Wirca Inc. Deploys Mobile Phone Vending Solution; Kansas Company Spearheads North American 'Mcommerce'

November 28, 2001

Wirca Inc., a world leader in the field of mobile commerce solutions, or mcommerce, today announced that it has begun deployment of soft drink vending machines capable of handling cashless, mobile-phone-driven transactions.

The beta test marks Wirca's North American debut of mobile phone transaction technology in the vending environment. Beyond allowing consumers to make vending purchases with any mobile phone, Wirca's patent-pending system provides unprecedented inventory and sales control capabilities for bottlers and vending companies.

Wirca is partnering with PepsiCo and several local bottlers and vending companies to place the machines at business, industrial and educational locations in Kansas City, Sioux Falls, South Dakota and in the Bay Area of California. Approximately 25,000 students and employees will have access to the machines once the deployment is complete.

"With this deployment, wireless vending transactions have arrived in the beverage industry," said John Barber, Wirca's Chief Operating Officer and a beverage industry veteran. "We're excited about the new levels of convenience and security our technology provides the consumer. And we're just as enthusiastic about the powerful inventory control tools this system offers the vending and bottling community."

Because Wirca's wireless solution creates an interactive link with individual vending machines, suppliers can monitor inventory levels in real time to dramatically improve operating efficiencies. Up-to-date inventory information means that restocking visits can be prioritized and routes more effectively managed. At the same time, detailed, individualized purchasing information can be mined and leveraged via promotions and direct messaging.

Longer term, the growth of wireless vending will reduce the incidence of cash shrinkage due to theft and machine malfunction, and also reduce aborted sales resulting from defective currency or coin. Finally, the wireless environment provides vendors with far greater flexibility for managing vending machines.

"Our cashless vending test with Wirca provides wireless access for payment and inventory management," said Todd Piatnik, Director of Equipment and Merchandising Development for Pepsi-Cola North America. "Potentially, it's a best-of-both-worlds scenario that liberates the vending experience for consumers and promises significant business efficiencies for the Pepsi system, including our bottlers, vending operators and retail customers."

Jack Mitchell, President of Treat America Ltd., a full-service vending and food service firm based in Kansas City, said he was likewise enthusiastic about the potential that cashless transactions offer.

"It's clearly the wave of the future. Long-term, the benefits of taking cash out of the machines could be phenomenal," Mitchell said.

With more than 140 million mobile phones now in use in the U.S., the introduction of wireless transactions in the vending environment presages a much wider role for mcommerce in the years ahead. Wirca's technology can be used at virtually any point of purchase to enable wireless transactions that improve customer convenience and security while reducing operating costs for merchants. Currently, the company is actively pursuing opportunities in the fast food and restaurant industries, as well applications like gasoline purchases or car washes.

"We're confident that the anticipated success of our initial vending deployment will drive acceptance by both consumers and merchants in a range of other settings and industries," said Howard Gerson, Founder and President of Wirca.


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