While lots of dealers continue to believe digital shelf labels are prohibitively expensive, some stores that have tested these modern price tags say they can pay for themselves in one to two years.

Walt Spokowski, who leads Marine Home Center in Nantucket, MA, along with a couple of hardware stores, has been installing them gradually since 2021. He likes them. “Price changes are instantaneous, with no labor expense,” he says.

Spokowski suggest dealers learn about the various sizes and styles of digital shelf labels available and think about how they want to use them. For example, whether the labels are affixed to a shelf or a peg hook can influence which kind of labels to use. Spokowski also suggests that, before making a big commitment, you should test the digital labels in a small store or a department to determine whether they fit operating systems. Going bit by bit, so to speak, also can help in training the staff and winning them over for the change. Given how many people dislike the drudgery of changing paper price tags, that shouldn’t be too hard.