EPD shelf edge labels in the supermarket freezer aisle
E-paper technology has advanced rapidly over the last 15-20 years and is now recognised as a proven technology with genuine use cases across a number of industries, so much so that the market is expected to reach $28.87 billion by 2022.
Retail is one those industries contributing to EPD adoption, with supermarkets in particular, beginning to look at using e-paper displays as a compelling electronic alternative to the paper labels traditionally used to display pricing and promotional offers on the store shelves.
Electronic shelf labels (ESLs) are particularly attractive in the supermarket retail environment as they allow wireless connection to the store’s computer database enabling the dynamic display of real-time pricing on screens. EPD-based ESLs also overcome many of the problems associated with traditional paper labels which are easily damaged and require complex and time consuming manual systems to manage updates and changes.
However, one of the more challenging areas of the supermarket for ESL installation is the freezer aisle, given obvious concerns about how well the displays’ will be able to update at sub-zero temperatures. But there’s good news, thanks to the exploratory work of our team in Dresden we’re pleased to report that we’ve proven in rigorous tests that Plastic Logic’s displays can operate at temperatures of up to -10 °C without any extra engineering or development work.
Our displays can be used down to -5°C without any contrast loss for temperature dependent update times. Between -5 and -10°C display performance is good for update times under 2s — perfect for the supermarket environment where ultra-high-speed updates aren’t particularly necessary.
At Plastic Logic, we believe that e-paper is a truly unique technology that allows retailers to install essential displays in previously impossible or impractical locations within the retail environment and we’re looking forward to seeing the roll out of e-paper displays on shelf edges in supermarkets around the world in the coming years.
Beyond shelf-edge labels, the fact that our EPDs can operate in low temperature conditions opens up all sorts of other potential use cases in outdoor displays and terminals, where our technology’s durability, flexibility and daylight readability benefits make the proposition even more compelling.
Watch this space!