East of England Co-op has moved closer to its goal of eliminating edible food waste by 2030. Partnering with Retail Insight, the leading provider of in-store execution software, the cooperative prevented 1.8million meals from entering landfill last year thanks to AI-powered markdown technology.

East of England Co-op worked with Retail Insight to deploy its expiry date management feature, Prompted Markdowns. This automates the identification of products nearing expiry, alerting staff to focus only on products where action is needed, delivering time-saving benefits and increased productivity.  

Smart markdowns simplify reduce to clear processes

The implementation of Prompted Markdowns also aligned with East of England Co-op’s goals to simplify its reduced to clear (RTC) processes, reduce operational costs and reduce food waste.  

Alongside the operational changes, Retail Insight worked with the retailer to develop an integration between its solution and Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) from Pricer. The integration triggers the ESL’s flash capabilities, helping colleagues more easily locate products on shelf for mark down, further boosting labour productivity.

Markdown tech boosts sell through by +13%

The solution prevented 1.8million meals from entering landfill in 2024.  It also improved sell through rates by +13%, helping the retailer sell 6.9million items that would have otherwise been wasted.  

“We want to use technology to improve the lives of our colleagues, our customers, our members and the community,” Sam Winter, Chief Retail Officer at East of England Co-op, said.

“We listened to feedback and have reduced manual effort and frustration for colleagues in-store, ensuring we give great deals on RTC products to customers and, importantly, put the society on a trajectory to meet our target to reduce food waste to 0% by 2030.”

Sam Winter, Chief Retail Officer, East of England Co-op

“The ESL integrations for East of England Co-op have drastically reduced the amount of time store associates spend on RTC markdowns,” Kieran O’Brien, VP Customer Success EMEA at Retail Insight, commented.

Investment and business reshaping deliver a return to profit

Last week, East of England Co-op announced it has returned to profit, posting £1million in trading profit after a £4.6million turnaround last year. It attributed its success to investments made throughout 2024 and reshaping the business to better meet the needs of local communities across the region.

“We’re proud to be announcing a return to profit this year,” Andy Rigby, CEO of East of England Co-op, commented. “This is an ambition we’ve been working towards for the past three years, so it’s a moment for us to celebrate as we mark the start of an exciting period of growth.”

With “rising costs are still having an impact on businesses and communities in our region and across the country,” Rigby added that “the next challenge is ensuring this profit is sustainable.”