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UK retailers “stuck in labelling time warp”

a third of high street retailers at risk of losing their competitive edge with time-consuming, inaccurate and expensive labelling systems

June 05, 2007

Research from Zebra Technologies has revealed that while 40 per cent of retailers mark down their prices daily or weekly, 84 per cent have no technology in place to cut the time spent on changing and correcting price labels.

Zebra carried out the research among retailers to discover how they handled their product labeling in store, and discovered that the majority were neglecting customer service and wasting money because of unnecessary, time-consuming administration.

“The market for high street retailers is increasingly competitive. The growth of online shopping and recent interest rate rises have forced retailers to raise their game in order to retain customers,” commented Christine Watts, director at Zebra Technologies. “In this environment, stores simply cannot afford to overlook the time-saving technology that is available to them”.

A third of retailers questioned were also still using handwritten labels in their stores. This leaves greater margin for error as it involves manually entering information into the till, rather than scanning a printed barcode, and also leaves less time to concentrate on stock control and customer service.

“Using handwritten labels is time consuming, unnecessary and ultimately outdated,” continued Watts. “Forward thinking stores are taking advantage of mobile printing solutions to track and label stock from the warehouse to the shop floor, meaning that staff work more efficiently and have more time to spend improving customer service. Stores that remain stuck in a labeling time warp risk losing valuable customers in a highly competitive market.”
(272 words)

Executive quote

“The market for high street retailers is increasingly competitive. The growth of online shopping and recent interest rate rises have forced retailers to raise their game in order to retain customers,” commented Christine Watts, director at Zebra Technologies. “In this environment, stores simply cannot afford to overlook the time-saving technology that is available to them”.

About the company

About Zebra Technologies
Zebra Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq: ZBRA) delivers innovative and reliable on-demand printing solutions for business improvement and security applications in 100 countries around the world. More than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies use Zebra®-brand printers. A broad range of applications benefit from Zebra-brand thermal bar code, "smart" label and receipt printers, and plastic card printers, resulting in enhanced security, increased productivity, improved quality, lower costs, and better customer service. The company has sold more than five million printers, including RFID printer/encoders and wireless mobile solutions, as well as ZebraDesigner software, ZebraLink connectivity solutions, Genuine Zebra printing supplies and ZebraCare services. Information about Zebra specialty printing solutions is at http://www.zebra.com.

Zebra Technologies Europe Ltd, headquartered in the United Kingdom, provides product and speciality label sales and support across EMEA.

Contact details

For further information, please contact:
Lisa Gillingham or Helen Cleaves at LEWIS
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7802 2626 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7802 2627
Email: lisag/helenc@lewispr.com Web: www.lewispr.com

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