store standards, states Asda.
The new label also allows clearer display of pricing, unit cost, weight and promotional information, helping colleagues more easily answer customer queries at the shelf edge.
Customers will also benefit from additional ingredient and allergen information on products such as bakery items, so they can make informed choices.
Matt Harrison, Director - Asda Express central operations, said: “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. It’s another example of how we’re modernising our stores to improve the shopping experience for customers.”
Roy Horgan, UK&I CEO at Vusion said: “We are proud to have reached this milestone with Asda, and we look forward to continuing our partnership, building on this strong foundation to further improve the in-store experience for all.”
As part of the rollout, Asda has introduced Vusion’s new 2.6” electronic shelf edge label, offering a higher quality screen and making it easier to read for colleagues and customers.
The news comes as Asda is trialling shelf-edge availability cameras in five of its larger stores, prior to a wider rollout in the coming months. The technology continuously monitors shelves and can identify gaps, out-of-stocks, low stock levels and products that have been placed in the wrong location.
When an issue is detected, colleagues receive a notification so they can replenish stock more quickly, helping to keep shelves full and products available for customers.