Omnichannel
Transforming the retail experience with electronic shelf labels
Rather than jumping immediately to high-cost, flashy digital installations, electronic shelf labels allow brands to build a foundation rooted in customer trust, operational efficiency and visual clarity.
October 14, 2025 by Bryan Chan — Senior Director of Business Development, E Ink
In an era where customer expectations are evolving faster than store operations can keep up, one of the most overlooked frontiers of innovation is also one of the most visible: the retail shelf. Electronic shelf labels have emerged as critical technology for delivering a seamless, trusted and engaging in-store experience.
Historically, retailers in Europe and Asia led the way in ESL adoption, driven in part by higher labor costs, stricter pricing regulations and stronger sustainability mandates. Their early adoption was a proof point demonstrating the real value of digitizing the shelf edge. Since then, success in Europe has helped shape best practices for rollout, execution, and customer engagement.
Recent large-scale deployments by leading national retailers like Walmart suggest that the U.S. market is rapidly catching up. As return-on-investment windows shrink and the underlying technology matures, ESLs are becoming more accessible and appealing across formats — from grocery to mass retail to specialty chains.
From paper to digital: Building consumer trust with pricing integrity
Historically, paper price tags dominated retail environments. These paper tags required frequent manual updates from store associates, therefore opening the door to pricing inaccuracies and outdated promotions. We've seen this play out recently in the U.S. as a Consumer Reports investigation accused a national grocer of overcharging customers due to price tag errors. While it's hard to say that ESLs would've prevented this from happening outright, the situation does bring to light the risks of outdated pricing systems.
ESLs can help address this sort of inconsistency by enabling real-time updates, centralized control, and consistent promotional messaging across locations. They eliminate discrepancies between advertised and in-store pricing. This is especially beneficial during promotional campaigns — like holiday deals — often ripe for pricing errors, as inventory fluctuates. With ESLs, updates across thousands of products
spanning hundreds of stores can happen simultaneously, giving retailers peace of mind that what a customer sees is what they truly get.
What was once a passive, time-intensive component behind the shopping experience has become an active communication channel, empowering retailers to improve
accuracy, operational agility and ultimately trust.
Enabling simplicity behind the scenes
While the customer-facing benefits are clear, the operational improvements behind ESL adoption also directly enhance the shopper experience. With fewer manual updates
required, store associates are freed up to engage with customers, manage inventory, and maintain clean, organized aisles.
Another key benefit of ESLs is their sustainability. Traditional paper shelf tags create significant waste. One grocery aisle alone can have hundreds of labels. Multiply that by
every aisle in a store, and the amount of paper quickly adds up. These tags also need frequent updates, generating even more waste.
In contrast, ESL systems are energy-efficient thanks to their ePaper design, using power only when the display changes. Many can be deployed with minimal
infrastructure. Some even use solar power, eliminating the need for costly rewiring. This makes ESLs a more eco-friendly and accessible solution for retailers.
Creating the modern shopping experience customers expect
Brick-and-mortar stores are finding new ways to marry the digital and physical shopping experience. This 'phygital' space hinges on incorporating elements that support the omnichannel customer journey, and the shelf plays an important role.
As retailers explore in-store media networks, ESLs and digital shelf displays move beyond tools for pricing to additional touchpoints for brand storytelling and shopper engagement. For instance, brands may use shelf-edge screens to highlight product features, sustainability credentials, or cross-promotional bundles. The broader color functionality of ESLs today adds another visual element to communicate and engage
with customers — like red tags for clearance or yellow for special offers. Stores are no longer limited to a static paper system with two colors, black and white.
For customers navigating a large store for the first time or shopping in a hurry, clear, reliable signals can reduce friction and increase satisfaction while shopping in-store.
Imagine no longer having to track down a store associate to clarify a sticker price.
Additionally, from the perspective of retailers, the ability to update messaging across stores in real time offers new monetization opportunities while providing customers with richer, more relevant information where they need it most — right at the decision point.
The addition of digital shelf labels complements an omnichannel strategy that meets today's consumer expectations.
Keeping up with consumer and market pace
Speaking of expectations, shoppers want retail environments to reflect the same speed and personalization they've come to rely on online. ESLs make it possible for brick-and- mortar stores to match this pace and quick satisfaction by adjusting prices in response to supply, demand, local competition, market conditions or even weather.
For example, consider the uncertain tariff environment around the world at the moment. Retailers must have a flexible infrastructure in place to respond accordingly as conditions develop — such as the rising cost of coffee beans impacting ground coffee prices on store shelves. Having a more dynamic solution, like digital labels, allows retailers to react to these external factors more swiftly and efficiently.
Because these technologies are often integrated with broader merchandising and e- commerce systems, they support true operation-wide coordination. Whether it's a promotion launched online in the morning or a category-specific adjustment, price changes can be reflected on every relevant shelf in-store within minutes. No stickers, no delays.
As retailers evaluate their in-store technology roadmaps, ESLs offer a pragmatic and scalable starting point. Rather than jumping immediately to high-cost, flashy digital installations, ESLs allow brands to build a foundation rooted in customer trust, operational efficiency and visual clarity. And in today's competitive retail environment, that clarity is more valuable than ever.
About Bryan Chan
Bryan is the senior director of research development at E Ink. Bryan leads a group whose mission is to develop concepts and bring them to the market around E Ink technology, including retail. His deep understanding of various industries, individual customers' needs, technology trends, and complex value chains has allowed Bryan to bring cutting-edge products into varied industries such as consumer electronics, industrial, automotive, agriculture, banking, transportation, and retail.
