The Bluetooth SIG has released a wireless standard for the electronic shelf label (ESL) market.

Until now, ESL systems have relied on proprietary protocols for wireless communications, presenting a potential barrier to global adoption. To address this, leaders from the ESL industry teamed with the Bluetooth SIG to create a scalable, low-power, secure ESL wireless standard based on Bluetooth technology.

“Interoperability and standardisation are in the DNA of Bluetooth technology,” said Mark Powell, CEO of the Bluetooth SIG. “Our members have a long, rich history of developing standards that enable market expansion and mass adoption of new product categories. The introduction of a wireless standard for the ESL market will unlock the next phase in retail digital transformation to deliver better outcomes for both stores and shoppers.”

Retail shelf pricing traditionally relied on error-prone, labour-intensive paper price tags and manual processes that sometimes had to be performed several times in a typical day. Electronic shelf labels are small, battery-powered e-paper displays that replace paper labels to present product and pricing information at the shelf edge and use wireless technology to communicate with a central hub to create a dynamic pricing automation network.

ESL systems offer retailers the ability to automate pricing, establish more efficient in-store operations, and increase shopper satisfaction.

“Retailers are increasingly looking towards IoT technologies to help them deliver operational efficiencies, increase conversion and to encourage customers to return to stores,” said Andrew Zignani, research director at ABI Research. “However, some retailers have been hesitant to adopt ESL technologies due to concerns over vendor lock-in, interoperability, scalability and the ability to extend this to other smart retail initiatives. The introduction of the Bluetooth ESL standard will help reduce potential obstacles for retailers looking to invest in IoT technologies and accelerate adoption and innovation.”

Philipp Maurer, vice chair of the Bluetooth SIG ESL working group and VP of engineering at French firm SES-Imagotag, added: “At SES-Imagotag, we are committed to helping the global retail industry realise the full potential of stores through digitalisation and electronic shelf labelling. The standardisation of ESL connectivity represents an additional avenue towards achieving that goal. We are honoured to have brought our expertise and taken a leadership role in building a global standard with the Bluetooth SIG. We are excited to expand our platform capabilities using Bluetooth technology, enabling us to provide an even broader portfolio of IoT tailored to our customers’ unique needs.”

Standardisation at the shelf edge using Bluetooth technology also offers benefits to ESL developers, including economies of scale and better allocation of development resources.

“We are proud to have collaborated with the Bluetooth SIG and its members to lead the standardisation of ESL connectivity,” said Art Miller, vice president at Qualcomm. “Backed by a proven product qualification programme and an unmatched installed base, Bluetooth technology was the logical choice to build a frictionless, interoperable ESL ecosystem. By adopting a standardised approach for wireless communications, ESL development complexity is greatly reduced, allowing development teams to turn their attention to more value-added, differentiating features and capabilities for their customers.”

Bluetooth ESL products will leverage features released this month in Bluetooth Core Specification version 5.4 as well as an upcoming ESL profile specification that defines how to use these features to create interoperable ESL systems.