Imagine a store 30 years ago, in 1991. The annualized inflation rate in Sweden was around 10 percent and the situation was similar in many other countries.
Frustrated store owners and their employees were spending hours changing prices with paper labels on every product. Some countries had also introduced laws with huge fines for retailers if the price differed between the one shown on the shelf edge and at the point of sale.
Around this time, Erik Danielsson had left the pharmaceutical company Pharmacia where he was the CEO. He was a driven business man and was searching for ideas to develop into successful businesses. One of the ideas that attracted his interest was the concept of automatic price changes within retail, based on a project in Linköping, Sweden.
Focus on customer needs
Erik Danielsson visited several ICA retailers in Sweden to understand their needs and was convinced that there was a real requirement to automate price changes. All retailers were so frustrated about spending night after night in small offices with no windows to prepare all the paper labels for the price changes, yet still having to face angry customers when the price differed at the check out. He also went to the US to finetune the concept and the technology.
Erik Danielsson saw a market with huge potential and didn’t hesitate – he registered Pricer on June 10, 1991.
You could say that the rest is history. But what a history! Pricer’s success wasn’t instant, but a result of hard team efforts, great Swedish innovation, a constant interest and focus on customer needs, grit, passion and perseverance, and of course trust – trust in the employees, in the market and the products.
From a small office in Uppsala to stores all over the world
One of Erik Danielsson’s initial findings was about the technology. He saw the need for a robust, scalable and powerful technology, and the choice of optical wireless communication was easy. It enables wireless connectivity using a near infrared band and offers all the benefits he was looking for.
This is still the foundation of the Pricer platform, and also the reason why many major retailers within grocery, consumer electronics, DIY and pharmacies rely on Pricer’s solution for in-store efficiency.
30 years of bringing trust to retail
As Pricer now celebrates 30 years in business, it is with great pride that we can look back on a long and successful period of bringing trust to retail.
We will do everything to meet and exceed our custormers’ and partners’ already very high expectations.
Recently we got the feedback from a new customer, a leading grocery chain, that it was the first time ever that they had implemented a major project in all its’ almost 300 stores that was delivered on time, on budget and in true partnership. Not to mention the renewed trust from Carrefour, who after 20 years of collaboration chose Pricer as preferred ESL supplier for worldwide installations in all store formats, and commented:
Pricer has been a key partner over the last 20 years and continues to offer leading capabilities when it comes to quality of display, efficiency, simplicity and features such as pick-to-light that were demonstrated in the field during the selection process.”
Strengthened by a constant and growing stream of new and follow-up orders from leading international retailers, we are looking forward to the next 30 years of innovation, great team spirit and close collaboration with our customers.
Here are some of Pricer’s milestones:
