How Tech Can Better Your Business: Smart Labelling

For a business to be successful in this day of age, you need to be able to set yourself apart from others in your industry. Whether it’s the services you offer, the innovative practices you display or the futuristic products you sell, you need to provide consumers with something that they can’t get anywhere else. And for many businesses in the food and beverage industry, they’re noticing that technology is the way to do this. Specifically with the implementation of Smart Labelling. 

What Is Smart Labelling? 

Smart labelling is a new concept that many businesses are taking advantage of. Essentially, it is an innovative label that is attached to a product which allows an abundance of product-identifying information to be transferred and accessed when it is scanned. The benefits of implementing new technology such as this, is that it allows for better transparency, traceability and ultimately happier customers. 

How It Can Boost Transparency

As mentioned before, Smart Labels allow for consumers to gain information about the product they’re scanning by using IoT (Internet of Things) technology. Whether it’s the ingredients, packaging date, or even more information about the brand, it easily shows everything that a customer could want. Ultimately legitimizing a product’s claims. This is particularly useful when consumers want to know where their food is coming from and what the brand represents. Improving not only their shopping experience, but meeting consumers needs to instantly have information while remaining transparent to the public. 

How It Can Boost Traceability 

While many consumers are demanding transparency about the food and beverage products they consume, the ability to trace a product is also desired not only by consumers but manufacturers. While this can be related to consumers wanting to support specific local regions similar to the ‘Good Things Grow in Ontario’ campaign that promotes local businesses, it also helps businesses limit possible foodborne illnesses. The importance of traceability in this sense is that companies can quickly and efficiently trace from farm to fork, the location of a product as the label is scanned throughout its entire delivery by those in warehouse, shipping, and retail settings. Meaning, if the product is defective or contaminated, they can quickly contain it and notify consumers to protect them. While there are many instances where a lack of traceability can be noted to the severity of a foodborne illness outbreak, one that is worth discussing due to the number of people involved was the 2006 Spinach E. Coli outbreak that happened across 26 states and Canada. While it can be hard always to prevent and detect defected or contaminated products, it sparked other businesses, such as Walmart (who later implemented blockchain-backed technology to dramatically cut down the time it took to trace products) to question and update their technology. 

How It Can Boost Customer Happiness 

Customer happiness relies heavily on providing the consumer with not only a good experience, but by giving them any information they’re curious about knowing. And for those within the food and beverage industry, they’re finding that to increase customer happiness they must maintain transparency and provide traceability options as consumers are increasingly becoming more involved and invested in their health, where their food originated from and food consumption guidelines. While many may think this is a burden to adopt technology such as Smart Labels, businesses are using it to better their brand and boost customer loyalty. Specifically by creating a brand presence surrounding their ‘organic product’, ‘non-GMO ingredients’ or whatever sets them apart and is desired by consumers.

While some actions may be easier to implement because other businesses are seeing success from it, others, like what software solution you should be using could be tougher to navigate. When in doubt about whether you’re using the right, innovative solution that corresponds to your unique business needs, contact Mantralogix. We’re dedicated to acting as your partner in solving business problems using world-class technology.