Beverage retailer Dan Murphy’s has finalised its rollout of electronic shelf labels (ESLs), which will see all 273 branded stores fitted with the new label technology by the end of June.
ESLs are digital displays beneath products that are operated from a central system enabling Dan Murphy’s market-famous price beats to roll out on shelves within minutes. The ESL system will have the capability to promptly update prices as required.
For the leading Australian liquor retailer, ESLs are seen as an important way to elevate the customer experience, while driving large-scale efficiencies across the Dan Murphy’s network.
Agnieszka Pfeiffer Smith, Dan Murphy’s managing director, said ESLs are also delivering a raft of business savings.
“We have price beats happening every day in real-time to support our lowest liquor price guarantee, meaning our team can spend more time face-to-face with customers and less time changing over ticketed prices manually,” she said.
“Price beats happen with the press of a button now in every one of our stores, and we are confident based on our trials of ESLs to date that the technology mix we have in place is delivering for customers.
“ESLs are also resulting in some positive sustainability outcomes, while generating considerable cost savings right across the business. This is a great example of how technology can solve tangible business problems.“
The implementation of ESLs will save around 37,000 pieces of paper per store, amounting to a saving of around 10 million sheets annually across the business.
As ESLs replace the need for manual printing, around half a million dollars will be saved in printing costs.
By removing the need for staff to manually update shelf price labels, ESLs will drive team efficiency with each store being able to recoup an average of 12 hours’ worth of staff hours a week per store.
Dan Murphy’s ESLs are also fitted with near field communication (NFC) – a type of short-range technology that allows a connection between two devices. It means customers can hold their smartphone to the ESL, and their Dan Murphy’s app or browser will direct them to the product listing to display tasting notes and reviews. It is currently only available for wine and spirits.
The technology is also compatible with handheld radio frequency devices used by team members for stock control and retrieval.
When team members pack online orders, they can search for a product on their device and a light from the ESL will flash, reducing the time taken to pick a product from the expansive Dan Murphy’s shelves, as well as improving the accuracy of order fulfilment.
The completion of the rollout of ESLs follows the launch of a trial using AI technology to monitor and scrape online liquor prices across Australia to verify the lowest price for the specific liquor you are after.
Through its use of AI price comparison platform and scraping tool Similar, conversions have increased up to 30 per cent once customers see the ‘Lowest Liquor Price Guarantee’ banner next to their beverage of choice.
