Lincolnshire Co-op teams with SOLUM on food store electronic shelf edge labels roll-out across stores
Electronic shelf edge labels (ESELs) are being rolled out across all 100 Lincolnshire Co-op food stores, as part of a £4 million food technology transformation project.
Approximately, food store colleagues manually change 550 labels a week which can rise to 2,000 during an ambient promotion changeover week. Moving to a digital system removes the need for colleagues to print and replace labels manually, meaning hours of their time will be saved to help shoppers and colleagues can also react faster to pricing changes.
The electronic labels will also save over £100,000 on paper, toner and printing per year, contributing to Lincolnshire Co-op's sustainability strategy.
They were first trialled in Lincolnshire Co-op's The Bridge Food store in Newark during October.
Jane Wheeler, The Bridge Food Store Manager, says: “I can’t speak highly enough of the new electronic labels - they’re easy to use and incredibly reliable. It’s a massive but positive change to how the team continues to deliver exceptional customer service and, when new promotions arrive, we’re confident our store will be ready to trade.”
The roll-out will be completed by the end of 2025 and all the society’s future food stores plan to open with the new technology.
Paul Fitzpatrick, IS Solution Delivery Manager, says: “This is an exciting time for the business to bring a future-ready platform to our food stores, to help us drive operational excellence and build strength in the long-term."
“We want to provide a foundation in which technology is the enabler to remove administrative related tasks so time can be released for colleagues to focus on the customer. These ESELs will help us do that.”
SOLUM provided the in-store equipment and co-ordinated installation teams to deliver the store deployment.
Mark Duckworth, Country Manager at SOLUM UK & Ireland, says: “Our partnership with Lincolnshire Co-op reflects a shared commitment to putting customers first and driving meaningful retail innovation."
"We’re dedicated to delivering high-quality products and smart retail solutions that support our customer’s digital transformation and contribute to the ongoing advancement of the UK retail sector.”
2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS
ESELs were a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.
We received a record number of entries and many fantastic examples of the continued resilience and dynamism of the retail space during hugely challenging times.
For a full rundown of all of the shortlisted entries, click here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC in Central London on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
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