A housewares chain kept charging register prices that didn't match the shelf — refunds, arguments, inspector risk. We connected ERP price changes to per-branch label queues, electronic shelf labels and scan-verified swaps. Mismatches dropped 96% across seven branches.
Typical results
10am
All branches price-correct
7
Branches synced nightly
100%
Tag swaps scan-verified
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
Head office pushed price updates to the ERP, but shelves caught up whenever branches got around to printing — often 48 hours later, sometimes never. Audits found around 120 mismatched tags per branch, each one a refund, an argument at the register, or a consumer-protection fine waiting to happen. Labeling ate six hours a week per branch.
Before and after
Mismatched tags per audit
−96%Price rollout time
−75%Weekly labeling hours per branch
−67%The automation
We built an overnight sync that captures every ERP price change and maps it to the branches actually stocking each SKU. Electronic shelf labels update within minutes; for paper tags, each branch receives a print queue sorted by aisle before opening. Staff scan every swapped tag against a verify checklist, unfinished aisles stay flagged, and by 10am a dashboard shows head office exactly which branches are price-correct.
How it works
- 01
Overnight capture
Every ERP price change is picked up after close and mapped to the branches stocking each SKU.
- 02
ESL instant update
Electronic shelf labels across the chain update themselves within minutes of the sync.
- 03
Print queues by aisle
Each branch gets a paper-label queue covering only its stocked SKUs, sorted by aisle, before opening.
- 04
Scan and verify
Staff scan each swapped tag against a checklist; missed tags keep the aisle flagged until done.
- 05
Morning rollup
By 10am, a dashboard shows head office completion per branch and any stragglers.
Starts from
- ERP price changes
- Branch stock lists
Delivers
- Electronic shelf labels
- Aisle-sorted print queues
- Scan-and-verify checklist
The impact
Audit mismatches fell from roughly 120 tags per branch to five — a 96% drop. Price rollouts that took up to 48 hours now finish within 12, done by 10am the same morning. Weekly labeling fell from six hours to two per branch, and register disputes all but vanished.
Questions about this automation
How does each branch know which labels to change?
After close, the sync reads every price change from the ERP and matches it against each branch's stock list. A branch only receives the SKUs it actually carries. Electronic labels update directly, and paper tags go into a print queue sorted by aisle, ready before the store opens the next morning.
How does the automation confirm that paper tags were really swapped?
Staff scan each new tag on the shelf against a checklist on their phone. A scan marks that SKU as done, and any aisle with unscanned tags stays flagged. By mid-morning, head office sees completion per branch on a dashboard, along with the specific aisles and SKUs still waiting.
What systems does it need, and how is it rolled out?
It connects to the ERP for price changes and branch stock, to the electronic shelf label system where one exists, and to label printers in each branch. It is a multi-step build, usually rolled out in stages, often starting with a pilot branch before the print queues and scan checks go chain-wide.