On October 12, news emerged that SOLUM, responding to labor shortages and store automation demand in Japan's distribution industry, is expanding its electronic shelf label (ESL) and large ePaper signage business.

Demand for digital transformation in Japan's retail market continues to grow, aiming to reduce repetitive tasks such as replacing price tags and managing in-store signage materials. According to data from Teikoku Databank, in July 2026, 51.3% of companies reported a shortage of full-time employees — the fourth consecutive year that the July figure exceeded half. In the food retail sector, including supermarkets, the full-time employee gap reached 50.0% in April this year, up 5.6 percentage points year-on-year.

The Annual Supermarket Statistics Survey 2025, jointly released by Japan's three major supermarket associations, shows that the recruitment completion rate for full-time employees at supermarket operators was only 75.5% of the required headcount, while the rate for part-time and temporary workers was 79.4%. In the same survey, among the major operational challenges cited by the industry, improving profitability accounted for 86.3% and talent recruitment and development 73.0%.

On the retail front line, price tag management is one of the tasks requiring continuous labor input. Food stores frequently run special offers and limited-time promotions, or change country-of-origin information, requiring staff to repeatedly produce, print, and attach price tags to shelves.

Store automation has first spread mainly around checkout counters. The share of supermarket operators equipped with self-checkout machines rose from 31.1% in 2023 to 41.7% in 2025. By contrast, only 18.2% of companies have introduced electronic shelf labels as a productivity solution, leaving shelf-operation digitalization at a relatively low level.

Against this backdrop, an increasing number of Japanese retail companies are adopting electronic shelf labels. Aoki Supermarket, which operates 51 stores in Aichi Prefecture, began deploying electronic shelf labels in batches from July 2025, aiming to complete deployment across all stores within 2026. System construction and operation are handled by Japanese IT company BIPROGY, with terminals featuring SOLUM's four-color ESL product, Newton.

Aoki Supermarket links its POS system with the electronic shelf labels to reduce discrepancies between shelf prices and checkout prices; it also plans to use the label's flashing function to manage products approaching their expiration date. Reducing the work of producing, printing, and replacing price tags due to price changes and origin changes is also one of the core purposes of this deployment.

Beyond electronic shelf labels, SOLUM is also expanding its large ePaper signage product line. ePaper consumes power only when switching screens and can be battery-powered, requiring no additional wiring, so it can be installed on walls, display racks, and other locations. Content supports remote updates, reducing the workload of repeatedly replacing paper posters and in-store signage materials.

SOLUM continues to advance cooperation in the Japanese market. From October 8 to 9, the company joined forces with BIPROGY to set up a joint booth at APRCE 2026, the Asia Pacific Retail Conference held at the Tokyo International Forum. The exhibition showcased A1, A2, and A3 large ePaper signage and full-color electronic shelf labels, presenting application solutions that can switch store display content according to time periods.

A SOLUM representative said: "Labor shortages in Japan's distribution industry persist, and market demand for reducing the frequent replacement of price tags and in-store signage materials continues to grow. Relying on our partnership with BIPROGY, we will leverage electronic shelf labels and large ePaper signage to help stores with their digital transformation."