POS LABELLING IN RETAIL
On point Retail businesses are doing all they can to boost efficiency and margins, and using point of sale labelling technology solutions can help them to achieve this.
For businesses in the retail sector, these are tough times. Following the pandemic, the ongoing cost of living crisis is impacting the spending power of many people, and, along with rising costs such as rent and electricity, is making it imperative that businesses run as efficiently as possible.. This is why retails are looking to eliminate mistakes such as price labelling errors, which can chip away at margins and customer trust – and why they are increasingly turning point of sale (PoS) labelling technology. As Simon Brennan, senior end user client manager at Brother UK, notes, recent research by the company found that human error, miscommunication and technology faults are resulting in incorrect price tags and shelf-edge tickets – 38% of retailers admit to mislabelling prices on products at least once a day, and 28% are doing so multiple times a week. “Encouragingly, businesses are turning to specialist labelling technology to cut out these mistakes while taking advantage of a host of other benefits, from reporting tools to enhanced security controls,” he says. “Our study found that 74% of retailers are planning to invest in label printers over the next 12 months. That presents a great opportunity for resellers to consult on entire print infrastructure, from mobile label printers to multi-technology back-office label printers. “This shows that there are significant opportunities for resellers to help retailers shore-up their shop floor operations with print technology.” What customers want There are plenty of opportunities for resellers in this sector, agrees Jay Kim, managing director at BIXOLON Europe GmbH, who adds that there are several criteria that customers have when looking for a PoS system. “Customers are typically looking at connectivity, performance, look, integration and price,” he says. “With the need to keep up to date with the latest technology, retailers are turning away from only using Serial or Parallel connectivity for printers and moving to ethernet, USB,
Simon Brennan senior end user client manager
brother.co.uk
Bluetooth and WLAN for integration with tablets and other peripherals. As technology has always been central to buying decisions, many customers now build their hardware solutions around their software, whether this be a simple payment solution for an independent company or part of a more complex omnichannel ecosystem.” When it comes to hardware customers are looking for speed and reliability in the printing hardware but also the performance of the cutter and print head, which leads to less maintenance and possible downtime, Jay adds. “Sleek, compact designs are now becoming more popular,” he says. “As retailers look to streamline their cash desks, cube printers have increased in popularity with their compact features and front exit feed for either on-the-desk or under-desk integration. “Ease of integration is also essential. With many customers looking to upgrade their systems, many look for hardware which they can essentially plug in and play. As time means money, retailers look for installs which take hours rather than days, to avoid costly downtime and loss of productivity.” Of course, pricing is also a factor in buying decisions. But Jay cautions against looking to
Our study found that 74% of retailers are planning to invest in label printers over the next 12 months. “ ”
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