Gebr. Heinemann

July 14, 2021

Gebr. Heinemann – new technology for Duty Free shops

Gebr. Heinemann, founded in 1879, has teamed up with the IT company Delfi Technologies to ensure a high level of productivity in the international airport shops. By introducing electronic shelf labels, Gebr. Heinemann can change prices and product information immediately in its airport shops all over the world.

As a top retailer on the international travel retail market, Gebr. Heinemann has a product range of international branded goods that is constantly growing. Due to alternating promotional activities and daily updated exchange rates between currencies, many changes of prices and product information are required in the airport shops. Heinemann has therefore implemented Breece System – an automatic pricing solution from Delfi Technologies with electronic shelf labels (ESL).

The main driver to implement an ESL solution was a specific situation that Gebr. Heinemann was facing with currencies in its outlet Budapest.

- With the use of ESL, we managed to save 1.3 million paper price tags in 2019, with 1.25 million solely in Budapest, and make the change of Special Offers and prices that need to be displayed based on daily exchange rates easier to handle for our colleagues in the shop.

Artem Engel, IT Consultant POS Solutions at Gebr. Heinemann

– In Budapest, we, as Gebr. Heinemann, decided to work with Euro as shop currency since Forint was underlying big variations. However, by law, we were required to display prices in Forint. Since Euro was the main currency in our shops, one of the consequences was that the prices in Forint were changing each day according to the daily exchange rate. Therefore, we were looking for a solution that allows us to easily update prices on a daily basis for a huge number of products, says Jennifer Faiss, Project Manager POS Solutions at Gebr. Heinemann.

ESL saves paper and minimizes effort for shop staff

Gebr. Heinemann also decided to introduce the ESL system in other outlets to display the prices for specific promotions that are only valid for a short time frame. By doing so, Gebr. Heinemann saves paper and minimizes the effort for its shop staff because the ESL displays automatically get updated while exchanging paper price tags would cost time.

– In most of our outlets, we use the ESL displays to indicate our Special Offer Prices. In each of our shops, we have a Special Offer section where we display products that are under a promotional activity for a defined time frame (usually 3 months). Every three months the products and prices in the Special Offer Section are changing, says Jennifer Faiss.

On the display itself, Gebr. Heinemann is displaying:

The saving in percentage
The promotional price
The product name and brand
The type of product
The price per liter / kilogram
The barcode and GH number
The Heinemann logo (depending on the size of the ESL)

Additionally, Gebr. Heinemann is using a red background on the ESLs to create more attention.

Innovative state-of-the-art technology

In international airports, Gebr. Heinemann operates Duty Free & Travel Value Shops, fashion label boutiques and concept stores as well as shops at border crossings and onboard cruise ships. The ESL system has also been implemented in recently opened shops in Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), in the capital of Germany.

– Our newest outlet is in BER, the new airport in our capital city, and we definitely wanted to use innovative technology and state-of-the-art products, says Jennifer Faiss.

Integrated to SAP ERP system

The ESL solution is integrated with SAP, which is the ERP system at Gebr. Heinemann. By making any changes for items in SAP, the displays in the shops get updated automatically in real-time.

– Setting a start date for each price in SAP ERP gives us the opportunity to plan upcoming changes of special offers or price changes some time ahead. On the defined start date, the ESL will then be updated with the new price without any additional manual effort, explains Artem Engel, IT Consultant POS Solutions at Gebr. Heinemann and continues:

– With the use of ESL, we managed to save 1.3 million paper price tags in 2019, with 1.25 million solely in Budapest, and make the change of Special Offers and prices that need to be displayed based on daily exchange rates easier to handle for our colleagues in the shop.

Partnership between Gebr. Heinemann and Delfi Technologies

Gebr. Heinemann and Delfi Technologies have had a close partnership for many years. About the partnership, Artem Engel explains the following:

– Within Delfi, we have dedicated and reliable contact persons that are very responsive and cooperative, helping us to solve any issue very quickly. Also, they proactively inform us about any new developments and technologies that we could use to make the experience and operation of our shops easier. That’s a big benefit for us and we are really happy about the good cooperation.

About Gebr. Heinemann

Gebr. Heinemann is one of the top retails and wholesalers on the international travel retail market and the leader on the European market. It is the only family-run business among the global players of the travel retail industry. Gebr. Heinemann operates Duty Free & Travel Value Shops, fashion label boutiques under license and concept stores at international airports as well as shops at border crossings and onboard cruise ships.