German electronic label company Digety is using displays from Canadian firm Ynvisible for its re-usable digital price labels for the fashion industry.

Ynvisible’s interactive printed graphics provide low power, mass deployable and easy-to-use electronic displays and indicators for everyday smart objects, IoT devices and ambient intelligent surfaces. The company offers services, materials and technology to brand owners developing smart objects and IoT products.

Digety’s price labels address needs within sustainable clothing and fashion. Ynvisible’s displays will go into Digety’s re-usable smart price labels, which are flexible enough to pass as paper labels and designed to reduce electronic waste.

The explosive growth in the number of sustainable clothing brands in recent years has increased demand for more eco-friendly materials, improved manufacturing techniques, and the reuse and recycling of materials for the reduction of waste across the fashion value chains. This trend extends to how products are labelled and prices displayed.

Further, with the continuing trend in digital transformation within the retail sector, there is a growing need to be able to change prices rapidly and frequently to synchronise the online and physical store prices, price reductions, and campaigns. Updating prices on individual garments is costly and labour-intensive with conventional paper labels.

Ynvisible’s printed e-paper displays for digital label applications are manufactured using printed electronic techniques, which leads to reduced electronic waste and a lower carbon footprint. The labels are easily readable, flexible and can be customised. Additionally, the technology is low power to guarantee a long life. These attributes enable more sustainable digital price label.

“The Ynvisible display technology is a perfect fit for us,” said Marc Lebherz, founder of Digety. “It ticks all the boxes of our requirements list because it has a wide viewing angle, it is customisable, more attractive price point, low-power and flexible. We are now able to use flexible materials in combination with the Ynvisible display to manufacture a completely paper-like price label. This ensures a better fit for any kind of apparel compared to our plastic version and it is cheaper than alternative e-paper displays. It’s also easier to recycle and can be manufactured from sustainable materials to reduce our ecological footprint, perfect for creating electronic price labels for sustainable fashion brands.”