Eldat Communications wins $12m French contract
globes.co.il
The contract with French supermarket and hypermarket chain Casino could be worth over $40 million a year in a few years.
Globes’ correspondent 5 Mar 03 14:16
Eldat Communications, a developer of electronic communications systems for retailers, announced today it has signed a contract with French supermarket chain Casino to immediately supply millions of wireless price tags. Eldat’s Electronic Shelf Label System will be installed at 73 Casino hypermarkets and 21 supermarkets across France. The contract is estimated to be worth $12 million this year, and up to $40 million a year in a few years.
Eldat received a $3 million advance upon the signing of the contract. Casino is one of the largest marketing chains in Europe, with 115 hypermarkets and 433 supermarkets in France, and over 1,000 stores in the US, Poland, South American, Taiwan and Thailand. Casino plans to install the system in more stores in the coming years.
Eldat has developed a proprietary infrared-based two-way remote electronic shelf label communications system. Eldat installs wireless transmitters in the store’s ceiling linked to a central computer. The system immediately updates tens of thousands of labels of products on the store’s shelves, thereby ensuring identical prices on the shelf and at the check-out counters. The system also displays information about product sales, inventories, expected deliveries, and customer clubs, sales campaigns, etc. The information contributes toward efficient management and higher sales.
“This is our largest-ever electronic shelf label project, said Eldat Communications president and CEO Yossi Smoler. “The electronic label market for retailers has been growing rapidly, especially in Europe and Japan. Eldat’s system is undergoing advanced trials at other major retail chains, and we’re very optimistic for the future. Regrettably, we can’t market the system in Israel because there is a comprehensive price labeling ordinance that does not exist in other countries.”
Founded in 1994, Eldat develops, manufactures and markets wireless labeling solutions for retailers. The company has 35 employees at its offices in Tel Aviv and Paris. Its electronic labels are used by European and Japanese retailers, including Leclerc and Auchan in France, Jeronimo Mertins in Portugal, and Ito Yokado in Japan. Eldat’s shareholders include Mofet Venture Capital Fund Management, Evergreen Partners, Oscar Gruss, Eurofund, Nisko, and PSC inc. (OTCBB:PSCX).
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on March 5, 2003 |
