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W5 Networks, Inc.

Product Name

W5 ESL System

Market Segment

Enterprise software and services

Funding

Series A: Venture funding led by Thomas Weisel Venture Partners and U.S. Venture Partners, $10 million

Competitors

Pricer, SES, NCR

Product Description

Supermarkets manually change hundreds of thousands of paper shelf labels each week, which costs millions of dollars in labor each year. W5 networks has developed an electronic shelf label (ESL) system that replaces paper labels, reducing labor costs and improving retail price accuracy. The W5 ESL System is capable of updating and displaying prices and promotions chain-wide within minutes through a unique, long-range, low-power wireless network.

Market Opportunity

Based on the number of stores, the number of items and the estimated price of an ESL, W5 networks estimates the total Addressable Market (TAM) for grocery stores and drugstores at $5.1 billion in the U.S., and about $10 billion worldwide.

Demo Says

From cost-effective electronic labels to management software that reduces labor costs, W5 Networks delivers an electronic self-labeling technology that works for retailers at nearly every level. More importantly, in cracking this tough technology challenge, the company has laid a foundation on which to build a range of applications that bring efficiency to retail operations.