With inflation remaining high, price-conscious UK shoppers now want the shelf-edge to become more dynamic when it comes to pricing and promotions to help them secure the best deals, the latest research from Pricer, the world’s most trusted provider of shelf edge automation solutions, reveals
Original research of 1,000 UK shoppers by Pricer showed that real-time visibility of prices delivered at the shelf-edge was the top driver of in-store customer experience (CX) for almost two fifths (39%) of consumers. While UK inflation is falling, down to 8.7% against its peak of 11%, prices remain stubbornly high and consumers continue to feel the pinch. This is prompting real-time pricing and promotions to feature strongly amongst the top CX-drivers at the shelf-edge.
A third (33%) said they now wanted real-time visibility of deals and promotions delivered at the shelf-edge, and a further 30% wanted digital labels to give them live alerts on price drops, to help them get the best deal and help their budgets go further.
Whilst more dynamic pricing and promotions capabilities were the key components in improving experiences at the shelf-edge for shoppers, over a third (36%) also wanted instant alerts to be sent to staff to improve replenishment, with notifications on out-of-stocks sent in real-time to help store associates restock shelves more quickly and reduce shelf gaps, which remains a key bugbear for shoppers in-store.
Typically, UK shoppers report that on average 17% of their regular food shop is unavailable on shelf when they shop in-store.
A fifth (19%) of shoppers also wanted to see the shelf-edge used as a vehicle for delivering personalised offers and deals, with shoppers wanting to be engaged and communicated to in the aisle when making their buying decisions.
45% said they wanted more digital signage at the shelf-edge to help inform their purchasing decisions, rising to 57% of Gen Z, while over a third (36%) would be more likely to convert if they were served digital ads at the shelf-edge, rising to 58% of Gen Z. This follows recent research from ADVendio, which also polled 1,000 UK shoppers, and showed over a third (34%) have been influenced to try a product digitally advertised to them in-store, rising to 50% of Gen Z.
Peter Ward, Country Manager for UK & Ireland at Pricer, commented:
Whilst more dynamic pricing and promotions alerts are going to win favour among cost-of-living consumers, the shelf-edge has the potential to become so much more than a vehicle for pricing information alone. Digitally-enabled, the shelf-edge has the potential to become a compelling customer engagement platform, offering retailers the ability to serve highly-targeted, engaging advertisements to conversion-ready shoppers, as well as opening up potential new ad revenues streams as 3rd party brands expand retail media network capabilities.
This article was originally published in International Supermarket News on June 21, 2023
