StORES Magazine - September 2007 - (Page 56) WORTH WATCHING / LABELS Fresh foods, electronics The areas in which retailers are concentrating on reducing paper labels most are the high-throughput departments like fresh foods or electronics, “departments where they have to change the ticketing more often in order to retain a competitive edge or sell product before it goes out of date,” Rogers says. A strong argument can also be made for using electronic labeling in apparel – a department driven, to a great extent, by promotions. One reason for the increasing popularity of this type of labeling has been the explosive growth of e-commerce, which has forced stores to do a sweep of Internet prices and regularly check them against their in-store prices. “If you can capture a customer instore and tell them that you have the cheapest price, you can turn browsers into buyers,” Rogers says. The costs of paper labels and of managing the end-to-end process have also been factors in changing over to LCD displays. “Some of the laminated labels at the deli counter can cost almost $1 each, and with the number of items carried at a typical deli counter, it doesn’t take too long to see the business case for LCD displays,” he says. Rogers declined to divulge the specific prices of the displays, but he cites the case of one U.K. retailer that expects a one-year return-on-investment for the epop displays. Meanwhile, the company is expanding its portfolio of offer- ings. ZBD currently markets epop displays in a 3x4-inch size and a widescreen version measuring about 3x6 inches; a shelf-edge label measuring about 2x2.5-inches and a smaller accessory size will be introduced by the end of the year. All displays are capable of handling “rich content,” making them more useful for storing data such as nutritional information, graphics and bar codes. “If you did five to seven updates a day, we can guarantee the displays for about five years,” Rogers says. StORES Len Lewis is a veteran retail industry journalist and commentator and the editorial director of Lewis Communications. Nutrition Counts Receipting system helps restaurant customers know exactly what they’re eating BY FIONA SOLTES f the Weight Watchers crowd in San Diego has a collective hero, it might well be Brett Weiss. The area developer for the Extreme Pita restaurant chain recently incorporated a solution that tells each diner the amount of fat, carbs, protein and calories in his or her meal – taking into account each substitution or special request. I It’s called the Nutricate Receipt system (www.nutricate.com). It became operational at Extreme Pita in March, and Weiss says he’s been “very, very happy” with the positive response from customers, the increased number of return visits – and word that his restaurants have been a topic of discussion at a Weight Watchers meeting. “Our initial feedback has been just phenomenal,” Weiss says. “I’ve had responses like, ‘Thank you for doing this. We wish all restaurants would provide this info.’” At some point, all restaurants may have to do just that. Due to the overwhelming growth of America’s collective girth, various states have been considering legislation that will require eating establishments to offer such details to customers. Nutricate offers a chance for restaurant owners to be ahead of the curve, building brand loyalty with a “we care” message in the process. In addition to offering the numbers on what’s been ordered, printed receipts provide coupons, health quizzes and suggestions for saving calories and fat by, for example, substituting sauces or switching grilled chicken for fried. “We all understand it’s important for consumers to know what they’re putWWW.STORES.ORG 56 STORES / SEPTEMBER 2007 http://www.nutricate.com http://WWW.STORES.ORG
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