Electronic shelf labels and vendor lock-in: what is really open

Vendor lock-in in electronic shelf labels exists when the labels only work with the gateways, radio protocol and software of a single manufacturer. It shows up in four layers: the radio, the label-to-platform pairing, the data and the integrations. “Open” only means something if you can verify it at each layer.

Four layers, from hardest to easiest to leave

When an offer says “open system”, it usually means one layer and leaves the others untouched. It pays to separate them, because each costs something different to walk away from.

The last two are negotiable in a contract. The first two are not: they hang on the shelf edge.

Radio: what is standard and what is not

The radio decides whether, after a change of vendor, the labels already in the store keep working. The technical answer depends on whether they speak a public protocol or a private one.

A standard exists. The Bluetooth SIG defined an electronic shelf label profile built on the Periodic Advertising with Responses (PAwR) feature of Bluetooth 5.4. According to Nordic Semiconductor, in a February 2023 article when the profile was still a draft, it defines two roles, access point and tag; uses 8-bit addresses plus 7-bit groups, up to 32,640 tags per access point; and encrypts data with the Encrypted Advertising Data mechanism. Silicon Labs, in application note AN1419, says the profile was published in early 2023 and that each command payload is limited to 48 bytes. The two secondary sources differ on dates and we could not settle it against the official specification. Wikipedia also records that Bluetooth 5.4 includes an API for shelf labels. The Bluetooth SIG’s own announcement presents the standard as a way to source ESL components from several suppliers; that is the standard’s promoters speaking, not independent test results.

That is the theory. In practice, what is publicly documented about several manufacturers points to proprietary protocols:

• Hanshow. The Stellar Plus manuals and FCC filing describe a 2.4 GHz link with GFSK modulation and a separate NFC channel. Nothing says it follows the Bluetooth profile.
• SoluM. The FCC filing for the Newton series shows a Bluetooth LE physical layer “with SoluM’s own protocol” and 128-bit AES encryption. Using the Bluetooth physical layer is not the same as speaking the standard profile, a nuance brochures routinely blur.
• Vusion. Its website names Bluetooth LE as the radio technology. Using Bluetooth is not enough to know whether its labels accept third-party gateways; the site does not say.
• Zkong. Its product page mentions Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, but does not say which protocol the labels speak or whether third-party gateways work.

None of this proves each label is locked: it says public documentation does not show otherwise. Ask per model, not per brand, because one manufacturer can have ranges with different radios.

Pairing: the dependency you cannot see

Even with a compatible radio, the system must know which label is on which product, which template it shows and when it was last updated. That map lives in the platform. If it cannot be exported, switching software means walking the store again and scanning label by label.

In a supermarket with tens of thousands of labels that is weeks of staff time and, in the worst case, partial section closures. The question before buying is simple: can I export the label-to-product table in a readable format, with label identifiers, periodically and without asking the vendor?

Data and API: two different things

An API lets your ERP or POS push prices without middlemen. It does not guarantee you can take your data with you or use another manufacturer’s label. Conflating them is a common mistake in proposals.

What we could see publicly is uneven:

• Vusion has a developer portal: a Meraki integration guide points to its API documentation. We could not read the endpoint catalogue or the access terms, so we cannot say how far it goes.
• Zkong says its platform offers “open interfaces” for ERP and lists API, SDK and firmware among its customisation options. It links no public documentation, so treat it as a sales claim to be demonstrated.
• For Hanshow and Pricer we found no public API documentation. That does not mean none exists; it means we have not seen it, and neither does a buyer before talking to them.

That asymmetry is useful information in itself. If a vendor will not show the API before selling, ask for it as a condition of the bid.

What the law says about switching platform

If your label manager is a cloud service, the EU Data Act (Regulation 2023/2854) may work in your favour. The European Commission explains that it applies from 12 September 2025, that providers of cloud data-processing services, including SaaS and PaaS, must offer open interfaces and let customers export their data in a commonly used, machine-readable format, and that switching charges are removed altogether from 12 January 2027, with a transitional phase in which they may still be charged.

Three caveats. First, we have not verified the text of the specific articles on notice and transition periods, so we do not cite them. Second, whether the regulation covers a given label manager depends on how the service is provided, and a lawyer should confirm it. Third, the regulation covers services and data, not radio: it does not oblige an installed label to work with another gateway.

What to ask for in writing

With the above, these are the conditions that verifiably reduce dependency. Many fit into an RFP template.

1. Radio. Does each model comply with the Bluetooth ESL profile or use a proprietary protocol? A written answer, per model.
2. Third-party gateways. Are gateways from another manufacturer certified or tested? If not, have it written down that they are not.
3. Export. Format, fields included (label ID, product, template, date of last change), frequency and cost, during and at the end of the contract.
4. API. Documentation delivered before signing, usage limits, versioning policy and who pays for interface changes.
5. Data ownership. Of catalogue, templates and history.
6. Support after exit. If the integrator disappears, can someone else support the installed labels?
7. Firmware. Who controls it, who updates it and whether it can be updated without the vendor.

How to test it before signing

A well-designed pilot is the best moment to check the exit, not only the function. Three tests cost little: ask for the full export in week two, run a bulk price change through the API alone without the vendor console, and ask what it would take to move the pilot labels to another system. If the answer to the third is “nothing, they are yours”, get it into the contract.

One caution: a vendor very open on data can be very closed on radio, and the reverse. Weighting the layers by what hurts most to lose is part of the decision. The economics of buying versus renting hardware matter here too, because with leasing the ownership of the labels changes; see leasing versus buying.

What we do not know

• We could not read the official Bluetooth ESL profile specification or verify which manufacturer models implement it.
• There is no public API documentation on record for Hanshow or Pricer, nor the detail of Vusion’s.
• This site is published by Keonex, which is not classified in our comparisons. We make no claim about its degree of openness: it is one of the questions you can ask any vendor, including the one that publishes this page. The manufacturer comparison is in the manufacturer analysis.

Sources consulted on 9 November 2026.