Electronic shelf labeling to free up more time for customer care

DIGITAL SIGNAGE TO FREE UP MORE TIME FOR CUSTOMER CARE

December 14, 2019

Electronic shelf labeling to free up more time for customer care

With the goal of being able to free up more time for advisory customer care while managing campaigns and prices on a completely different level, the CF Group, which is part of XL-BYG, has chosen to introduce electronic shelf labeling with Delfi Technologies as partner and supplier. The implementation will take place in May 2018 – but already now, the employees are full of anticipation.

The day before the Christmas party at XL-BYG in Køge, Jes Gravesen, CEO of the XL-BYG CF Group, which has five stores on Zealand, announced that electronic price tags will be introduced in spring 2018.

– The response was overwhelming, especially from the staff who have daily contact with customers in the stores. Our staff currently spend a lot of time printing shelf labels, taking down old ones and putting up new ones – they will soon be able to use that time to serve customers instead. The employees who have direct contact with customers expressed great satisfaction and joy that in the future they will be able to spend more time with customers instead of interning, says Jes Gravesen.

The idea of introducing electronic shelf labels is not new, but according to Jes, the time has not been right until now. For several years, Denmark has been afraid of investment as a result of the financial crisis and this has prevented the XL-BYG CF Group from investing, like most other companies in the country. But things are going well in the construction and DIY industry and there is now enough profit to make the investments that have been dreamed of in recent years.

– Now we think the time is ripe to realize the dream of electronic shelf labels and we now have the surplus to invest internal IT resources in the project. The goal of giving our employees the opportunity for more customer focus and, last but not least, strengthening the overall customer experience, is crucial to our decision, Jes says expectantly.

"The goal of empowering our employees to be more customer focused, and last but not least, strengthening the overall customer experience, is crucial to our decision."

Jes Gravesen, Managing Director of XL-BYG CF Group

UPDATED PRICING ENHANCES THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

According to Jes, there is nothing that can ruin an otherwise good customer experience like if the price in the store does not match the price to be paid at the checkout. It doesn’t happen often in XL-BYG, but it’s annoying for all parties when it finally happens.

When XL-BYG has campaigns announced for Saturday, for example, the staff start replacing the small paper labels on the shelf labels in the store as early as Friday afternoon. This means that the store actually starts the campaign half a day earlier each time – and with the risk that those who use Saturday to buy the promotional offer could miss out because the goods are sold out.

– Fortunately, this scenario is very rare, but a real risk we must do everything we can to avoid. The staff also spend a lot of resources replacing paper labels at a time when we also have a lot of customers – which is by no means optimal. With the electronic price labeling, we can change the price of the selected promotional items on Saturday morning just before opening hours and at the same time have a clear conscience towards the customers who chose to visit our DIY store on Friday afternoon,” says Jes.

In the future, it will be possible to plan campaigns and price changes without the time factor of printing and replacing paper labels. An initiative that makes work for employees, management and suppliers much more flexible than before.

ELECTRONIC SHELF LABELING IS ALSO A CSR INITIATIVE

The vast majority of companies relate to more than themselves, they are also able to consider the environment, vulnerable groups in society and other societal challenges. Electronic price labeling in this context is also part of the XL-BYG CF Group’s CSR initiatives.

– Just as we have changed some of our business processes and procedures to be environmentally friendly, the switch from paper to electronic shelf labels is another initiative that supports our goal of being more environmentally friendly. I’m not sure exactly what the amount of paper for our shelf labels is, but it will be reduced to zero when we complete the implementation in May 2018,” says Jes.

In addition to the XL-BYG CF Group having a natural interest in being a responsible company, the company is also experiencing an increasing demand to be able to document the fulfillment of its CSR strategies; especially when you – as the XL-BYG CF Group – are a supplier of building materials for numerous projects in public procurement.