ZBD Solutions

POPAI's Innovation Conference

I was fortunate to attend and speak at the POPAI (Point of Purchase Advertising International) Innovations Conference which had in excess of 50 attendees ranging from POP suppliers, brands and retailers.

The audience received nine presentations in 3 hours based on solutions for in store communication and merchandising to the food and non-food retail sectors.

It was interesting to see suppliers continually working to reduce the environmental impact of operations, as well as developing product ranges with sound environmental credentials.  Everyone working to create a whole new retail experience.

From sustainable backlighting systems, decorative print finishes and digital signage to suppliers of interactive screen content, complemented by a presentation from our partner, Pierhouse, based on the accuracy and relevance of in store messaging using net.tickIT and outputting to ZBD's electronic shelf labels.

ZBD’s epaper for retail solution was extremely well received and created many conversations afterwards regarding opportunities in this sector.  The key messages received were that they believed the solution would save time, money and greatly improve the customer experience.

Overall the Conference provided an opportunity to present, exchange ideas and experiences and was very positive for ZBD, reinforcing the high levels of interest we're receiving in our electronic shelf labels currently.

Lynne Kahr
Sales Manager
lynne.kahr@zbdsolutions.com

28 days, eh?

So the UK government has presented retailers with a concession that for 28 days after the 1st January 2010, provided the retailer displays a sign they can get away with showing lower prices at the shelf edge versus higher prices at the tills (as long as the difference is only the incremental 2.5% VAT).

Now, I don’t know about you, but my ability to remember the price of everything I buy when completing a weekly shop in my local supermarket whilst adding 2.5% to the displayed price where applicable is going to cause me some confusion!!

Nevertheless, this still means that retailers across the country will have to print and place hundreds and thousands of paper shelf edge labels costing the retail business as a whole somewhere in the region of £90million (according to the British Retail Consortium) to complete.

Furthermore, I think it is also safe to say that this won’t be the last time the UK's VAT rate will be on the increase - the current Government has not ruled out future increases in VAT and Shadow chancellor George Osborne has also declined to rule out increasing VAT to rebalance public finance.

Of course, if your retail store operated ZBD’s epaper solution, in 28 days you could have changed millions of individual shelf labels at zero cost ensuring your customers only paid the price they see at the shelf edge - With zero infrastructure and 3 different sized labels, ZBD has packages to suit all sizes of stores and budgets - from individual promotional displays to Fresh Food counters & departments through to a complete storewide solution.

Contact me today to learn more.

Rob Morgan
Business Development Manager
Rob.morgan@zbdsolutions.com

Are your customers confused?

According to an article in the Daily Telegraph recently, Tesco is planning to end confusing labels on meat products by enabling customers to see where all of its lamb, pork and chicken originates from – specifically, it is now going to report where the meat in any ready meal, pizza or sausage is reared, instead of (legally) labelling products as ‘produced in the UK’ when the meat actually came from another country.

Whilst all the above is good stuff and very commendable (and is sure to please the farming groups and the Conservatives’ Honest Food campaign who have been working hard to make this a requirement for some time), how can you really educate and inform customers of what they are buying?

ZBD offers retailers a low-cost option to dynamically show ‘sell-by’ dates and other key nutritional content, giving the customer more comfort that there is more information available, more often, more relevant and up to date - this has to be a good thing.

If you are reading this and are a food manufacturer – then you might even consider adopting and part-funding our electronic shelf label solutions in your retailer’s environment to give great customer content and 'fresh stamp' your credentials to their customers – as I’ve said in my last blog – it’s all about communication first, sales second.

Our epop (electronic point of purchase) electronic shelf labels offer complete flexibility when it comes to presenting information, not just with country of origin or where ‘Florence’ became a steak dinner (!), but also all of the other nutritional content that is important to the consumer when deciding what is going to be on the dinner table tonight.

Here at ZBD we know a thing or two about high resolution epaper labelling – it’s what we do for the 21st century retailer. If you are an innovative retailer and still looking at segmented LCD displays (or are ready to refresh your current shelf labelling solution), then see how we can help you communicate more effectively to your customers - Zero confusion guaranteed!

Rob Morgan
Business Development Manager
Rob.morgan@zbdsolutions.com

The new retail mantra

I recently read an interesting description of Retail Space being described as a ‘Media Canvas’ with the importance of attracting, engaging, and entertaining customers fast becoming the new retail mantra to sit alongside ‘Retail is Detail’.

Take a look, for example, at how the traditional retail media model has changed over the last few years with most media spend now being placed in the store and at the point of purchase rather than on the TV or in the ‘Glossies’ – Sure, the TV advertising still goes on as channels lower their costs in an ever more competitive market, but it’s in the store and at the shelf edge where most customers are most susceptible to being influenced - It's now all about communication first, sales second.

I know this is probably true, because in 2008 a well known high street Health and Beauty retailer in the UK (with 1500 stores and one billion store visitors a year) published research that showed 30% of sales are motivated by point-of-presence appeal. The research also showed that good design convinced 55% of customers to part with their money… “Because they saw it”. I am in no doubt that: ‘Retail detail (design) influences choice'.

So what if your product (and you could include your own label brands here) needed that little bit of extra help to become the product of choice – Is there another way to influence customer purchase behaviour without going back to the brand design drawing board?

Well, I believe there is...

Here at ZBD we have been manufacturing high definition electronic point of purchase (epop) displays designed with your business and branding in mind - and because ZBD control all stages of the manufacturing process, we are probably the only ESL (electronic shelf label)/epop supplier that can offer ‘bespoke’ and ‘client-specific’ branding options to its customers.

Our simple to use, yet content-rich software, enables you to create and send complimentary branding messages and information to displays in seconds - Our virtually invisible ‘plug and play’ infrastructure enables you get targeted messaging up and running in no time at all.

Rob Morgan
Business Development Manager
Rob.morgan@zbdsolutions.com

Is BIGGER always better?

With the recent launch of our epop 50 label, retailers are increasingly keen to understand how our mass market label is better than the competition’s, and aside from the obvious stuff, like superior display resolution, class-leading definition, and all the other things you would expect from a company borne out of the original inventors of LCD display technology, I think I have uncovered what the real difference is...

Unlike other ESL (electronic shelf label) manufacturers, we control all of the elements of our manufacturing process. From display technology to software through to communications – link this to a mindset that is ‘business-led’ rather than ‘production or technology limited’ we make solutions built for what today’s retail markets demand.

A prime example of this is when you look at our communications infrastructure...or more accurately ‘lack of infrastructure?’

We have developed what is arguably the lightest touch Bi-directional RF infrastructure on the ESL (electronic shelf label) market today – a simple USB connected box that enables swift instore deployment with zero installation cost. Think of it another way – you can buy either...

A) a pallet full of boxes containing IR or RF senders, mounting poles, cabling, connectors etc along with another van containing electricians, ladders and cherry pickers to get up into the ceiling to fit it all (oops - nearly forgot the Security guards to look after the store as this needs to be done out of hours when the store is closed).

OR

B) a box no bigger than a normal household Wi-Fi router – simply plug it in, and away you go!

So what does this mean? Well, the next time you ask another ESL (electronic shelf label) vendor the price of his segment display(s) ask the question slightly differently – ‘What is the price of the total solution - fully installed?’

I can assure you of one thing – when you take this figure and divide it back into the number of labels required, it makes the cost of a ZBD’s fully addressable epaper display look like a bargain because as we all know – Segmented labels that require manual maintenance of the printed element, is never quite a complete solution....it’s a bit like getting on a bus and having it stop 500m short of the destination!

Email me to learn more – conversations are free.

Rob Morgan
Business Development Manager
Rob.morgan@zbdsolutions.com

Calm before the storm…

PCC sees the value of epaper for retail…

When you look at the shelf edge marketplace, there are markets that adopted and others that have sat on the fence, struggling with resources, business case justification and cutting through the noise that is put out by vendors who have no solution or capability. 

So here it is ….. ZBD is the next big thing in retail technology. Why is that? Well because we have built a solution that focuses on delivering real change with real benefit, the shelf edge label is dead - long live the new shelf edge label. We are about to catch the wave... what wave? I hear you say. The technology refresh wave, dudes…. The mature markets are looking to replace systems that have been in place in some cases for over 10 years, ZBD are making waves in the USA, UK and mainland Europe so catch a wave near you...

Then you have the new markets that are leaping from no technology into the latest technology with no legacy systems to consider. They will adopt too; they see the value in epaper at the shelf edge and with cost down to a point that makes sense over segment displays, they will have a foundation to implement more dynamic pricing, provide customers with more content and cut their operational costs…

It’s an exciting time for us and with our recent customer wins in the USA and Europe, we are seeing a real change in attitude towards us as we can offer such a compelling business case, as well as continued support and confidence from our investors. 

Confidence is high and markets are ready. Even in hard times, there are some solutions that offer a real opportunity. We will be announcing additional customer wins in September so clean off your surfboards and catch the ZBD wave…

David Rogers
VP, Sales & Marketing
David.rogers@zbdsolutions.com

Time to batten down the hatches or invest to differentiate?

Industry commentators are unanimous in their view that this recession is the most challenging the UK has ever seen. They cite huge pressures on the cost of doing business, (labour, raw materials and utilities) coupled with one of the most competitive marketplaces in the world, making UK and European retailing the toughest of environments in which to succeed.

Historically, when trade is this tough, retailers (both large and small) typically fall into two very distinct technology camps – In the first, there are those retailers that will batten down the hatches, stop investing and innovating, and hope to ride out the storm adopting a ‘if it ain't broke don't fix it’ type approach  – in the second camp, there are those retailers that actively seek out new ways to make up the shortfalls in margin they may be experiencing and actively invest in the customer experience to differentiate themselves from the crowd, capitalising on the opportunity to gain custom and market share (normally from those sitting in the first camp!).

ZBD’s electronic shelf labelling solution is one technology that presents retailers with a very real opportunity to re-engineer business processes whilst at the same time enhance customer service and perception through improved merchandising, availability and promotional price management. As recent speculation of VAT increases to 20% seem to be becoming more real, the latest threat of new legislation to ban retailers from being able to offer ’Buy one, Get one free’ type promotions will do nothing to slow down the inevitably huge volumes of price changes these initiatives will attract.

If you're interested in finding out more about how we can help your business succeed in the face of this ever changing retail landscape, email me – I think I have part of the answer.

Rob Morgan
Business Development Manager
Rob.morgan@zbdsolutions.com

Price comparison for the digital consumer

Basket comparisons have always been misleading.  Tesco’s rap last week by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), as reported in Retail Week, is nothing new.  Consumers know well that the contents of ‘baskets’ are judiciously selected by each retailer to best reflect their price positioning.  Today’s ‘digital consumer’ is increasingly better informed –  price comparison sites for everything from everyday groceries to big ticket items are plentiful.  Consumers now have many more mechanisms to find the keenest price and – possibly more worrying for retailers – on which to base their underlying ‘price perception’.

An antidote to this is now commonplace in the UK: showing like-for-like competitor prices on the price ticket   Tesco shows the comparative ASDA or Sainsbury's price even for low price items of 30p or less.  This has a real benefit for the retailer and the consumer: the retailer can disincentivise their customers from buying specific products at their competitors – with the potential ‘halo’ purchasing effect - and they can reinforce long-term price perception.  ‘Point of Purchase’ persuasion is effective without the expensive and potentially confusing and misleading national campaigning.

But there’s a catch.  Competitor prices change and are quickly out of date – either the message is diluted over time or the retailer needs to expend effort keeping its competitor positioning accurate.  One of the top 4 UK retailers is making over 1% product ticket changes per day to keep abrest of its competitors.

Not so with Electronic shelf labels - ESLs.  Competitor positioning can be fully automated, subject to appropriate business rules, potentially for all products and maintained up to date with zero in-store effort.
 
As the Tesco spokeswoman said, ‘the important thing is what the customers think…’ 

Jann Naef
Product Marketing Director
ZBD Solutions

Retailers declare a price war

Retailers are increasingly finding themselves in a price war to ensure they keep existing customers and attract new ones. I generalised about the topic in my last blog but this is not just a UK issue but it is significantly evident across Europe and more specifically Spain, as highlighted in one of Planet Retail’s Weekly Bulletins.

In “Retailers declare a price war in Spain” by Carlos Hernandez, he shares with us that retailers “have embarked on a wide array of discounting and promotional activities to lower prices in an effort to grab market share.”

One retailer (Carrefour) for instance, in March, reportedly decreased the price of some 10,000 products sold in its hypermarkets by up to 25%.

Others have a slightly different approach: like Eroski launched what they call the ‘el más barato’ (the cheapest) campaign, which consists of at least 800 basic items which have been signalled with ‘el más barato’ callouts. This is designed to help customers find the most affordable products in store.

Again, this highlights the importance of product information but more importantly, I believe, of store operations. It is vital to have an efficient strategy alongside your back office systems to ensure that promotions and price changes are accurate, quick and efficient. With updates occurring numerous times throughout the store to individual products daily, mistakes can be costly and in the current economic climate it is very easy to lose customer satisfaction and potentially your customer all together.

Nick Woodroffe
Business Development Executive
nick.woodroffe@zbdsolutions.com

Time to take a fresh look at ESL technology

My retail credentials stem from the very sharp end of the industry working for stores such as International, Gateway, Superdrug, Somerfield and the Co-op, starting off by filling shelves, serving on deli’s, cutting meat, putting out produce, selling Fine Fragrance and Skincare and serving customers on the checkout, always hoping that the next time they did their weekly shopping they turned right and visited my store rather than turning left and visiting any of the competition.

As my career progressed into Head Office roles within Retail IT, I would regularly call on my in-store grounding to ‘sense check’ that what we were doing as a retail business was going to ensure that the customer remained delighted and came back to shop with us time and time again.

In 2003/4 I first started to explore the benefits of ESL (electronic shelf label) technology installing segmented ESLS into a number of stores ranging in size from Convenience store (sub 4000 labels) to Large Supermarket (circa 15000 labels).

Historically viewed as an alternative to manual labelling processes, integration of these solutions allow enterprises to reduce labour costs and manual error, however, I was to learn that the true value proposition runs much deeper and way beyond on-demand automated price changes and updates. Many of the benefits I identified were fairly simple to predict and calculate in terms of hard benefits and savings however, others arrived only when I had re-engineered processes and procedure to optimise the full capability that ESL technology brings. In June 2006 I turned from retailer to supplier working solely within the ESL industry.

Having spent the last few days looking at the ZBD display technology, and reviewing the ROI model that ZBD, in conjunction with the independent Retail consultancy, Martec International has assembled, I have to confess to wishing I had the benefit of an ROI model as comprehensive as this when I first set out looking at ESL (let alone high definition zero-powered, bistable LCD displays capable of displaying high contrast imagery via a simple two-way communications device!).

In a week when retailers and the drinks industry in particular are calculating the cost of implementing the up and coming VAT increase back to 17.5%, along with the ongoing duty increases, (and to make things a little more challenging, currently scheduled at the most crucial time of the retail calendar where any delays in implementation will hit hardest) I wonder how many retailers are thinking ‘is now the time to take a fresh look at the latest ESL technology’?

If not, then perhaps the newspaper reports I found claiming that an increase of VAT to 18.5% was being considered by the Government for 2010/11 and that the Treasury were considering a further VAT rise to 20% in 2012 might help?!

If you would like to see how ZBD can help your business, then please do drop me a line.

Rob Morgan
Business Development Manager
rob.morgan@zbdsolutions.com