Shelf Tag Template With Unit Prices (Free, Printable)

A shelf tag is the small label on the shelf edge under each product: its name, its price, and in a lot of stores its unit price, the price per ounce, pound or count that lets a shopper compare a 9 oz jar with a 12 oz one. Add the product's code, a SKU or barcode number, so staff can match the tag to the item, and the date the tag was printed, so an old tag left after a price change is easy to spot. Unit price is the price divided by the size, in a consistent unit: milk at $4.29 a gallon is about 3 cents an ounce, jam at $8.99 for 9 ounces is a dollar an ounce. Some states and cities require unit prices on shelf tags in grocery stores; check yours. The easiest way to keep tags right is to keep one product list, change the price there, and reprint only the tags that changed. Below are what goes on a tag, an example from a corner store, and a free template that works out unit prices and prints twelve tags a page.

The short version

• A shelf tag shows the product name, price, unit price, code and date.
• Unit price = price ÷ size, in the same unit for similar products.
• Keep one product list; tags fill from it.
• Change the price in the list, then reprint the tags that changed.
• Date each tag, so an old one after a price change is easy to catch.
• Some states and cities require unit prices on shelf tags; check yours.
• Match the tag to the register price; a mismatch costs trust.
• TaroStack keeps each item's code, barcode and cost in one place. More below.

What goes on a tag

Prices themselves are in keystone pricing, and how a store counts its stock in convenience store inventory spreadsheet.

An example: a Bangor corner store

Penobscot Corner Store, the made-up corner store in Bangor, Maine, I use in these examples, reprinted its tags after a round of price changes on October 15:

The honey and the jam come out at the same dollar an ounce, which the owner hadn't noticed until the tags printed side by side. What the store earns by category is in convenience store profit margin.

Get the template

Download the shelf tag template. Two sheets: a product list with name, size, unit, price, code and tag date, where the unit price works itself out; and a tag sheet that fills twelve tags, three across, from the list, with the name, a large price, the unit price and size, and the code and date. Print it and cut along the lines. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.

Where this stops working

A price change at the register that never reaches the shelf, or a tag that never reaches the register: two lists drift apart, and the shopper finds out first.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack keeps each item's code, barcode and cost in one place.

One item, one record. Each item carries its code, barcode and unit, so the list you count from is the same one your tags come from.

Costs that move. Each delivery is received at what you paid, and a price-creep report per supplier shows whose prices are rising, so you know when a shelf price needs a new tag.

Counting by barcode. Counting on a phone by barcode matches the shelf to the record.

Items, receiving, the price-creep report and counts are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.

Questions people also ask

What goes on a shelf tag?

The product name, price, unit price with the size, a code to match the item, and the date the tag was printed.

How do you calculate unit price?

Divide the price by the size in a consistent unit: $8.99 for 9 ounces is about $1.00 an ounce.

Do stores have to show unit prices?

Some states and cities require them in grocery stores; check your state's rules.

How often should shelf tags be updated?

Whenever a price changes; a date on each tag makes old ones easy to find.