Solum said on Feb. 12 it has signed a strategic partnership with Ricoh New Zealand to supply electronic shelf label (ESL) solutions to the New Zealand retail market. With the partnership, Solum will supply its premium Newton series ESL products to local retail companies through Ricoh New Zealand’s distribution channels. Ricoh New Zealand will be responsible for local deployment, system integration and technical support.

ESL is a technology that replaces paper price tags with digital labels. It allows prices to be updated in real time from a central system, eliminating manual price changes. By linking with pricing, inventory and promotion systems, it enables dynamic pricing and an omnichannel setup.

Solum was spun off from Samsung Electro-Mechanics. It has supplied ESLs in more than 45 countries worldwide. It has recently been operating in the European market, including adoption across all stores of Waitrose in Britain, a nationwide rollout at Currys and deployment to 100 Lincolnshire Co-op stores. The company said it plans to provide digital transformation solutions optimized for local retailers through cooperation with partners in each region.

Paul Kyriakos (폴 키리아코스), general manager at Solum, said the partnership with Ricoh New Zealand ensures local retailers can benefit from Solum’s ESL technology as well as Ricoh’s experience in the New Zealand market and nationwide service capabilities.

Darren Elmore (대런 엘모어), head of Ricoh New Zealand, said it will provide an ESL platform that simplifies price management, improves accuracy and secures capabilities for store modernization. He said the cooperation provides a foundation for retailers to compete sustainably.