There isn’t much in our day-to-day lives that hasn’t been impacted by technology. This now includes the retail store. In fact, even the retail shelf is becoming digitally powered. If retail shelf technology will be commonplace in the future, what does this mean for branding?
The technology
Shelfies by Edge Media are digital screens that attach to retail shelves. They can play ads and promotions that capture the customer’s attention at the moment they’re making a buying decision. There is no charge for retailers to use Shelfies. Edge Media provide and maintain the screens, and brands pay to use them for their advertising.
This makes them an attractive proposition for stores. They also save space compared to traditional in-store branding exercises like cardboard floor stands.
Displaydata is one of several companies developing electronic shelf labels. Like Shelfies, they can attach to retail shelves but rather than promotions they display prices and product information.
Another digital innovation impacting the retail store comes from Cooler Screens. Supermarket cooler aisles are typically designed with clear glass doors so that customers can see the products as they pass by.
Cooler Screens replaces the glass door with an interactive digital display which can show everything from ads to products and prices. Prices can dynamically change to highlight sales and offers. Customers can even access additional information like nutrition and reviews.
How will retail shelf technology change branding?
There are a number of ways retail shelf technology may impact branding. In the short-term, it highlights the importance of packaging design that works digitally as well as physically.
Design that works at different sizes is also vital. There isn’t a lot of real estate on a retail shelf edge, so digital advertising technology like Shelfies will have the most impact for products with distinct and recognisable branding.
Cooler Screens also highlights the need for branding that customers can quickly identify in digital form. Compared to Shelfies though, Cooler Screens relies on digital representations of product packaging, which presents a new consideration for packaging designers.
Longer-term, retail shelf technologies present a new channel for communicating with customers. In the case of digital labels like those from Displaydata, the technology could enhance traditional on-package branding.
Digital labels provide an opportunity to tell customers more about a product than can typically fit onto product packaging. This includes information about origin, manufacturing or growing processes, and product benefits.
They can also be used to promote recent award wins or other accolades which would require a redesign and reprint of physical packaging. Digital labels can even enable customers to bring up reviews and further information via scannable QR codes or barcodes.
As such, there’s an opportunity for companies to simplify their on-package branding to focus on maximum visual impact and recognition, rather than trying to fit in all the information about a product.
Retail shelf technology has the potential to bring digital branding into the physical store right at the point of sale. It could enhance buying decisions by giving customers the additional information they need to make a purchase, without overloading packaging.
By Cate Trotter, Head of Trends at Insider Trends, London
