After many years working solely with a third-party provider for the creation and delivery of its shelf strips, convenience retailer RaceTrac has moved its shelf tagging and product labeling operations in-house with ColorWorks on-demand color label printers. As the 18^th largest privately held company in the US, RaceTrac operates over 580 stores in 13 states, stocking more than 4,000 retail and grocery items. With its large database of products, varied store types, layouts and planograms, flexibility with label printing operations is critical.

RaceTrac transitioned from a one-size-fits-all printing operation to the ColorWorks on-demand color label printer, bringing all shelf strip production in-house. This switch reduced production time from weeks to less than two days. RaceTrac’s shelf strips are far from standard; these 2- foot or 4-foot synthetic tags feature vibrant colors, RaceTrac branding and detailed product information for an eye-catching, informative display.

“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,” says 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. Not only does the color product image make shopping and identifying product details easy for shoppers, but it also makes the process of stocking and ordering easy for merchandising and store teams.”

When RaceTrac realized they could significantly benefit from changes to their shelf tagging and product labeling operations, Kent Bailey, director of space and demand planning at RaceTrac, enlisted the expertise of Epson and Integrated Productivity Systems (IPSi), with extensive experience integrating automated data collection equipment and label printing systems. The three companies collaborated to create an advanced, seamless solution that integrates three ColorWorks CW-C6000A on-demand color label printers with Loftware Cloud software and IPSi’s custom label software. IPSi’s software plays a crucial role in bridging the infrastructure and hardware components.

“When the RaceTrac team came to us, they lacked flexibility and control in their shelf tag printing, which caused real business problems,” says Rick Schilling, president of IPSi. “They now have the tools and agilityto print shelf tags internally when they need to and use a commercial printer when it calls for it, which is beneficial when you get into target marketing and A/B testing.”

“Our new system lets us view and adjust strip files before printing,” adds Whigham. “This is a game changer. We eliminate waste and ensure accuracy, saving time and money. Even though our shelf tags are durable, they sometimes get damaged. Now, if a store needs a replacement, we can print and ship it the next day. What used to take weeks now happens in real time.”

The RaceTrac team now has complete control over their shelf tag process. They can monitor every step, make changes as needed and enjoy total flexibility. By bringing production in-house, RaceTrac eliminated reliance on a third party, saving time and money.

“In terms of total shelf tag labeling costs, we’ve saved around 50% of total costs over the past year with the new solution,” says Whigham. “That equates to more than $250,000 we’ve been able to save by bringing operations in-house.”

“We continue to see businesses find success and process improvements with the ColorWorks on-demand color label printers,” comments 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.”