Digital pricing to fix ‘broken’ convenience model

Convenience retailers have the opportunity to be “at the forefront” of digital pricing and address common pricing issues.

Digital pricing is the use of electronic labels to automatically update prices through an in-store computer system, and Roy Horgan, UK CEO of electronic price tag company SES-imagotag, says it removes the legal and customer confidence issues of incorrect pricing, reduces waste, saves staff time and even changes customer behaviour through time-specific deals.

Commenting on the current system, Horgan told Retail Express: “Most convenience retailers work on a three-week promotion cycle. It’s the industry standard and we think it is broken. Customers get bored, there are no surprises and they don’t match the change in customer buying patterns at different times of the day.”

Giving an example of how digital pricing can improve retail sales for shop owners, he said: “Just like convenience retailers will change their baked goods offering in the morning and the afternoon, digital pricing gives retailers the power to tailor deals to different customers at different times of the day.”

While digital pricing is an industry standard in other European countries, such as France, in the UK it can be found in less than 1% of supermarkets. Horgan said this gives UK independents a rare opportunity. “Convenience store owners could be at the forefront of digital pricing,” he said. “While rolling out digital pricing across large format retail estates like supermarkets is expensive, convenience stores can take an extremely low-cost ‘lego approach’ – introducing it bit by bit on key categories, such as food to go.”

In its current collaboration with Spar and Eat 17, SES-imagotag claims to have reduced waste by 30%. Susan Connolly told Retail Express that the system had also helped improve staff morale and reduce the impact of wage increases by removing time spent checking and changing price labels.