Why is retail labeling important?
Information on labels and hang tags within retail operations must be smudge-resistant to withstand repeated consumer exposures while still maintaining legibility throughout the life of the product on the shelf and thereafter in some cases.
In addition, barcode labeling helps enable smooth business operations, including optimized inventory tracking, short re-stocking and checkout times, and consumer promotions.
Using thermal transfer technology can help you ensure proper tracking and inventory management, identification of specific product information, and more.
This technology offers the retail industry the ability to identify multiple forms of information that help guide users and employees understand the details of a product. Some of this information may include:
- Retail product names
- Retail product models
- Packaging quantity size
- Pricing
- UPC codes
The retail industry has widely focused on end user labelling so you want to ensure that any labels that are created are useful to the consumer and will provide them with needed information from decision-making to point of sale stages. Typical label applications include:
- Shelf price tags
- Apparel barcode tags
- Hang tags
- Bag tags
As the retail industry grows, so does the technology, along with the demand from consumers to have specified information readily available to them regardless of if they are shopping online, or directly in store. Expect consumers to demand multi-level information on your labels within multiple areas of retail such as:
- Department stores
- Hardware stores
- Sporting goods stores
- Grocery stores
- Craft stores
- Drug stores
- Home and garden centers
When it comes to the details of your labeling, there are multiple options of technology to choose from, but the most common solution is thermal transfer ribbons. When digging into specific requirements for labeling, you may or may not know what type of thermal ribbon or label stock you need for an application.
You will normally see multiple label stocks used within retail but the most common are:
- Coated paper
- Semi-gloss paper
- Synthetic
If you’re ever unsure of what ribbon and label stock combination you need, we have the expertise to support you along your label journey. You will have a team of experts on hand to help determine if you need a wax, wax/resin, or resin thermal transfer ribbon, and the ribbon chosen can be matched with an ideal recommended label stock to ensure your labels will get the job done and last if you may need them to.
