How East of England Co-op Scales Efficiency and Saves £1M Annually with Pricer ESLs
Founded in 1844, the East of England Co-op has championed innovation and sustainable development for over 180 years. This commitment is driven by a "technology-first" philosophy, embracing innovation to enhance operational efficiency and provide a seamless experience for both their colleagues and customers.
Watch the customer story below👇
The Path to Innovation: Moving Beyond Labor-Intensive Work
The core objective for East of England Co-op was to address a dual challenge: colleague frustration regarding the manual price updating and customer experience that was affected by inaccurate price tags. The old manual process of updating paper labels was a labor-intensive task that drained resources and was prone to error.
“The reason why we chose to pursue the ESL journey is that we were really conscious of our colleagues' frustration with the old paper-style labels, and also our customers were telling us that very often the price was incorrect.”
— Rob Smith, Technology Officer, East of England Co-op
The Resilient Solution and Strategic Partnership
After evaluating the market, East of England Co-op chose Pricer’s Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs) platform for its unique infrared (IR) light transmission technology.
This provided a resilient solution that operates independently of the store's Wi-Fi, ensuring 100% reliability for their weekly "seamless" price updates. Branch Manager Alex Foulger admits that having ESL technology has been a game-changer for the company. Today, the shop floor team has more time to focus on filling shelves and helping customers instead of replacing paper price labels.
"I would never go back to paper again. Not a chance."
— Alex Foulger, Branch Manager, East of England Co-op
The relationship has evolved far beyond a vendor-client transaction. By working as a single team, the Co-op and Pricer have turned the shelf edge into a platform for operational "magic," such as using the label’s Instant Flash feature to help colleagues locate products for replenishment.
The Instant Flash capability on the labels acts as a visual beacon, signaling the precise position of products to the shop floor staff in real-time. This significantly increases the speed of stock replenishment and online order picking, further reducing operational costs.
“Working with Pricer as an organization is very, very important to us. We've got a really good relationship with the vendor, which helps us to get changes made quickly and try new things and work through the projects as we’ve gone along.”
— Rob Smith, Technology Officer, East of England Co-op
The Result: An Astounding £1,000,000 in Efficiency Savings
The implementation of 500, 000 electronic shelf labels (ESLs) across 125 stores has delivered immediate, measurable financial ROI. By automating routine tasks, the team is now freed to focus on what matters most: the customer.
The impact in numbers:
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£1,000,000: Targeted labor savings in the first year alone.
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125 Stores: Full estate rollout completed in just 12 months.
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Paper-Free: Innovative new stores operating with zero in-store label printing.
“At the moment we're targeting to save £1,000,000 in our first year, which is an astounding saving for us.”
— Rob Smith, Technology Officer, East of England Co-op
A Foundation for Future Growth: The Pricer Avenue™ Pilot
While the estate-wide rollout has secured operational excellence, East of England Co-op is already pioneering the next frontier of retail engagement. Through a pilot of Pricer Avenue™, the cooperative is transforming promotional areas into high-energy zones. Pricer Avenue allows for richer brand storytelling and deeper customer engagement directly at the shelf edge.
“Avenue is bringing new energy to our key promotional areas. It’s a big step toward delivering a store experience that’s ready for the future. The new shared Floating Canvas feature opens up fresh ways to talk to customers. It lets us highlight specific products, deliver rich brand storytelling and drive promotional engagement – right at the shelf edge.”
— Rob Smith, Technology Officer, East of England Co-op