Latest news with #HarrisonRetail
The Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Sainsbury's is testing a huge change to shelf labels – and shoppers will be divided
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. 1 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". .
Daily Mirror
22-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Iceland adds 'steak dispensers' to stores in major shoplifting crackdown
The dispensers - which have been developed with security firm Harrison Retail - have been installed in 30 Iceland and Food Warehouse stores in the UK over the past year Iceland is making a huge change to its supermarket stores in its latest attempt to combat shoplifting. The frozen supermarket chain is rolling out "steak dispensers" to protect high-value cuts and other fresh meat products. The dispensers - which have been developed with security firm Harrison Retail - have been installed in 30 Iceland and Food Warehouse stores in the UK over the past year. According to a report by the Grocer, the dispensers are designed to fit upright onto the supermarket's chiller shelves and use a 'controlled retrieval' flap so only one packet can be removed at a time. Currently, the dispensers are holding Iceland's 12oz and 16oz steak ranges and holds eight steaks per dispenser. The supermarket said fresh steaks were one of the most frequently targeted items stolen from its stores. Due to their high value, Iceland said it was causing the retailer 'major losses'. The contraption aims to stop shoplifters from "sweeping" stock from shelves in one go. According to Iceland, shrinkage across its steak lines has decreased by 44% since making the change. Get the best deals and tips from Mirror Money WHATSAPP GROUP: Get money news and top deals straight to your phone by joining our Money WhatsApp group here. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Iceland also said the units make the shelves look more "appealing" and have improved on-shelf availability for shoppers as more products can be displayed. Before this, Iceland would stock its high value meat products - such as steaks and lamb legs - in individual plastic security boxes. Shoppers would then need to ask a staff member to remove the item from the box at the till. Usually, supermarkets would put a limited number of these products on shelves. As shoplifting cases started to rise in 2022, supermarkets are putting more products in them to try to deter shoplifting. Items that have appeared in them include alcoholic spirits, cheese, baby formula, and butter. Iceland says sales of its steak lines have increased by 129% on average across participating stores since the dispensers were implemented. Alongside this, it says food waste has also reduced by 8.5%. Join Money Saving Club's specialist topics Andy Edwards, head of loss prevention & corporate audit, Iceland Foods, said: "Working with Harrison Group has been an exceptional experience". He added: "We developed a chilled, retail-ready security unit specifically designed to support the sale of fresh steaks.' Supermarkets across the country began implementing new security measures when prices started to skyrocket due to inflation. Security measures included adding security tags to items, putting products in security boxes, placing empty products on shelves, limiting items on shelves, and requiring customers to scan receipts to leave stores. According to data from the British Retail Consortium's latest crime survey, there were 20 million individual incidents of theft last year. This equated to around 55,000 per day cost retailers around £2.2billion. Iceland executive chairman Richard Walker is among several retail bosses who have criticised the police response to the shoplifting epidemic. He has also railed against 'stupid' privacy laws that prevent local stores from sharing information about known thieves. Iceland does not currently have facial recognition tech in stores. However, Walker said he would 'happily' roll it out into stores if it meant better protection for store staff.
