Retail’s sustainability agenda is increasingly being shaped at the shelf edge. For grocery retailers under pressure to reduce waste, lower energy consumption, improve operational efficiency and meet ambitious climate targets, the store itself has become a critical point of intervention, explains Sofie Wikander, head of sustainability at electronic shelf label (ESL) tech company Pricer.
The store is where digitalisation is beginning to move from operational convenience to strategic necessity. ESLs, paired with intelligent software platforms, are enabling retailers to digitise stores in ways that create greater control over the flow of goods, improve resource efficiency, and support more sustainable decision-making across the retail ecosystem.
For Pricer, sustainability is integrated into the company’s strategy, product development, and long-term vision for the future of retail. As outlined in Pricer’s 2025 Sustainability Report, the company is focused on creating value for Pricer, people and planet by reducing environmental impact, promoting responsible supply chains and supporting retailers in building more sustainable stores.
The grocery industry is increasingly recognising that sustainability and operational performance are closely connected. Food waste remains one of retail’s most urgent challenges, both commercially and environmentally. Retailers lose significant margin through markdown inefficiencies, spoilage and overstocking, while wasted food contributes heavily to global emissions.
Digitised shelf-edge technology offers retailers far greater control over these processes. Dynamic pricing capabilities enabled through ESLs allow retailers to reduce waste by optimising markdowns on short-dated products in real time. Instead of relying on manual interventions that are often delayed or inconsistently executed, pricing strategies can become responsive, precise and scalable across thousands of products and stores.
Over time, the data generated by connected stores can help retailers better understand product flow, sell-through rates and purchasing patterns. That creates opportunities to improve forecasting, reduce overproduction and align purchasing more closely with actual consumer demand.
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more embedded within retail operations, these data rich environments will become even more valuable. AI systems depend on accurate, real time operational data to identify inefficiencies and optimise inventory movement. ESLs and connected store infrastructure therefore act as a foundational layer for future sustainability innovation.
Importantly, sustainability at the shelf edge is also about communication. Consumers increasingly expect retailers to provide greater transparency around products, sourcing and environmental impact. The shelf edge is becoming a strategic communication space where retailers can highlight sustainable choices, display product information dynamically, and support more informed purchasing decisions.
Pricer’s UK Grocery Shopper Research suggests that sustainability increasingly influences purchasing behaviour, particularly among affluent consumers. Nearly half of UK shoppers (47%) say they are willing to pay more for higher welfare or sustainable products, rising dramatically to 96% among households earning more than £200,000 a year. The research also found that 45% of shoppers want sustainability and sourcing information available at the shelf edge, reinforcing growing demand for greater transparency in-store.
Digital shelf-edge infrastructure allows retailers to move beyond static pricing labels toward a more flexible and intelligent in-store experience. Sustainability messaging, origin information, promotions linked to waste reduction and healthier product alternatives can all be surfaced dynamically and updated instantly across the store.
This shift reflects a broader transformation underway within grocery retail. Stores are evolving from largely analogue environments into connected, responsive ecosystems capable of supporting wider sustainability and operational goals.
However, enabling sustainability in store also requires technology providers to take responsibility for the environmental impact of their products and operations. Retailers are increasingly scrutinising the sustainability credentials of their supply chain partners, particularly as Scope 3 emissions reporting becomes more important.
At Pricer, this means integrating sustainability into the product lifecycle from the very beginning. Product longevity is a central design principle. Pricer’s ESLs are engineered for a functional lifespan of approximately ten years, significantly reducing the need for replacement hardware and lowering long-term environmental impact.
The company’s optical wireless communication technology based on infrared also supports this longevity by enabling reliable, high-speed communication with minimal energy consumption. Energy efficiency remains a primary focus throughout product design. ESLs are engineered to consume as little energy as possible during operation and none while idle.
This focus is becoming even more significant with the development of ‘Pricer Avenue’, the company’s next-generation shelf-edge platform. Avenue moves away from traditional battery dependency through rail-power and indoor light harvesting technologies, helping retailers reduce battery consumption while improving long-term operational sustainability.
To drive longevity and circularity in the ESL market, Pricer focuses on the total lifecycle impact of its technology rather than just initial deployment costs. The company extends product usability through localised refurbishment, battery replacement and firmware upgrades, resorting to certified, compliant recycling only when necessary. Additionally, Pricer has redesigned its packaging to reduce plastics and lower transport-related emissions, ensuring sustainability from delivery to disposal.
ESLs and connected software platforms are not simply replacing paper labels. They are creating the foundation for more responsive, efficient and intelligent retail environments capable of supporting waste reduction, labour optimisation, energy efficiency and better inventory management at scale.
The long-term opportunity goes even further. As connected stores become more sophisticated, retailers will gain greater ability to manage the flow of products across the entire value chain. Over time, this creates pathways toward more circular retail models where inventory decisions, replenishment strategies and purchasing patterns are increasingly aligned with real world demand signals.
Read more about Pricer and sustainability
[image credit: Pricer]
