Digital Shelf Labels Proliferating

Bye, bye, paper price labels: The electronic (or digital) shelf labels market was valued at $2.34 billion in 2024 and is projected to nearly double to $4.18 billion by 2029, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. That translates into a healthy annual growth rate of 12.3% during that period.

Among the retailers contributing to that growth is industry giant Walmart, which says it plans to have such high-tech pricing tags in 2300 of its stores by 2026. “Digital shelf labels … allow us to update prices at the shelf using a mobile app, reducing the need to walk around the store to change paper tags by hand and giving us more time to support customers in the store,” Daniela Boscan, Food & Consumable Team Lead at the chain’s store in Hurst, Texas, wrote in a blog about the planned rollout of the technology.

In a similar vein, the MarketsandMarkets report notes that “the use of ESLs in omnichannel retailing and personalization also increases demand because the technology allows pricing and promotions based on customer actions to be adjusted flexibly. Also, developments made in ESL technologies including e-ink displays, NFC and IoT connectivity drives the demand.

Graphic e-paper displays are expected to account for the largest share of the electronic shelf labels market in 2029, due to their advanced capabilities and diverse applications, the report says.  “These kinds of display have high-image quality with full resolution colors and can present dynamic content which is well suited for industries such as retail, health care, transportation and educational institutions. By being energy efficient, having wide viewing angles and readability in various lighting conditions further enhance their appeal, driving adoption across sectors. In addition, fully graphic e-paper based ESLs are significant for capturing the attention of the customers and improving the store communication.”

The labels are likely to get widespread use by food retailers, MarketsandMarkets predicts. “Supermarkets, hypermarkets and convenience stores are now deploying ESL technology because they eliminate paper-based labeling and use electronic displays instead. Apart from that, it also updates prices in real-time without the necessity to employ employees for changing price alone, and it makes it a worthy investment in the retail industry.”

Click here for more from the market-sector report.