LONDON, June 9 — WHSmith and SOLUM (KRX: 248070) today announced a partnership to enhance travel retail through electronic shelf label (ESL) solutions across WHSmith’s UK travel estate, starting with high-footfall locations including the retailer’s recently opened flagship stores at Heathrow Airport.
The rollout supports WHSmith’s flagship stores across Heathrow Terminals 3, 4 and 5 as part of a broader deployment across the retailer’s travel retail network. It is designed to strengthen pricing accuracy, improve shelf-edge communication and support more efficient store operations as WHSmith continues to evolve its travel essentials proposition for today’s passengers.
WHSmith’s Heathrow flagship stores mark the latest phase in the retailer’s long-standing relationship with the UK’s largest airport. Designed for time-pressed passengers seeking a broader mix of essentials in one place, the stores bring together food and drink, health and beauty, technology accessories, pharmacy services and other travel essentials in a single format.
In this fast-moving environment, clear and responsive shelf-edge communication is essential to a smoother customer journey. SOLUM’s Newton ESL solutions enable WHSmith to update pricing and promotional information more efficiently, helping customers navigate busy travel stores with greater confidence while supporting colleagues in maintaining consistency across rapidly changing categories.
By replacing manual paper ticketing with digital shelf-edge communication, the ESL solutions help reduce repetitive in-store tasks, improve price and promotion management, and support a more consistent operating model across complex, high-footfall travel locations.
To support the rollout, WHSmith has selected Newton PRO, SOLUM’s flagship ESL designed for demanding retail environments such as airports, railway stations and major transport hubs. Combining durability, long battery performance, rapid over-the-air updates and programmable button functionality, Newton PRO provides a robust digital foundation for store formats that require speed, reliability and operational consistency. Its interactive functionality also creates the potential to support a wider range of future in-store scenarios, from operational workflows to customer-facing services.
Heidi Reynolds, Retail Director at WHSmith, said, “At WHSmith, our focus is on making every journey better by bringing together all of the essentials travellers need in one place. As we continue to evolve our offer, the ESL solutions help us support a clearer and more intuitive customer experience while enabling colleagues to operate more efficiently in busy travel environments.”
Mark Duckworth, Country Manager UK & Ireland at SOLUM, said, “WHSmith’s new flagship stores reflect the continued evolution of travel retail, where convenience, speed and clarity are essential to the customer journey. We are proud to support WHSmith with ESL solutions designed for high-footfall environments, helping improve shelf-edge accuracy, operational efficiency and the in-store experience across key travel locations. This partnership is an important milestone for SOLUM as we continue to strengthen our presence in the UK travel retail market.”