United Natural Foods, Inc. Rolls Out Smart Shelf Tags™ at Retail; John Raiche and David Williams Comment
PROVIDENCE, RI - United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) is supporting its retail customers with an exciting innovation, partnering with Cornerstone for Natural™ to optimize its Smart Shelf Tag. The unique, advantageous tags can be easily scanned to shoppers with product information and digital content on their phones without needing an app, providing a direct and clear path to consumer education and engagement.
“UNFI is excited to enable better transparency and communication between our suppliers, retailers, and shoppers,” said John Raiche, Executive Vice President of Supplier Services and Merchandising at UNFI. “Consumers have shown that they care about the values and beliefs of the brands they purchase, and with Smart Shelf Tags, suppliers can communicate directly with shoppers about their products and tell the stories behind their brands.”
As explained in a press release, Smart Shelf Tags contain Eli QR Codes, an enhanced and more secure version of a QR code, which can be scanned by shoppers with their phones. With this service, consumers can access additional product information, which provides transparency about offerings that they are increasingly looking for, overall building trust between suppliers and shoppers while boosting loyalty for retailers.
The ELi QR Codes are able to provide a scannable code, and they also incorporate the back-end content to which users are directed. The content for an ELi QR Code is sourced from the supplier, automatically populates for each individual UPC, and may include promotional offers, nutrition and allergen information, testimonials, traceability information, brand stories, videos, and images. Retailers never have to source, manage, or update content, and the codes are automatically printed on the tags.
“Retail is changing, and we need to change with it,” said David Williams, Cornerstone’s Executive Vice President of Business Development. “Retailers and brands need to work together to engage and educate their shoppers, and our smart shelf tags provide this unique opportunity, helping with decision-making at a key point of purchase in the store.”
Click here to read on about this innovative grocery service.
To see what advantages this brings to UNFI and its retail allies, stick with us here at AndNowUKnow.
