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

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"Using handwritten labels is time consuming, unnecessary and ultimately outdated," continued Watts.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."