RaceTrac brings shelf tag printing in-house
A regional convenience/fuel store operator is managing its own shelf tagging and product labeling operations.
Atlanta-based RaceTrac, operator of the RaceTrac and RaceWay convenience/fuel banners, formerly worked solely with a third-party provider for the creation and delivery of its shelf strips. Now, the retailer has moved its shelf tagging and product labeling operations in-house using Epson ColorWorks on-demand color label printers.
RaceTrac operates over 580 stores in 13 Southeastern states with plans for growth and expansion in new markets, stocking more than 4,000 retail and grocery items. With its large database of products, varied store types, layouts and planograms, the company found that achieving flexibility with label printing operations would be critical.
[READ MORE: RaceTrac transforms supply chain to support growth]
The retailer transitioned from a "one-size-fits-all" managed third-party printing operation to the ColorWorks on-demand color label printer, bringing all shelf strip production in-house.
According to RaceTrac, this switch reduced shelf strip production time from weeks to less than two days. The strips are non-standard measuring two or foot feet long with synthetic tags featuring various colors, RaceTrac branding and product information.
“At RaceTrac, our business goals include identifying and optimizing merchandise planning and execution strategies to increase profit, and ColorWorks label printer technology satisfies our needs as a retailer while also enhancing the customer experience,” said Jonah Whigham, space management manager at RaceTrac. “Instead of costly individual product strips, we can utilize strips across an entire shelf that includes a barcode and UPC, ordering identifiers, a large price tag, and something that sets us apart from other retailers – a high-resolution color image of the product.
The retailer says that the color product images make shopping and identifying product details easier for customers while, streamlining the process of stocking and ordering for merchandising and store personnel.
RaceTrac worked with Epson and Integrated Productivity Systems (IPSi) to create a solution that seamlessly integrates three ColorWorks CW-C6000A on-demand color label printers with Loftware Cloud software and IPSi’s custom label software.
As a result, the retailer can monitor every step of printing shelf tags and make changes as needed with enhanced flexibility. By bringing production in-house, RaceTrac also saved timed and money. The company estimates it has saved around 50% of total costs over the past year with the new solution, or more than $250,000.
“We continue to see businesses find success and process improvements with the ColorWorks on-demand color label printers,” said Stevi Sterns, product manager, Epson America, Inc. “Integrating color and on-demand printing can allow companies to innovate, save costs and eliminate inefficiencies, and we are excited to see RaceTrac do just that.”
RaceTrac modernizes store operations
RaceTrac has also actively been working to transform front-end workflows. The retailer is using HPE compute and storage technology to streamline customer-facing workloads including self-pumping gas stations, credit card and payment processing, and a customer loyalty platform.
RaceTrac also seeks to utilize HPE technology to improve overall store management programs such as camera surveillance, employee digital timecards to clock-in and clock-out, daily accounting summaries, staff scheduling and inventory order placements.
In addition, the company has deployed autonomous floor scrubbers from ICE Cobotics to streamline repetitive cleaning tasks and free store associates to serve better customers
Headquartered in Atlanta, family-owned RaceTrac has more than 800 retail locations representing the RaceTrac and RaceWay brands in 13 states.
