Dane Technologies Revenue and Competitors

Dane has developed a smaller version called Power Pals that help move heavy loads in the backrooms of retail stores and in warehouses. For many supermarkets and other large retail stores, the biggest shoplifting problem occurs not with store merchandise, but with shopping carts. The cost of replacing a shopping cart is expensive, especially when many municipalities now have local ordinances that exact hefty fines for abandoned shopping carts. "At $125 a cart, it's costing the industry a fortune," says Bernard Rogan, spokesman for Shaw's Supermarkets, based in West Bridgewater, Mass. "Nationwide, this loss or replacement of carriages can be attributed to over $800 million in losses to operators." Some retailers have long erected barriers that prevent people from taking the carts past a small area right outside the store. However, the barriers are not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act that mandates accessibility for handicapped shoppers, aside from severely limiting customer convenience. Loss prevention systems for shopping carts now concentrate on preventing carts from being rolled off the lots. Once the carts reach a predetermined distance from the store, a mechanical device physically prevents the cart from proceeding. There are two basic types of systems used to achieve this: one type of system works through infrared technology, while the other employs a wire buried under the parking lot's surface. "Retailers are recognizing more that at some stores they do have a shopping cart theft problem, and more and more they recognize that they can get a return on investment by purchasing a shopping cart retention system," says Oscar Lizotte, vice president of sales and marketing at Kart Saver, based in Sacramento, Calif. Kart Saver's system works by installing a K2000 retention unit right onto the left front caster of the cart. If a customer attempts to take a shopping cart off the property,an internal alarm warns the shopper that the unit is about to lock up. The unit then fastens the caster at an angle, which will only allow the cart to go around in a circle, until the cart stops moving. The infrared signal is transmitted from a central unit in the store. CAPS (Cart Anti-Theft Protection System) from Carttronics, based in San Diego, uses a low-frequency transmitter to send radio waves through a cable buried to send radio waves through a cable buried along the lot's perimeter. The cable antenna is installed one inch deep in a saw-cut trench. When a cart goes over a trench, the antenna triggers an electronic caster shell to come down over the wheel where it locks in place to stop the cart. The system also includes perimeter striping and signage on the pavement at the lot's exits to warn and educate shoppers. The system was installed at a Shaw's Star Market store near Boston's Fenway Park in 2001. About 200 carts were outfitted with the system and cart loss was practically eliminated from the location. Rogan says that using the system has even reduced the overall number of carts needed by the store. "As a result of the CAPS system, we have been able to redirect resources previously dedicated to retrieving carts to activities that actually help us sell more products to shoppers," says Tom Farello, Shaw's senior vice president of retail operations. Shaw's plans to install the CAPS system in six of its busiest urban locations. Kart Saver has also introduced K-Check, which uses new technology to monitor the bottom shelf of shopping carts. This detection system works by using an infrared unit on the bottom shelf to communicate with a receiver in the checkout lane, warning the cashier that there is something under the basket. An audible alarm goes off when the system detects an object on the bottom shelf and a warning flashes on the cashier's screen. When the customer takes the product off the bottom shelf and places it on the check stand, the alarm goes off. If the product is too big to move, such as a 40 pound bag of dog food, the cashier can manually turn off the alarm.