Plumblink Brings Real-Time Shelf Accuracy to Building Materials Retail with ZKONG ESL

Location: South Africa

Industry: Plumbing, Bathroom & Kitchenware Retail / Building Materials Retail

Customer Overview

Plumblink is a specialist plumbing, bathroom and kitchenware merchant in South Africa, operating more than 140 branches nationwide. With more than 10,000 quality products sourced from over 600 local and international suppliers, the company serves government, commercial, industrial, housing, and DIY projects across the market.

As part of the Bidvest Group, Plumblink combines a large local footprint with a professional retail environment where product availability, accurate information, and reliable service all matter at the shelf edge.

Challenge

Building materials retail carries a different level of shelf complexity from standard grocery or convenience formats. Across plumbing fittings, bathroomware, kitchenware, own-brand ranges, and project-driven product lines, store teams need to keep prices, promotions, and technical product details accurate across a large assortment.

Traditional paper labels make that work slow and repetitive. Every pricing update or promotion requires staff to print, locate, replace, and verify labels across the store. In an environment with complex specifications and frequent updates, manual labeling can increase workload and create a higher risk that shelf information falls out of sync with system data.

Solution

ZKONG worked with local implementation partner Milestone Integrated Systems (PTY) LTD to deploy ZKONG electronic shelf labels at Plumblink, bringing digital shelf management into a high-SKU DIY and building materials retail setting.

The ESL solution helps keep shelf prices aligned with system data and enables faster updates for promotions and product changes. Instead of repeating manual label changes and routine price checks, store teams can update information more efficiently while maintaining clearer, more consistent communication at the shelf.

For customers, the digital shelf presentation supports easier product comparison and more reliable pricing visibility. For Plumblink, it creates a more flexible retail management foundation that can support large assortments, branch-level consistency, and a more modern in-store experience.

Key Project Outcomes

• Shelf prices can stay more closely aligned with system data.

• Store teams can reduce repetitive manual label replacement and price checks.

• Promotional and pricing updates can be executed faster at the shelf edge.

• Product specifications and shelf information can be displayed more clearly for trade and DIY customers.