Carttronics Speeds Past 200-Site Milestone; Retail Industry Heavyweight Joins Board of Directors.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 3, 1999--

To accelerate sales of its now highly-regarded CAPS(R) shopping cart anti-theft protection system, Carttronics has announced the appointment of Terry R. Peets to its Board of Directors.

Peets is a leading chain store industry figure. He serves as a director of SuperMarkets Online, Diamond Brands Inc., and the Children's Museum of Orange County. He has served as president and chief executive officer of PIA Merchandising Services, executive vice president of The Vons Companies, and executive vice president of Ralphs Grocery Company. Peets has also held numerous advisory positions within the industry for such major players as the Western Association of Food Chains, the Food Marketing Institute, and The Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council.

"The supermarket industry has been plagued by shopping cart theft for decades," said Peets, "Retailers lose hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide each year attempting to retrieve, clean, repair, and replace stolen shopping carts -- costs that must be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices. Now, with the recent, nationwide trend toward expensive city ordinances against abandoned carts, the problem is hitting the retail industry even harder. I'm pleased to join Carttronics because CAPS(R) is a genuine solution. It is the first foolproof, successful, customer-friendly answer to shopping cart-related losses."

Peets said stores in residential neighborhoods can easily lose up to 200 carts a day -- most of which are eventually located, picked up, and returned by retrieval companies.

CAPS(R) is a patented system consisting of an electronic caster (replacing one standard front wheel on each shopping cart), and an antenna line that is placed in a narrow saw cut around the edge of a store's property boundary. When a cart is wheeled within a few feet of the perimeter antenna, the low power FM signal from the antenna locks the caster, disabling the cart.

Carttronics Founder and CEO John French said CAPS(R) is now installed at more than 200 retail sites throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe -- after just one year of sales.

French said that most corporate customers start with a "test" site at one of their highest-loss stores. "Most chain store operations want to test CAPS(R) for 60 days, because they've had bad experiences with failed cart anti-theft systems in the past. But generally, by about the third week after our system has been installed, the savings and benefits are so dramatic that they consider the test complete and place installation orders for additional sites."

French said that CAPS(R) has proven to reduce cart-related losses by more than 90 percent. "But the most compelling benefit of CAPS(R) is increased shopper satisfaction," French said. "Many of our prospective customers are concerned that the system might offend their patrons. But the reverse has proven true. CAPS(R) has proven to actually boost sales. A leading U.S. chain calculated that the installation of CAPS(R) has increased sales at their sites by 2-5 percent. Shoppers tell store managers that they enjoy patronizing CAPS(R) sites because CAPS(R)-protected carts are consistently cleaner, in better repair, and always available."

French said that store managers typically accommodate customers who really do need help getting the groceries home by providing them with loaner carts or low-cost two-wheel pull carts.

Carttronics now counts Kroger, H-E-B, Safeway Inc., Safeway PLC (United Kingdom) Vons, King Kullen, Winn-Dixie, Longs Drugs, Lucky Stores, Zellers (Canada), and many other leading retailers as CAPS(R) customers. "We look forward to working closely with Terry Peets as we focus on accelerating the delivery of our proven CAPS(R) solution throughout the retail industry," French said.

www.carttronics.com