East of England Co-op boosts staff productivity by 70% thanks to ESLs

East of England Co-op claims it has boosted labour productivity by 70% since it began rolling out electronic shelf labels in March.

In partnership with Pricer, the society has installed ESLs in 48 stores so far, with the remaining 60% of its estate to receive the tech by spring next year.

It allows East of England Co-op to centrally manage pricing, product information and promotions, eliminating the need for manual updates.

While reducing the risk of pricing errors, the technology has freed up staff time by 70%, allowing team members to refocus their efforts towards customer-facing tasks.

The move to ESLs has also helped East of England Co-op reduce store printing costs by 50%, as well as saving paper use and waste from traditional physical labels.

“The standout aspect of our ESLs programme is the collaborative spirit Pricer has fostered within the delivery team,” said Stephen Lamb, head of program delivery.

“This partnership has navigated the challenges of an intensive change programme, demonstrating resilience and adaptability while exceeding the original scope of price and promotion for tangible benefits.

“Built on a foundation of trust, the feedback from our Co-op technical teams, business units, store colleagues and Pricer highlights how we’ve worked together to seize opportunities.”

Pricer UK country manager Peter Ward said: “We know driving labour productivity in-store is a key focus for retailers, who want to be able to leverage one of their most important and valuable assets – their store staff – to those tasks that drive the most value to customers.

“Through ESLs, East of England Co-op has freed store associates to serve, deliver efficiency gains and customer experience enhancement, whilst still achieving all the automated operational requirements to effectively merchandise and maintain the shelf edge.”