United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) is bringing the Smart Shelf Tag program to its retailers and suppliers after a new agreement with Cornerstone for Natural. The shelf tags contain ELI QR codes, a more secure QR code that, when scanned, provides shoppers with back-end product information, brand stories, testimonials, promotional offers and more.
“UNFI is excited to enable better transparency and communication between our suppliers, retailers, and shoppers. 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,” said John Raiche, Executive Vice President of Supplier Services & Merchandising at UNFI.
UNFI operates 56 distribution centres in North America and supplies over 30,000 retailers, and the trial of Smart Shelf Tags reported three times more sales than other items without interactive tags in the same category.
“Retail is changing, and we need to change with it. 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,” said David Williams, Cornerstone’s EVP of Business Development.
