Electronic Shelf Labels at Apotheke Am Borberg

October 29, 2021

Electronic Shelf Labels at Apotheke Am Borberg

Why did you choose electronic price labeling (ESL)?
Electronic price labeling has long been “state-of-the-art” in the retail sector. The innovative products in the field of ESL were until recently reserved only for this retail sector. After the study prepared by Saturn/Media-Markt, and the potential of ESL published therein, we also took a closer look at the topic again and first analyzed the time we needed for the complete process of pricing our products. Then we looked at innovative providers who also serve niches or small customers, who can serve interfaces to the common ERP systems and comply with all legal requirements relevant to us. Since we always rely on innovation and automation where it makes sense, it quickly became clear that the gain in flexibility and time for the employees alone would cover the costs, so that we could quickly decide on the implementation. Of course, design, customization options, display sizes and resolution, etc., but also the price, were criteria according to which we evaluated the providers and thus ended up at Delfi.

What do the employees think?
I always have to smile a little at this question and remember an article from the Harvard Business Manager. Is it the technical innovation or the social change that comes with the electronic labels and related topics that causes the enthusiasm or resistance to new things. In the beginning, we also had some concerns, which disappeared very quickly and now nobody wants to give away the automatic price labeling anymore.

Is there any feedback from customers?
Most customers didn’t notice it directly. However, with different sizes, colors and layouts, the clear and appealing type of price labeling attracted a lot of attention and there were some questions about the technology behind it. We also see that customers are more likely to stop and we can find a quick way to start a conversation.

"However, I can recommend that everyone take a look at the ESL live in a pharmacy of their choice, and personally I can't think of any reason not to switch to ESL."

Marcus A. Krause, authorized officer at Apotheke Am Borberg

What do you like best about the solution?
The flexibility to display current prices and price changes at any time through color, size and layout.

Why should other pharmacies use ESL?
Of course, it always depends on the pharmacy; the size of the dispensary, the number of products, the number of employees, the current price labeling system, the optical appearance of the pharmacy, etc. play a decisive role. However, I can recommend that everyone take a look at the ESL live in a pharmacy of their choice, and personally I can’t think of any reason not to switch to ESL.

Additional: Can the benefits of the “electronic price labeling” technology in the pharmacy be expressed in numbers, e.g. through increased sales, increased number of customers or more efficient use of staff?
We have also considered the monetary benefits. We measured the time required for price changes, new pricing or removal of old prices in the dispensary and converted this on average to a box of goods delivered. For us, the effort was 5 minutes per box on average. Leaving aside the material for thermal labels or adhesive labels, toner and extra printers, we calculated the duration of the labeling per box to one month and projected this onto the personnel costs. Even if we only consider half of the costs as savings here, this saving is higher than the monthly rent that we pay for the labels and is therefore also an advantage for us from a financial point of view, and we have not yet considered what can be achieved with the time gained. Fewer errors in labeling, speed in price changes or offers, etc. provide enough “food” for further calculations, if you want.