Get more out of retail tags

When put to work properly, simple price tags, such as string tags, become an important marketing tool. Sale tags can compare prices (regular vs. sale price, manufacturer vs. your price), convey quantity price breaks and draw attention to new merchandise, which can help your customers make the best buying choices. Additionally, when personalized with your store name and logo, custom price tags allow you to promote your brand and co-brand with the item itself.

I recommend: The St. Louis Tag Co. offers complete design and printing services to create and manufacture custom retail tags and boutique-style price tags. J&S Business Products offers preprinted price tags with separate areas for regular price and sale price. Sales Tags offers sale tags preprinted with retail messages like clearance, hold, marked down, discount and red tag sale.

Special retail tags for jewelry and gifts

Delicate items such as jewelry require very small price tags with good writing surfaces. If your merchandise is commonly bought as gifts, another option for price tags is custom gift cards that allow the giver to tear off the part containing the price, leaving a card with your store branding.

I recommend: XpressTags sells pre-strung sales tags with polished writing surfaces in nine sizes (the smallest of which is appropriate for jewelry) in several colors.  Nu-Era has two types of price tags designed especially for jewelry and watches. One is a string price tag in white, gold or silver that comes in three sizes. The other is a self-adhesive tag that folds in half over a ring, earring or bracelet. For gift tags, NEBS offers customized perforated retail gift tags that tear in half, allowing the giver to remove the price, leaving a beautiful linen gift card with your store branding.

Use industrial tags for manufacturing and warehouse operations

Industrial tags are usually wire tags designed to stand up to the tough conditions in manufacturing plants, warehouses, auto repair shops and other industrial environments.

I recommend: The St. Louis Tag Co. offers a good selection of industrial tags - wire tags with fiber patches, metal eyelets or both.

Improve inventory tracking with inventory tags

Numbered inventory tags come in a variety of styles, including one part, two part, three part and even weather-proof tags. The right inventory tags for you depend on the amount of information you need to track. Typical info that may appear on inventory tags includes the name of the item or material, unit, amount, unit price, size, remarks, date and more. Most inventory tags also include spaces where employees can fill in their name or initials in "counted by" or "checked by" boxes.

I recommend: Find a vast array of pre-printed or blank inventory tags at Linton Labels or MyAssetTag.com.

Protect computers and equipment with asset tags

Asset tags are small metal tags that can be affixed to company computers and other office equipment for identification and protection. In general, asset tags can be printed with your company logo, a barcode or a serial number.

I recommend: Suppliers of asset tags include Alliance Asset Tags, MyAssetTag.com or Datamation Systems.