Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
That’s one of the things I envisioned when I looked at Pixel Inspiration’s neat little digital shelf screens: the easiest way to change all or any of the prices automatically without the need of a staffer doing it by hand.
Actually developed by ImpulsTV, Frankfurt am Main, for Display Solution AG in Gilching, Germany, ShelfVision is one of the neatest things I noticed at Screen Media Expo last week in London. Pixel Inspiration in Knutsford, Cheshire East, has picked up the rights to the product for the UK. ImpulsTV has the rights for Germany, and the company is looking for exclusive franchisees for other countries.
Changing prices is only one of many possibilities for this shelf unit. You can run individual brand ads, photos and even videos on these tiny units. I not only envisioned them in convenience stores and supermarkets, but also for cosmetic displays, or even showing mini film trailers in film rental locations. And with multi-shelf units, you can run videos left-to-right and top to bottom. Basically, I can envision them anywhere where there’s a high return on investment. Content could be provided by brand advertisers or their agencies.
Each high resolution LCD shelf unit is made up of 11 units covering 1 metre or 1.25 meters (standard shelf sizes), for a total of 5280 pixels x 272 pixels in height. (Each 4.3” unit = 480 pixels x 272). Up to six of these shelving units can be controlled by one PC.
In fact. retailers can employ them to run almost any type of information. They don’t come cheap- approximately Eur1000 per shelf unit – hence the need for high turn on investment locations but they’re energy-efficient we are told.
May 23rd, 2011 at 09:14 @426
How much? Might as well make ’em out of gold, no retailer on the face of the earth will buy at that price.
Other LED/e-paper solutions at shelf-edge are around £15 per unit and still they struggle to get traction with retailers. Happy to be proved wrong.
May 23rd, 2011 at 15:57 @706
And does that price include the PC and software? Or is that just the 11 little screens?
You didn’t say how the prices are changed without a staffer…
May 24th, 2011 at 11:41 @529
This new development is not really aimed at price tags as it is overkill, with lower cost solutions available but rather as unique marketing tool to highlight new / special products, premium brands etc. to draw poeple in to those specific products. It can run videos (e.g. product demonstration on the shelf) as well as still images and is extremely flexible being able to drive 66 displays from ONLY one PC! The slim compact nature is much better than the bulky media players hinged onto shelves that stick out and look clunky. Clearly not for every retailer or brand but differentiation is a key word in retail marketing. We had great interest in this hardware only product on our Screen Expo stand and feel you will be seeing this in your high street very soon, albeit may be not in the 99p store!
http://crystal-display.com/retail/shelf-edge-displays/
May 24th, 2011 at 11:47 @533
Bryan, the price includes the software. As described the 11 little screens are one Shelf Edge. A standard PC can handle 6 of these Shelf Edges, so in total 66 screens and address every pixel individually.
September 25th, 2011 at 15:04 @669
IAdea digital signboards are popular and extremely cost effective for this purpose.