Vusion Group is the new corporate brand for the company formerly known as SES-imagotag, a change effective January 2024. This strategic rebranding clarifies the evolving relationship between the company’s hardware origins and its future as a comprehensive platform. The company’s foundation in Esl Retail began with products like the ESL Price Tag and the ESL Gateway AP. Now, it is evolving beyond its identity as a provider of Electronic Shelf Labels. This shift aligns with a booming market, which Fortune Business Insights projects will grow at a 25.9% CAGR from 2025 to 2032.
Retailers are embracing this digital transformation for clear reasons. Many report significant operational improvements from IoT integration.
- A 40% increase in operational efficiency.
- 60% have reported reduced operational costs.
SES-imagotag now operates as the primary product division under the Vusion Group umbrella.
Understanding the Historical Relationship Between SES Imagotag and Vusion
To grasp the current structure of Vusion Group, one must first look at its history. The relationship between the hardware-focused past and the platform-driven future is one of strategic evolution. The company did not simply appear overnight; it built its new identity on a foundation of market leadership and technological innovation.
SES-imagotag: The ESL Pioneer
Founding and Core Mission
SES-imagotag began with a clear and revolutionary mission: to digitize the retail shelf edge. The company pioneered the development of Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs). Its core goal was to replace inefficient, error-prone paper price tags with dynamic, centrally controlled digital displays. This innovation promised retailers accuracy, operational efficiency, and the ability to change prices instantly across thousands of labels.
Dominance in the ESL Market
The company executed its mission with great success. It quickly established itself as a global leader in the ESL hardware market. Retailers worldwide adopted its reliable labels and robust communication infrastructure. This dominance provided the company with a massive physical footprint inside stores, creating a network of connected devices that would become the bedrock for its future ambitions. The strong relationship between the company and its retail partners was built on this hardware excellence.
The Birth of Vusion as a Platform
As the ESL market matured, the company’s leadership recognized a greater opportunity. The true value was not just in the digital labels themselves but in the data they could collect and the services they could enable. This insight marked the beginning of a significant transformation.
The strategic pivot was clear: evolve from a hardware manufacturer into a comprehensive, data-driven software and technology provider for physical retail.
Developing the VUSION Retail IoT Platform
The company began developing the VUSION platform, an Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem designed for retail. This platform served as the software layer that connected and managed the in-store hardware. It transformed the ESLs from simple price displays into interactive endpoints on a powerful store-wide network. This development was key to redefining the relationship between the company’s products and its overall value proposition.
Moving Beyond Hardware to Software
This shift represented a move from a capital expenditure model to a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. Instead of just selling labels, the company started offering software solutions that ran on the VUSION platform. This allowed retailers to unlock new capabilities without needing new hardware.
Early VUSION Solutions like Engage and Cloud
Early examples of this new direction included Vusion Cloud and Vusion Engage.
- Vusion Cloud: Provided retailers with a scalable, cloud-based platform to manage their stores remotely, simplifying deployment and maintenance.
- Vusion Engage: Enabled shopper interaction at the shelf, allowing for QR code-based promotions, product information access, and enhanced customer experiences.
These solutions demonstrated the potential of the platform, setting the stage for the eventual rebranding to Vusion Group.
The Rebranding Explained: From SES-imagotag to Vusion Group
The transition from SES-imagotag to Vusion Group in January 2024 was a deliberate and strategic move. This was not an acquisition or a merger but a calculated rebranding designed to align the company’s public identity with its expanded technological reality. The new name reflects a future built on data and AI, powered by the foundation of its pioneering hardware.
Why the Strategic Name Change?
The decision to rebrand was driven by the company’s significant evolution. The name SES-imagotag, synonymous with electronic labels, no longer captured the full scope of its capabilities or its vision for the future of retail.
Moving Beyond the Shelf Label Identity
The company had become a victim of its own success; the name SES-imagotag was inextricably linked to Electronic Shelf Labels. While ESLs remain a core product, the company’s portfolio expanded far beyond them. The leadership recognized that the original name limited the perception of its business to a single hardware category. The change was necessary to communicate its growth into a multi-solution technology partner.
📣 SES-imagotag becomes VusionGroup We are delighted to announce that SES-imagotag has now officially changed its name to VusionGroup, highlighting the broader portfolio of our innovative solutions developed to solve the major challenges of physical commerce.
The Meaning Behind ‘Vusion’
The name ‘Vusion’ is a portmanteau, thoughtfully constructed to represent the company’s new direction. It merges two key concepts:
- Vision: This points to the company’s forward-looking strategy and its heavy investment in computer vision technology.
- Fusion: This signifies the blending of the physical and digital retail worlds, a core mission of the platform.
The name Vusion Group, therefore, organically embodies the company’s expanded mission to digitize commerce through a diverse and interconnected ecosystem.
Focusing on a Broader Tech Platform
The rebrand decisively shifts the company’s focus from a product-centric identity to a platform-centric one. The Vusion software platform is the central nervous system connecting all the company’s solutions. This change highlights the increasing importance of high-margin data services and AI.
Thierry Gadou, Chairman and CEO of Vusion Group, articulated this shift clearly.
“Our Group has evolved significantly in recent years, moving from a pioneer and leader in ESLs to a diversified Group offering a wide range of solutions for the digitalisation of commerce… We are now positioning ourselves [for growth] in new related, high-potential markets, which will expand the digital transformation of commerce through computer vision, sensors, data, and AI.”
What Stays the Same?
While the name and strategic focus have evolved, the company has emphasized continuity in key areas. The rebranding builds upon the existing foundation rather than replacing it. For clients, partners, and investors, much of the core business remains unchanged.
Core ESL Business Continuity
The SES-imagotag division continues to operate as the powerhouse for smart label technology within Vusion Group. The company’s commitment to its flagship product line is unwavering. This dedication is evident in several ways:
- Continued Innovation: The company was instrumental in defining a new Bluetooth standard specifically for ESLs, demonstrating ongoing R&D.
- Market Leadership: With over 25 years of experience and more than 350 million labels installed, the ESL business remains a critical pillar.
- Platform Integration: The VUSION Retail IoT platform is designed to leverage ESLs, enhancing their value beyond simple price changes.
- Product Visibility: Electronic Shelf Labels and the supporting IoT infrastructure are still featured prominently as popular products.
Unchanged Corporate and Legal Structure
It is crucial to understand that Vusion Group is the new corporate brand name, not a new legal entity. The company’s corporate structure, management, and legal framework remain the same. This ensures a seamless transition for all stakeholders, from employees to shareholders and clients. All existing contracts and agreements under the SES-imagotag name remain valid.
Commitment to Existing Clients and Products
Vusion Group maintains its strong commitment to all existing clients and the products they rely on. The rebranding enhances the value proposition by offering a more integrated and powerful suite of tools. Retailers who invested in SES-imagotag’s ESLs now have a clear pathway to adopt advanced data, AI, and computer vision solutions from a single, unified technology partner. The goal is to expand capabilities, not obsolete them.
A Deep Dive into the Vusion Technology Platform
The Vusion Group’s rebranding is anchored by the power and scope of its technology platform. This platform is not a single product but an interconnected ecosystem designed to digitize every aspect of the physical store. It rests on four distinct yet integrated pillars that work in concert to deliver automation, engagement, and data-driven insights.
The Four Pillars of the Vusion Ecosystem
The Vusion platform architecture combines hardware, software, AI, and cloud infrastructure. Each pillar plays a critical role in transforming the traditional retail environment into a smart, responsive, and efficient digital asset.
Pillar 1: Smart Labels (SES-imagotag)
The foundation of the entire ecosystem remains the smart labels from the SES-imagotag division. These are far more than digital price tags. They are IoT-enabled endpoints that serve as the primary interface at the shelf edge. Each label is a dynamic node on the in-store network, capable of displaying prices, promotions, stock levels, and rich product content. Their existence throughout the store creates the physical grid upon which all other digital services are built.
Pillar 2: Vision & Sensors (Vusion Vision)
Vusion Vision adds a layer of sight to the platform. This pillar utilizes a network of computer vision cameras and sensors strategically placed in the store. These devices constantly monitor the shelves to detect operational issues in real time.
Key functions of Vusion Vision include:
- Identifying out-of-stock items.
- Detecting incorrect product placement.
- Ensuring planogram compliance.
- Monitoring promotional displays for accuracy.
This pillar acts as the platform’s automated eyes, capturing raw visual data about the state of the physical store.
Pillar 3: Data & AI (Vusion Analytics)
Vusion Analytics is the intelligent brain of the ecosystem. This pillar ingests the vast amounts of data collected by the smart labels and vision systems. It then applies artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to analyze this information. The goal is to transform raw data into predictive and actionable business intelligence. Retailers receive alerts, reports, and recommendations that help them make smarter decisions regarding inventory, pricing, and store operations.
Pillar 4: Cloud Infrastructure (VusionCloud)
VusionCloud is the central nervous system that connects all the pillars. This scalable IoT Cloud platform is essential for the entire operation. It connects the shelves to the cloud, enabling the seamless, real-time flow of information. This connectivity allows for instant price agility across an entire retail chain and ensures omnichannel synchronization of product data. VusionCloud facilitates the crucial link between retailers, brands, and shoppers by enabling the display of transparent product information directly on the smart labels.
How the Vusion Platform Digitizes Physical Retail
By integrating these four pillars, the Vusion platform delivers tangible benefits that address core challenges in modern retail. It moves stores from manual, reactive processes to automated, data-driven operations.
Automating In-Store Operations
The platform is designed to optimize physical store operations from end to end. It automates laborious and error-prone tasks, freeing up employees to focus on customer service. This automation drives significant improvements in store performance and on-shelf availability. Specific automated functions include:
- Optimizing in-store order preparation for click-and-collect.
- Streamlining the restocking process with real-time alerts.
- Ensuring omnichannel synchronization of prices and promotions.
- Reducing out-of-stock situations with automated gap detection.
- Improving merchandising compliance through computer vision checks.
Enhancing Shopper Engagement
Vusion transforms the shelf edge from a static display into an interactive and helpful touchpoint. The platform uses data to create a more engaging and personalized shopping journey. It turns electronic shelf labels into interactive “micro webpages” where shoppers can view detailed product information, reviews, and ratings. The system also delivers a more connected experience through a shopper’s mobile device.
| Engagement Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Location-Aware Assistance | Provides real-time, in-aisle support based on a shopper’s exact location. |
| In-Store Wayfinding | Guides shoppers to specific products or promotions with precise directions on their mobile. |
| Personalized Promotions | Pushes relevant offers and coupons as shoppers approach certain products or zones. |
This capability bridges the gap between the rich content of online shopping and the physical experience of being in a store.
Unlocking In-Store Data Insights
Perhaps the most powerful function of the Vusion platform is its ability to generate and analyze in-store data. For the first time, physical retailers can access the kind of rich analytics that have long been standard in e-commerce. The platform captures data on product movement, shopper traffic patterns, and promotion effectiveness. This unlocks a deep understanding of in-store behavior, allowing retailers to optimize store layouts, improve product placement, and measure the true ROI of their marketing efforts.
Solving Modern Retail Challenges with Vusion
The Vusion technology platform directly addresses the most pressing challenges facing physical retail today. By digitizing the store environment, it provides powerful solutions for operational inefficiencies, financial losses from shrink, and the persistent gap between physical and digital shopping experiences.
Tackling Operational Inefficiencies
Manual processes limit a retailer’s agility and consume valuable employee time. Vusion introduces a layer of automation that streamlines store operations and boosts productivity.
Dynamic Pricing and Promotion
The platform gives retailers the power to implement price and promotion changes instantly across thousands of shelves. This capability eliminates the slow, labor-intensive process of printing and replacing paper tags. It ensures pricing accuracy and allows for agile responses to market conditions.
Automated Stock Monitoring
Vusion leverages computer vision solutions like Captana to act as a retailer’s eyes on the shelf. Embedded cameras and AI provide real-time visibility, automatically identifying out-of-stock products, misplaced items, and planogram compliance issues. This constant monitoring replaces manual shelf audits.
Optimizing Labor and Tasks
Automated stock monitoring directly translates to significant labor optimization. Instead of walking the aisles to find gaps, employees receive precise, actionable alerts. This data-driven approach leads to remarkable efficiency gains.
- Increased Labor Efficiency: Retailers report an average efficiency increase of +9%.
- Improved Availability: On-shelf availability rises by an average of +4%.
- Sales Growth: These operational improvements contribute to a sales lift of +2%.
This allows retailers to reallocate thousands of working hours from manual tasks to high-value activities like assisting customers.
Combating Retail Shrink and Waste
Shrink—the loss of inventory due to theft, damage, or error—and product waste severely impact profitability. Vusion provides tools to mitigate these losses at their source.
Real-Time Out-of-Stock Alerts
An empty shelf is a primary driver of lost sales, a major component of shrink. Vusion’s real-time gap detection alerts staff immediately, minimizing the time a product is unavailable and maximizing sales opportunities.
Preventing Price Discrepancies
Incorrect pricing at the shelf leads to financial losses and erodes customer trust. The platform’s centralized control over pricing ensures complete accuracy, preventing discrepancies between the shelf tag and the point-of-sale system.
Monitoring Fresh Product Expiration
Food waste is a critical challenge, especially for fresh produce. Vusion’s platform automates expiration date management to tackle this issue head-on.
Vusion’s Food Waste Management solution helps retailers automate expiration tracking, manage markdowns, and assist associates with their tasks. This reduces waste and boosts profitability by using dynamic inventory management and real-time monitoring to enhance stock rotation and ordering accuracy.
Retailers using this technology can reduce food waste by up to 15% and cut the time associates spend on shelf-life tracking by up to 78%.
Bridging the Physical-Digital Divide
Vusion helps physical stores adopt the data-rich, interactive advantages of e-commerce, creating a truly connected omnichannel experience.
Creating an ‘Endless Aisle’ Experience
Smart labels can display QR codes that link shoppers to a product’s online page. This gives customers access to extensive information, reviews, and even color or size variations not available in-store, effectively creating an “endless aisle” at the shelf.
In-Store Shopper Pathing Analytics
The platform’s sensors and vision systems can anonymously analyze how shoppers move through the store. This provides valuable data on traffic patterns and dwell times, giving physical retailers the kind of behavioral insights that have long been standard in e-commerce.
Powering Retail Media Networks at the Shelf 📺
Vusion transforms the physical store into a dynamic media channel. It enables retailers to monetize high-traffic areas by displaying targeted digital advertisements and promotions from CPG brands directly on the electronic shelf labels. This creates a powerful new revenue stream by offering brands unparalleled access to shoppers at the final point of decision.
The Market Impact of the Vusion Rebrand
The strategic rebranding to Vusion Group sends a clear signal to the market, creating distinct implications for retailers, partners, investors, and the wider industry. This move reshapes perceptions of the company’s value, highlighting its transition from a hardware specialist to a comprehensive data and technology leader.
Implications for Retailers and Partners
For those on the front lines of retail, the Vusion rebrand signifies a partnership that extends far beyond the shelf label. It promises a more integrated and intelligent approach to store management.
A Shift to Data-Driven Operations
Vusion empowers retailers to transition from data overload to actionable intelligence. The platform integrates information from diverse sources to provide a holistic view of store performance. This enables:
- Predictive Analytics: Retailers can move beyond historical analysis to build responsive supply chains that adapt to changing demand patterns.
- Actionable Insights: The system delivers concrete recommendations for assortment optimization, marketing, and logistics.
- Evidence-Based Decisions: Embedded simulation tools allow retailers to test pricing or product models and estimate their ROI before implementation.
Unlocking New Revenue Streams
The Vusion platform transforms the physical store into a valuable media asset. It creates new monetization opportunities by allowing brands to connect with shoppers directly at the point of decision.
Jérôme Hamrit, SEVP of Data & Retail Media at VusionGroup, notes that by combining AI and Computer Vision with digital shelf systems, retailers unlock new revenue. They can turn store aisles into monetizable media spaces where brands advertise directly to shoppers.
The Engage solution facilitates this by acting as an intermediary, allowing retailers to profit from selling ad space on their digital shelves.
A Unified Technology Partner
The rebrand solidifies the company’s position as a single, unified technology partner. Retailers can now source a complete suite of solutions—from smart labels and computer vision to AI analytics and cloud infrastructure—from one provider. This simplifies technology procurement and ensures seamless integration across all in-store digital initiatives.
Implications for Investors and the Industry
For investors and market analysts, the Vusion Group name clarifies the company’s long-term growth strategy and value proposition. It shifts the focus toward high-margin, recurring revenue streams.
Clarifying the SaaS Value Proposition
The company positions itself as the leading Retail IoT platform, not purely a SaaS company. While hardware sales remain significant, the rebranding emphasizes the growing importance of Value-Added Services (VAS). This category includes Vusion Software licenses, SaaS platforms, and data analytics. These VAS solutions are a key competitive differentiator and represent a more profitable set of offerings.
Focusing on High-Margin Data Services 📈
The financial results underscore this strategic focus. Vusion Group is achieving its goal of growing VAS revenue at a rate twice that of the group’s overall growth.
- VAS revenue reached Euros144 million in the first nine months of 2025, a sharp increase of +115% compared to the prior year.
- This performance puts the company on track to significantly exceed its initial growth targets for these high-margin services.
Competing in the Broader Retail Tech Market
The Vusion Group identity positions the company to compete in the wider retail technology market, beyond just ESLs. The name itself, combining “Vision” and “Fusion,” embodies its expanded mission to digitize commerce through computer vision, sensors, and AI. This allows the company to be evaluated against a broader set of tech innovators shaping the future of physical retail.
The Future Roadmap: What’s Next for Vusion Group?
The rebranding to Vusion Group marks a new chapter focused on innovation and platform expansion. The company’s future roadmap prioritizes advancements in computer vision and artificial intelligence. These technologies will deepen the platform’s capabilities and solve increasingly complex retail challenges.
Advancements in Computer Vision
Vusion Group continues to enhance its “eyes in the store,” pushing the boundaries of what computer vision can achieve in a retail environment.
AI-Powered Gap Detection
The company is refining its AI algorithms to deliver even more precise and rapid out-of-stock detection. Future iterations will improve the system’s ability to identify low-stock situations before a shelf becomes completely empty. This proactive monitoring helps retailers maximize on-shelf availability and prevent lost sales with greater efficiency.
Anonymous Shopper Behavior Analysis
Vusion Group is developing sophisticated analytics to understand in-store shopper journeys while upholding strict privacy standards. The company ensures compliance with regulations like GDPR through a multi-layered approach.
- It anonymizes IP addresses immediately upon transfer to its servers.
- It uses cookies that generate anonymized information, preventing personal identification.
- It provides users with clear opt-out mechanisms to prevent data collection.
Smart labels serve as a GDPR-compliant tool. They function as an opt-in-only gateway for digital content, ensuring that any shopper engagement is based on explicit consent and transparency.
The Evolution of AI in Retail
Artificial intelligence is the engine driving the Vusion platform’s evolution from a management tool to a predictive intelligence system.
Predictive Analytics for Inventory
Vusion Group leverages AI to transform inventory management from a reactive to a predictive process. Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs) collect real-time data on customer interactions and stock levels. AI algorithms then analyze this data to forecast demand with high accuracy. This allows retailers to:
- Optimize product assortments based on real-time demand.
- Establish automated reorder points to prevent stockouts.
- Maintain ideal safety stock levels to handle unexpected demand surges.
This data-driven strategy helps retailers make informed decisions, preventing overstocking and ensuring shelves are always full.
Personalization at the Shelf-Edge
AI enables Vusion to deliver personalized experiences directly at the point of decision. The platform can use ESLs to provide dynamic, relevant information to shoppers. For example, NFC technology paired with labels allows customers to tap their phones for detailed product specifications or augmented reality demos. This creates a more immersive and tailored shopping journey.
Expanding the Platform’s Capabilities
The future of the Vusion platform lies in its openness and its commitment to broader retail goals, including sustainability.
API Integrations with Third-Party Systems
Vusion Group is focused on expanding its ecosystem through robust API integrations. This strategy allows the platform to connect seamlessly with other critical retail systems, such as ERPs, supply chain management tools, and e-commerce platforms. An open architecture ensures retailers can build a truly unified and interconnected technology stack.
VUSIONe and Carbon Footprint Tracking
Sustainability is a core component of the company’s roadmap. The VUSIONe program is an IoT sustainability initiative designed to minimize the environmental impact of in-store devices.
- It extends the lifecycle of connected devices through optimized battery life and over-the-air updates.
- The labels feature an eco-friendly design that allows for battery replacement and part reuse.
This program helps retailers reduce material waste and track their progress toward corporate sustainability goals.
The relationship between SES-imagotag and Vusion Group is one of strategic evolution, not replacement. Vusion Group is the company’s new forward-looking identity. This change signifies a transformation from a product-centric ESL manufacturer to a comprehensive, data-driven retail technology provider. The relationship between the two is transformational; Vusion embodies an expanded mission built upon the strong foundation established by SES-imagotag.
FAQ
Is SES-imagotag gone?
No, SES-imagotag is not gone. It now operates as the primary product division for smart labels under the broader Vusion Group corporate brand. The division continues to innovate and lead the market in Electronic Shelf Label (ESL) technology.
What is the main difference between Vusion Group and SES-imagotag?
Vusion Group is the new corporate name representing the entire company and its full suite of retail technology solutions. SES-imagotag is now the specific division within Vusion Group that focuses on developing and producing smart labels (ESLs).
Why did the company change its name?
The company rebranded to Vusion Group to better reflect its evolution. It has grown from an ESL hardware provider into a comprehensive retail technology platform offering computer vision, data analytics, and AI solutions beyond just the shelf label.
Are existing SES-imagotag products still supported?
Yes, all existing products and client contracts from SES-imagotag remain fully supported. Vusion Group maintains its commitment to all clients. The new platform structure is designed to enhance the capabilities of existing hardware, not replace it.
What does the name ‘Vusion’ mean?
The name ‘Vusion’ is a combination of two words: ‘Vision’ and ‘Fusion’.
- Vision refers to the company’s forward-looking strategy and its use of computer vision technology.
- Fusion signifies the blending of the physical and digital retail worlds.
Is Vusion Group a SaaS company?
Vusion Group positions itself as a comprehensive Retail IoT platform, not purely a SaaS company. While hardware remains a key component, the company’s strategy emphasizes the growth of its high-margin Value-Added Services (VAS), which include SaaS and data analytics.
