PANASONIC HELPS COSTCUTTER STORE STREAMLINE SHELF LABELLING TO IMPROVE SALES AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

The store sees a 100% reduction in human error, an 80% time saving on label updates, satisfied customers and an estimated increase in future turnover of up to 10%.

Bracknell, UK. 5th November 2020 – Panasonic has helped a busy franchise of the popular Costcutter chain of community stores to streamline its business and ensure customers are always aware of the latest price changes. By introducing Electronic Shelf Labelling (ESL), integrated to the central price management system, the store has seen a 100% reduction in human error, an 80% time saving on label updates, satisfied customers and an estimated increase in future turnover of up to 10%.

To ensure consistency in price matching, Costcutter sends a weekly update of price changes to its stores. Typically, this results in between 30-100 price changes for the Culverstone Green store, taking one staff member a full morning to update paper labels. In addition, Costcutter releases promotions once every three weeks, affecting between 200-300 items and taking three members of staff up to two days to complete. These updates often resulted in out of date shelf pricing and promotion information, additional stress and workload on staff and dissatisfied customers.

Panasonic worked with the store owner to identify a technology solution for the business and completed the installation in just one day. The ESL solution links into Costcutter Culverstones’ core price management system and is centrally controlled via a computer in the store. From the price management system, designated users can update the price of individual products. The system then automatically replicates this update by changing the electronic shelf label for the product on the shop floor.

Store owner Peter Juty said: "The system has really improved my store. My staff are more confident working on the tills because they are less worried about any errors between the shop floor price and the till price. They can now spend additional time on the customer's needs. The visual promotions have also influenced an increase in product purchases. The ESLs have pushed our promotional activity higher, in a day and age where this is even more important for the customers."

The estimated positive impact is a 10% increase in the store’s future turnover and a reduction in the time taken to achieve a return on investment on the ESL solution from 3 to 1.5 years.

Juty continued, "As we respond to the pandemic, the ESL system is already benefitting the store's social distancing policy. We have to restrict the number of customers and staff on the shop floor, and now that we don't require up to three people changing the prices, we have more room for our customers to come in. That's a major benefit for our customers' experience and our revenue.

To download the full Costcutter customer story, visit: https://eu.connect.panasonic.com/gb/en/case-studies/costcutter-streamlines-shelf-labelling-improve-sales-and-customer-experiences