Retail Solutions

Efficient Instore Pricing

To avoid customer confusion, pricing labels on retail items need to be clear, legible and accurate. Agile retailers strategically change prices of their merchandise to drive sales and meet seasonal needs thereby maximising profitability.

SATO, as an experienced leader in labelling solutions for the retail sector, offers a range of options from simple hand labellers to intelligent mobile wireless units, to make the pricing process efficient, integrated and effective.

On demand printing solutions, combined with a range of label designs tailored for the retail environment, enable brands and retailers to react to customer demands, implement sales markdowns and promotions at short notice.

Whether pushing slow moving stock or implementing a sales promotion, SATO tailors the total solution - hardware, software and label stock - to the unique needs of every retail scenario ensuring retailers can meet sudden changes in shopper expectations.

Price markdown solutions	Promotional labelling

Retail Supply Chain Tracking

From the independent retailer’s backroom store to complex national distribution networks supplying hundreds of retail sites, the complicated nature of tracking and tracing stock keeping units (SKUs) in to the store and through the sale process is a challenge for all retailers.

Having the right goods in the right location, on the right shelf, at the right time, synchronised with the supply of online sales, is a major concern for all retailers today, whether large or small.

Compound this with the SKU proliferation we see in modern retailing, dealing with discrepancies and errors in inventory, waste and shrinkage, and managing customer satisfaction metrics based on availability of stock or timeliness of deliveries, the retailer has a number of challenges on its hands.

SATO, a leader in auto identification and data collection for the retail sector, intimately understands these needs and partners with customers around the world to deliver track and trace labelling solutions that connect goods, processes, people and stores to drive retailing efficiency.

With solutions for the entire retail supply chain - from concept to consumer - warehousing, logistics and distribution through to in store labelling solutions to respond to shopper needs, as well as counterfeiting and fraud, SATO provides a comprehensive range of printers, software and label solutions to create connectivity, transparency and visibility of the retail situation, aiding managers to optimise sales and profitability.

From tracking goods-in at a national distribution hub to identifying consumer shopping profiles to aid in merchandising strategy development, SATO provides barcode and RFID enabled labelling technology to enable real time cloud based data tracking of entire retail supply chains and consumer behaviour.

Counterfeiting and fraud	Care and composition labels	Variable data labelling solutions	Swing tickets, tags and self adhesive labels

Environmental Solutions

Brands and retailers alike are under tremendous pressure to demonstrate their sustainability credentials with increasing consumer awareness of packaging and labelling environmental performance. Consumers are seeking not only high quality goods with convenience today; they also want to feel good about what they buy. As such, retailers need to respond with new, innovative solutions to their packaging and labelling of products and promote their environmental credentials.

As a global label manufacturer, SATO is committed to becoming the leader of innovative environmentally friendly label solutions to support customers’ sustainability strategies. Whether recyclable or compostable, including renewable content, linerless or plastic free… SATO offers a range of environmentally friendly label solutions to meet customer needs and support them on their journey to responsible business.

Short shelf life solutions	Food waste management	Linerless labels

FOOD WASTE MANAGEMENT

With food waste set to top 88 million tonnes annually, with associated costs estimated at 143 billion euros according to the EU, finding solutions to minimise food waste in the retail sector is a key concern of retailers today. Retailing is said to contribute up to 5% of overall food waste volume in the EU. It is therefore a key part of many retailers’ sustainability strategy to optimise labelling and expiration date management, as well as looking at ways to redistribute through food banks, charity and community projects.

REAL TIME DATA FOR REAL TIME MANAGEMENT OF WASTE

At SATO, we know labelling is a brilliant communication tool but getting it wrong can be disastrous to food waste creation. Incorrect bar codes, cans with ripped labels, or products with out of date seasonal labels, all create product waste and have to be reduced to clear or discarded as they are not considered fit for sale. There is also often consumer confusion over labelling safety instructions - ‘sell by’, ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ being classic examples. These are all scenarios where SATO can support retailers to address waste by providing real time data on the condition of the product to manage stocks effectively.

Retailers know that shelves need to look full in order to make products more attractive to shoppers but this brings challenges in inventory management. From a shopper perspective, later expiration dates mean a product is fresh, where as close to the date means the product is deteriorating. This leads to the need for effective stock rotation as well as markdowns on the last day a product can be sold.

For most supermarkets, scanning barcodes to determine how much stock is in the system near to expiration, and then calculating a new price to encourage sale, is standard practice; the more stock at issue, the lower the price.

Utilising a SATO mobile wireless label printer, which can communicate with the scanner, means that product pricing can be reduced based on real-time information i.e. if products are still not moving, the price can be reduced further with quick on-demand printing of new labels and barcodes at the store shelf.

LABELS = COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION

The label is a powerful communication tool and can be used to educate customers - enabling them to make more informed choices. Whilst less than 5% of food waste resides in the supermarket, over 50% of waste happens in consumers’ homes. The label provides a great opportunity for retailers to educate their shoppers on food waste, freshness, recycling and how to use certain products after their ‘best before’ date.

Labels can be customised with smart technologies - barcodes and QR codes - that the consumer can scan with their smart phone to pick up helpful advice, hints and tips on saving waste (and money), understanding sell by / use by dates, as well as recipes and recycling.

SATO, a leader in labelling technology, understands that food waste management is a complex problem and there are no simple answers to big problems. However, applying the technology and expertise gained over many years, SATO can support retailer operational efficiency and help the planet!

The Simplified Store

Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) technology is a key enabler in delivering simplification and efficiency to retail operations management.

RFID enables retailers to improve visibility and tracking of inventory both in storage and on the shop floor, to prevent stock outs and manage shrinkage. RFID can monitor store operations through accurate and timely stock replenishments, as well as support the management of on-shelf availability of goods by enabling the tracking of goods; helping operators to have the right product, at the right price, on the right shelf, at the right time.

With the growth in ‘Click and Collect’ retail models, RFID is ideal for the picking process at distribution centres and management of the shipping process to stores for collection, as well as being integrated into a store’s security system to detect theft and fraud.

SATO is also the only printer supplier to offer hardware that can encode an NFC label and provide it in a combined solution, where required, with an RFID UHF applied. This is especially suitable for business-to-business supply chains, such as hardware and electronics.

Alternatively, in the B2C environment, the consumer is able to scan the NFC device with a smartphone to receive information such a product manual, technical support or installation information. The latest generation of SATO printers CL4NX, are the only printers on the market with this dual print capability.

Shelf edge labelling solutions	Inventory control & stocktaking	Queue busting

Warehousing and Distribution Management

SATO seeks to ensure the smooth and efficient flow of products and information from goods receipt to inventory management and shipping, as well as effectively managing the returns process, where required. SATO saves business time, cost and waste through enhanced visibility, productivity and efficiency.

Continual monitoring and visibility of goods, integrated into each operational area and business function, supports businesses to drive efficiency, productivity and streamline operations. With customer compliance and profitability at the forefront of SATO solutions, SATO designs agile, flexible smart solutions to support businesses from goods receipt to inventory management and shipping, as well as effectively managing the returns process, where required.

SATO VISUAL WAREHOUSE

SATO developed Visual Warehouse™, the industry’s first wearable navigation system intended for use in logistics centers that combines barcodes and RFID with virtual 3D mapping and indoor locating technologies.

Visual Warehouse™ can locate objects with greater precision - within a 30 cm margin of error - than conventional locator systems, with the help of wearable devices that navigate the worker to items using three-dimensional maps and voice guidance. The system facilitates receiving operations at warehouses that manage inventory in random locations, to improve efficiency in inventory management, speed up shipments by instructing the shortest route, and realise inventory/shipping management suited to the characteristics of each product.

With a remote support feature that instructs the shortest route to a product with easy-to-understand voice guidance such as, "Two more metres to your desired product," "Turn right at the next aisle," or "Changes were made to the type and volume of products to ship," the system helps with labour savings for shipping and improves quality of operation independent of worker experience level.

INTELLIGENT WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT

SATO solutions integrate seamlessly with warehouse management systems, incorporating data collection and wireless functionality to facilitate real-time awareness of locations, quantities, conditions, origins and destinations of products. Automation of the entire process flow eliminates manual, inconsistent human intervention from receipt to shipping and delivers best in class compliance and safety for optimum business performance.

Receipt of goods	Storage and replenishment	Inventory management	Real time location management	Product picking and assortment

Packing and preparation	Cross docking	Shipping control	Reverse logistics management