Overview
- Tesco confirmed a partnership with tech firm Hanshow on Monday to begin fitting electronic shelf labels (ESLs) in four pilot sites and to expand the system to about 3,000 UK stores over the next two years.
- The initial rollout will cover one Tesco Express and three larger supermarkets after successful pilot trials at the Royston and St Neots branches.
- The ESLs are small digital screens that get price information from Tesco’s central systems so prices can be updated instantly across the shop floor, which Tesco says should reduce mismatches between shelf tags and checkout prices.
- Tesco says the move will significantly cut paper use and remove the need for staff to change paper labels manually, allowing colleagues to spend more time serving customers in store.
- The announcement follows wider industry testing—Morrisons trialled ESLs first in October 2025 and other chains including Lidl, Co-op, Waitrose, Asda and Sainsbury’s have run similar pilots—which points to a broader shift to digital pricing in UK supermarkets.