No more paper
Why is Migros now displaying prices only electronically?
Paper price tags are being phased out in stores. Why is this happening, and will this mean the rollout of dynamic pricing?
Andy Baldauf*, all Migros stores will start using electronic price tags over the next few years. Why?
They will replace paper labels on the shelves. This will enable price changes to be applied automatically, and also save the painstaking task of switching paper labels. At the moment more than 50 stores have digital price tags, and more are following every week.
Does this mean prices are liable to go up and down over the course of any given day?
Although that would be technically feasible, we don’t have any plans to introduce dynamic pricing.
How do these price tags work?
An app informs the system which labels correspond to which prices. This linking process is known as “pairing” or “marrying”. Once the linkage has been created the tag is automatically updated by the system whenever there is any change involving the product. For example, any discounts are automatically displayed.
Why do the tags look so real?
The electronic tags use electronic ink, like an e-reader. And just as e-book screens have a similar appearance to the printed page, digital price tags also look a lot like their printed predecessors. Also, the ink display remains active even if the battery is flat or the signal fails.
* Andy Baldauf, Digital Services Product Manager, is responsible for electronic price tags at the Federation of Migros Cooperatives.