Integrated systems for retail:
In today’s supermarket, the shelf and the screen are no longer two separate worlds. When they work together under one control room, the store gains in operational efficiency and in the experience it offers shoppers.
For years, store digitalization was told device by device: first electronic labels to automate pricing, then screens to communicate.
Today the real lever is no longer the single technology, but the ability to make them work together.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SCENARIO
The physical store takes center stage again
After years in which almost all the attention was on the online channel, the physical store has regained a central role in the shopping experience. But not with the logic of the past: today the store is a space where operational efficiency and communication must coexist, and where every square meter is expected to communicate something.
According to Deloitte’s 2026 Retail Industry Global Outlook, 44% of retail executives say their company’s legacy systems are slowing down innovation.* It’s a clear signal of where the pressure is building: disconnected technology, not the lack of it, is increasingly what holds retailers back.
or retail, this means one precise thing: in-store technology isn’t just about cutting costs, it’s about making the store easier to manage and better able to speak to the customer. And this is exactly where ESL and Digital Signage, working as one system, make their strongest contribution.
*Source: Deloitte, 2026 Retail Industry Global Outlook.
TWO ROLES
ESL and Digital Signage: two roles, one ecosystem
The two technologies are often conflated, or Digital Signage gets reduced to “one more screen above the shelf.” In reality, ESL and Digital Signage cover different moments in the customer journey, and that’s exactly why they complete each other.
Electronic shelf labels live physically at the shelf. They’re the point where price, product information and promotion meet at the exact moment of choice. They automate price changes, reduce the manual work of printing and swapping paper tags, and limit errors between shelf and checkout. With NFC integration and QR codes, the label also becomes a touchpoint: by tapping their smartphone, the customer can access extra information and content on the product.
Digital Signage, on the other hand, works along the entire in-store journey, not just in front of the shelf. At the entrance and in high-traffic areas, Ledwall and Videowall welcome shoppers, tell the brand story and give visibility to campaigns. Along the aisles and in each department, interactive Totem guide, inform and offer services to the customer. At the shelf, Bshelf and Lumina Displays bring dynamic communication directly to the product. If the label closes the moment of choice, Digital Signage builds the context and accompanies the customer up to that moment.
The difference, then, is not one of hierarchy but of function: the label works on precise data and operations, the screen works on relationship and atmosphere. It’s when the two levels are consistent with each other that the store speaks with a single voice.
CONTROL ROOM
Why you need a platform
that orchestrates every device
Getting labels and screens to coexist on the same shelf is the easy part. The hard part is getting them to reason on the same data and the same logic. If the price changes in the management system, it needs to update on the label and, if that item is on promotion, appear consistently on the department screen too. Without a layer that ties everything together, every device stays an island: interfaces to manage multiply, the risk of mismatch between shelf price and checkout price increases, and staff end up manually handling what should be automatic.
This is where a centralized management platform like Profimax Cloud comes in. Its job is to act as the control room: collecting the data once and distributing it consistently across every digital touchpoint, deciding what to publish, where, and when. In practice, a single environment from which to update prices, promotions and content in real time, schedule campaigns, and keep a uniform look across screens and labels.
Profimax Cloud, the platform developed by Nicolis Project in collaboration with Microsoft, works exactly this way: it centralizes the management of ESL and Digital Signage in a single cloud architecture, with a CMS and a Template Designer to build communications and a scheduling module to program them.
The same price change that shows up on the label can be coordinated with the promotion running on the screen, manageable remotely even across many stores.
It’s the difference between having individual devices and having an ecosystem that works as a single system.
“We are a software integrator: we centralize device management under Profimax.”
Enrico Romano, CEO Nicolis Project (from Largo Consumo, July 2026)
STORE BY STORE
What changes from store to store
An integrated system doesn’t look the same everywhere: it shifts its center of gravity depending on the store format and the priority that needs solving.
In convenience stores, where staff is limited and every minute counts, the most immediate benefit comes from electronic label automation, which frees up time for customer service.
In other contexts, the value lies mainly in the shopping journey: Digital Signage accompanies the customer along the entire path, from entrance to checkout, replacing static communication with content that updates in real time.
In more structured stores, value is created when the shelf and the screen talk to each other department by department: product data becomes content, and content becomes shopping context.
In the most complete formats, finally, labels, digital communication and flow-management systems converge into a single control room, supporting staff and customers together on multiple fronts at once.
The common thread stays the same: you don’t start from the device, but from the problem to solve. The right technology is the one that adapts to the store’s layout, flows and priorities, while remaining governable from a single platform as the project grows.
BENEFITS
What the store gains from an integrated approach
Bringing ESL and Digital Signage together as one system produces benefits that go beyond the sum of the two technologies.
On the operational side, pricing automation and centralized management free up staff time, allowing employees to focus on customer service and relationship-building instead of the repetitive work of printing and swapping tags. Unified management also reduces the risk of mismatch between shelf price and checkout price.
On the communication side, consistency between screen and label makes the message more recognizable along the entire journey: from entrance to aisle, all the way to the product. The customer finds clear information exactly when they need it, and the store strengthens its identity without multiplying management effort.
In Nicolis Project’s vision, this is a path that doesn’t necessarily require a radical, immediate overhaul of the entire technology setup: value often comes from a gradual journey, built on the technology already in place and the retailer’s priorities, capable of delivering concrete, measurable benefits step by step.
KEY POINTS
The integrated system in five points
TWO COMPLEMENTARY ROLES
The electronic shelf labelsupports the final purchase decision at the shelf; Digital Signage builds the context along the entire in-store journey.
ONE CONTROL ROOM
With Profimax Cloud, prices, promotions and content are managed from a single cloud environment, centrally and remotely.
LESS MANUAL WORK
Pricing automation frees up staff time and reduces errors between shelf and checkout.
CONSISTENT COMMUNICATION
Screen and label speak the same language: the message stays recognizable from entrance to product.
TAILORED AND GRADUAL
Every project adapts to the retailer’s layout, flows and priorities, making the most of the technology already in place.
CONCLUSION
From shelf to screen, one single experience
The electronic shelf label, on its own, is no longer enough today. Its value grows in proportion to what’s built around it: software, integration, Digital Signage and a control room capable of holding the different touchpoints together. In the same way, screens perform best when they’re not isolated installations, but part of a coherent ecosystem.
For retail, the message is simple: the future of the store doesn’t depend on a single technology, but on the ability to make them work together. This is how the store becomes easier to manage and, at the same time, a place where the shopping experience is more fluid and engaging.
Where every store becomes a new way of living retail.
Want to understand how to integrate electronic shelf labels and Digital Signage into your store?
Read the full case studies:
Conad City store in Falzes
CraiGO!
Pewex Supermercati
Ipercoop Le Fontane in Catanzaro
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