CLIENT PROFILE
Place: Witten, Germany
Store Size: 1,000 m²
Number of employees: 35
Average Annual Turnover: €7.5 million
Number of ESLs: 8,500
No unpleasant surprises at the check-out thanks to synchronised prices
REWE Kesper + Rode OHG in Witten, Germany, was founded in 1930, and currently employs 35 people. The supermarket offers a comprehensive range of around 10,000 products on offer in a total sales area of 1,000 square meters.
REWE Kesper is just one of over 3,300 REWE stores in Germany – all of which are run by independent traders in a branch network – and this store alone generates an annual turnover of approximately 7.5 Million Euros.
Eliminating sources of error and increase efficiency
“Every Monday we were faced with the same problem – during the first hours after the store opened, the prices on the shelf were not in sync with the prices in the POS system,” explained Julia Rode, Store Manager, REWE Kesper + Rode OHG. “We work with weekly prices that are always updated on Mondays for the current week.
While we could simply and quickly update the POS system in the morning, it took a few hours until the new labels were printed and attached to the shelf, so that the shelf and POS systems were synchronised. Of course, the error rate was accordingly high during this time. Our customers still saw the prices from last week on the shelves, and were then surprised at the checkout – unfortunately, not always pleasantly.”
Pricer is the world leader in providing electronic shelf labeling (ESL) solutions to retailers, and their ESLs have now enabled REWE Kesper to wirelessly communicate prices and product information to the shelf edge.
The system takes the prices from the database and wirelessly transfers them to the respective ESL in the store. Thus, staff and employees can be 100 percent sure that the prices displayed are consistent with the POS system.
Fool-proof and easy implementation
REWE Kesper’s initial decision to replace their paper labels with Pricer’s ESL solution was made in 2000. When it came to carrying out the rollout of the first generation of Pricer ESLs, REWE Kesper selected Digipos Store Solutions GmbH – a global provider of the latest technology solutions for the retail industry – as their partner of choice.
It was decided that implementation of the new ESL solution should have as little impact as possible on the running, operation and capacity of the REWE store. Therefore all of the ESLs were gradually installed, from shelf to shelf, during opening hours.
“We were very pleased with the new system. With just a few clicks of the mouse, prices were updated quickly and efficiently throughout the supermarket, without restrictions to the workflow, and the prices on the shelf were completely synchronised with the prices in the checkout-system,” said Julia. “Our customers were spared from unpleasant surprises at the checkout, and our employees from time-consuming labeling.”
When there was a full renovation of the supermarket in 2011, REWE Kesper took the opportunity to carry out an upgrade of their ESLs, deciding to move to Pricer’s second generation of graphical labels. Julia Rode recalled: “During the renovation, we had to very temporarily switch back to paper labels. More than anyone else, it was the employees who were responsible for manual price updates – the time-consuming printing and attaching of the paper labels – who longed to reach the end of the renovation.”
Even more benefits
At REWE Kesper, four different models of segmented and graphical ESLs are now in use. This is possible because all the labels operate simultaneously on the same platform – as such, different sizes, shapes and styles can be combined according to the different requirements of different supermarket areas, from the frozen food section to the dry goods.
In addition to benefits such as time savings, error reduction and customer satisfaction, Pricer’s ESL solution helps with the stock management. “The system monitors inventory data and product information, so now we know how many items of a product are still or no longer in stock, and when we need to order new ones. The number of products in stock can be displayed on the label – which comes very handy for our employees during the inventory,” concluded Julia.
BENEFITS
- Centrally managed prices
- Quick price updates
- Shelf prices are syncronized with POS prices
- Saves time and money
- Improved stock management
“We were very pleased with the new system. With just a few clicks of the mouse, prices were updated quickly and efficiently throughout the supermarket”
Julia Rode, Store Manager, REWE Kesper + Rode OHG
