With more than 13,500 UK retail stores shutting their doors in 2024, traditional retail is at a turning point. Mark Duckworth, Country Manager UK and Ireland at SOLUM, argues that survival depends on integrating technologies such as AI and electronic shelf labels (ESLs) to reduce costs, eliminate pricing errors and deliver real-time accuracy for customers.
UK retail businesses – ranging from small independent shops to major high-street names – are closing their locations. As today’s customers expect greater convenience, transparency and personal experiences, physical stores need to evolve to meet these demands while also managing external pressures. So, what can they do to make stores more efficient and improve the shopping experience for their customers?
Current challenges the retail industry is facing
Many global retailers are facing significant challenges in order to stay open, with pressures on brick-and-mortar retailers intensifying in recent years. In the UK alone, around 13,500 retail stores closed in 2024 – an average of 37 businesses per day. This is largely due to low footfall, rising operating costs and changing customer behaviours. The rise in inflation adds further pressure on modern retailers to remain profitable. At the same time, today’s consumers are more digitally informed than ever – able to compare online prices, expect near-instant results and demand consistent experiences. The businesses that will thrive in the long term are those able to bridge the gap between physical and digital retail. However, this cannot be achieved by competing with e-commerce, but by leveraging data, automation and AI to make in-store retail more efficient, engaging and responsive.
How retailers can benefit from technological advancements like AI
AI is reshaping nearly every area of the retail ecosystem. From trend forecasting and inventory management to personalisation and pricing, AI is driving smarter decision-making and faster, data-driven responses to market shifts. For example, predictive analytics helps retailers anticipate demand and manage stock more effectively. AI-driven pricing engines can analyse demand, stock levels and competitor activity – with electronic shelf labels (ESLs) ensuring that these pricing decisions are reflected on shelves in near real time.
In-store, AI is playing an equally transformative role. When integrated with systems like ESLs, it enables dynamic pricing, real-time stock updates and consistent omnichannel accuracy. This ensures that what customers see online matches what they experience in-store – reducing friction and building customer trust.
This is exactly what a leading UK electronics retailer has recently implemented in collaboration with SOLUM. Using SOLUM’s robust ESL technology, its integrated management platform can now update pricing, promotions and product details across hundreds of stores with a single remote command. This has resulted in improved agility, fewer errors and a smoother connection between physical and digital touchpoints – all key to staying competitive in today’s blended retail landscape.
Beyond ESLs, retailers are also investing in AI-driven digital signage to enhance in-store engagement. These dynamic displays adapt messaging in real time based on customer traffic, time of day and promotional data. Together, ESLs and digital signage create a fully connected, intelligent retail environment, where each touchpoint delivers consistent, data-informed messaging.
What are ESLs and how do they improve the in-store experience?
At first glance, ESLs may seem like simple digital price displays, but their impact on operations and customer engagement is significant.
ESLs are a modern alternative to traditional paper price tags, featuring connected displays that automatically update in real time. This removes the need for manual label changes, reduces staff workloads and ensures pricing accuracy. Staff can therefore focus more on delivering personalised, human-led service – something that makes the in-store shopping experience truly unique.
Recent innovations include full-colour ESLs and large-format e-paper displays of up to 32 inches, allowing retailers to combine pricing with rich visual content. These enhance shelf visibility, support brand storytelling and create a more engaging environment while retaining the efficiency of digital labelling.
From a human perspective, ESLs enhance retail in multiple ways:
• Staff productivity increases as repetitive manual pricing tasks disappear.
• Customer interactions become more meaningful as staff focus less on fixing price discrepancies and more on service.
• Shoppers benefit from accurate pricing and features like QR codes or NFC tags, which provide instant access to reviews, product details and stock levels.
Operationally, ESLs improve accuracy and resilience by eliminating pricing errors, reducing mismatched promotions and enabling faster responses to market changes. This leads to higher efficiency and better staff morale, resulting in a more polished and trustworthy brand experience.
There is also a sustainability advantage. By eliminating paper and ink, ESLs support retailers’ environmental commitments. With batteries lasting up to a decade, ESLs are both eco-friendly and cost-effective – especially as ESG reporting becomes increasingly important.
The future of AI-enabled ESLs
A leading UK retailer’s investment in connected ESLs marks a significant milestone in the evolution of physical retail. This is not just a technological upgrade, but a strategic response to changing consumer expectations and operational pressures.
Over the next few years, ESLs will evolve from static price displays to intelligent, interactive touchpoints. Retailers could soon use them for hyper-personalised offers – delivering loyalty-based discounts to app-authenticated shoppers in real time. Predictive shelf messaging may alert customers when stock is low and recommend alternative or complementary products, powered by AI and data analytics.
As stores adopt more connected devices, ESLs will become integral to smart shelf ecosystems, working with cameras and sensors to trigger stock replenishment or display contextual information. Advances in edge computing will also allow in-store servers to process tasks locally, enabling instant updates even during connectivity issues.
Ultimately, AI-enabled ESLs represent the convergence of data, design and human interaction. They provide the agility needed in a volatile market, the accuracy expected by customers and the efficiency required by retailers to stay profitable. As AI and automation continue to reshape the industry, retailers that embrace smart, connected technologies like ESLs will be best placed to deliver engaging, data-driven in-store experiences.
