Operational workflows · Retail & shelf edge

The shelf edge, finally connected.

Packaging real estate is finite. Promotions run blind. Counterfeits erode trust. SmartLinks turns every shelf-edge tag and on-pack code into a connected experience that shoppers, retailers and brands can all act on — without reprinting a thing.

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A shopper scanning a digital shelf-edge tag in a supermarket aisle

What it covers

Five jobs SmartLinks does at the shelf edge.

Capability 01

Shelf-edge content

Turn the shelf tag into a product page.

A shopper points their phone at the shelf-edge QR. Up comes the product page — ingredients, allergens, sustainability claims, comparison videos, reviews — without the brand spending another inch of packaging real estate or the retailer re-printing a single label.

A supermarket aisle with a digital shelf-edge label visible at the front of a shelf

Jobs to be done

Resolve a shelf tag to a rich product experience
Localise content by store, region and language
Swap content without reprinting tags
Surface reviews, comparisons and how-to videos
Highlight allergens, certifications and claims

Outcome

The shelf does more selling — and the brand controls the story, not the packaging printer.

Capability 02

Authentication at the shelf

Prove it's real before it leaves the aisle.

Premium and counterfeited categories — spirits, beauty, luxury, electronics — get a SmartLinks identity per unit. A scan at the shelf verifies authenticity in real time, flags suspicious patterns to the brand, and gives the shopper a reason to trust the price tag.

A customer in a boutique inspecting a connected hangtag on a wool coat

Jobs to be done

Issue a unique identity per unit, not per SKU
Verify authenticity at the point of consideration
Detect cloning and unusual scan patterns
Reward shoppers for verifying before they buy
Hand brand-protection teams an evidence trail

Outcome

Counterfeits get harder, premium pricing gets defended, and shoppers buy with confidence.

Capability 03

Repurchase flows

Make the second purchase the easy one.

After the first buy, the SmartLinks record knows the SKU, the size, the variant and the channel. The next scan offers a one-tap reorder — direct, via the retailer, or via the brand's subscription — without the customer hunting through a search page.

A bottle of wine and a chilled ready-meal carton on a kitchen counter, each with a small QR code

Jobs to be done

Offer a one-tap reorder from any scan
Route the basket to the right retailer or D2C store
Suggest the right pack size, refill or subscription
Capture intent signals back to the brand
Run loyalty and bonus campaigns per scan

Outcome

Higher repeat rates, fewer abandoned baskets, and a clean view of who is actually re-buying.

Capability 04

Promotions without reprint

Run the campaign, not the print job.

A new promotion goes live on Friday. Instead of pulling shelf-talkers and reprinting packs, the SmartLinks record swaps its content — landing pages, offers, video — and every existing QR in the wild points at the new experience. Monday's campaign uses Friday's codes.

A laptop and phone showing different views of a SmartLinks product record and promotion

Jobs to be done

Schedule content changes by date, store or audience
Run A/B tests on shelf-edge experiences
Push limited-time offers without reprinting
Coordinate brand and retailer campaigns on the same code
Roll back instantly if a campaign underperforms

Outcome

Promotions become a software change, not a print run — agility the packaging line can't give you.

Capability 05

Shelf analytics

Finally know what the shelf is doing.

Every scan, every authentication, every reorder is a signal. SmartLinks gives the brand and the retailer a shared dashboard of which SKUs scan, where, when, and what shoppers do next — the closest thing physical retail has to web analytics.

A tablet on a retail counter showing a shelf-edge scan analytics dashboard

Jobs to be done

Count scans by SKU, store, region and time
Segment first scans from repeat scans
Track scan-to-purchase intent signals
Detect dead shelf positions and broken tags
Share read-only dashboards with retail partners

Outcome

Merchandising decisions stop being guesswork — they're backed by signal from the aisle itself.

One scan at the shelf. Many ways to win the basket.

Bring one category — a SKU range, a store, an aisle — and we'll show you the tag, the experience and the shared dashboard in twenty minutes.

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