Sainsbury's is testing a huge change to shelf labels – and shoppers will be divided

The Sun

06-06-2025

SAINSBURY'S is the latest supermarket to test a major change to shelf labels in stores - but it will leave shoppers divided.
One of the UK's biggest supermarkets is trialling electronic shelf labels in a small number of branches.
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The retailer installed the tech at three of its larger shops late last year and has been trying it out across different sections including alcohol, health and general merchandise.
Sainsbury's has partnered with Harrison Retail to build the shelf fixings featuring the labels.
A branch in Witney, Oxfordshire, is understood to be one of the three locations where the tech is being trialled.
A spokesperson for Sainsbury's said: "We are trialling electronic shelf-edge labels in a small number of our stores."
Sainsbury's shoppers are bound to be left divided over the new electronic tags though.
Fears have been raised digital labels could lead to "surge pricing", which sees prices hiked when products are more in demand.
The labels can make it harder for shoppers to spot cut-price items too, as they're not as visible as the paper yellow, orange or red stickers.
Sainsbury's joins a host of other supermarkets trialling electronic shelf labels in stores.
Co-op is replacing paper product tags with electronic labels throughout its whole estate over the coming months.
The retailer said last month it had already made the change in 340 branches but would roll out the tags more widely.
SAVE AT SAINSBURY'S
It said 1,500 stores will have the labels by the end of this year and rolled out across all its nearly 2,400 shops by the end of 2026.
Lidl also said it would roll out the digital labels across all its stores before the end of 2024.
This came after a successful trial at 35 branches.
Asda is testing the digital labels at a Manchester shop.
WHAT ARE ELECTRONIC PRICE LABELS
Electronic pricing labels are not easy to spot and look almost identical to the traditional paper labels which have existed in stores for centuries.
They feature everything a shopper would expect to see on a label such as cost, weight and unit price.
The only difference is that the information is displayed on screens instead of a paper label.
Usually, they are connected to a wireless network that allows for prices to be updated in real-time - instead of it being done manually by a store clerk.
Supermarkets say the technology will help cut down on waste and help with efficiency in stores.
OTHER SAINSBURY'S NEWS
Sainsbury's exclusively revealed to The Sun last month it had closed all remaining patisserie, hot food and pizza counters.
It is not clear when the pizza counters shut while is understood the patisserie and hot food counters closed in April.
The closures come as part of a wide-ranging update of Sainsbury's' store estate which also saw 61 in-store cafes shut on April 11.
The cafe spaces are being replaced with restaurants run by franchises such as Starbucks and Gourmet Burger Kitchen.
The supermarket said its hybrid cafe and food halls were becoming popular among shoppers.
Sainsbury's first announced the store overhaul in January, as it revealed 3,000 head office staff would also lose their jobs in a senior team shake-up.
At the time, chief executive Simon Roberts said the changes would "ensure we continue to drive forward our momentum".
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