New stock on the shelves; lets see how Supercart rolls - straight to the tills or prone to wobbling uncontrollably... Updates / comments from me, most-recent at the top:

Update 14apr05: Finals so-so, but negatives largely already known about, and enough cash for two years at 2004-rate, with fair chance of a better 2005+ as the negatives largely get resolved and the broader product-base sees customer keen-ness turned into increased revenues. Patience still needed. Update 20dec04: Further 2,000-trolley order from Caddie; that's another one in the bag, then, or iron in the fire, I suppose ;-) Update 16&17nov04: Director bought 24,000 worth at 12p, triggering one of the quick moves I mentioned above; up 37% today. Then Philip Richards, CEO of RAB Capital, bought 7%. He was not on the list of major shareholders beforehand. This may reduce the free float to about 14%, unless his holding arose from the shuffle on 7oct04 (see RNS), whence the free float would be 21%. Up another 6% today, after The Times' mention of yesterday's director buying. Update 16sep04: Interim results: pluses and minuses, giving reasonable grounds to expect bottoming of the share price hereabouts (~20p). Small trades can move this stock, though, so I'm expecting to have to tolerate say 50% downside in the volatility the next 6 months. But news of a good deal or two, and there could be some quick moves up, bringing the stock onto traders' radar, despite the spread. Any such moves could well fade out, though, until some confidence or popularity creeps into the stock - might need to give it a year or so. All IMO. Update 26jul04: Supercart received its first commercial order from its exclusive European sales and distribution agreement with Ateliers Reunis Caddie SA ("Caddie"). That certainly rejuvinated interest again, and with CEO Mike Wolfe saying "I look forward to announcing further progress in due course, maybe, just maybe we have seen the bottom? But we're not out from under the falling resistance line yet... [I bought some more today, BTW.] Update 7jun04: Libertas Capital Limited disposed of its entire holding of 600,000 ordinary shares; that must have been one of the factors depressing the share price. Fingers crossed, there are no other overhangs still to clear. But one must remember this stock is tightly held, so some offloading cannot be ruled out; one would hope, however, that any divestments would be done in an orderly way so as not to adversely affect the share price too much (ever hopeful!) Update 1jun04: SC. top of the percentage gainers list today, but no real explanation for the recent rise nor the preceding fall; have to put it down to trading pressure and MM activities; perhaps a large sale being worked off-book. Update 1may04: Well, it's been downhill most of the time so far :( Maybe some of this has been due to it being listed on, and maybe subject to shortling on, the Berlin stock exchange? Of course, conversely, more-bullish trading there can/would have a positive effect on the price in London...

Links: - Web site - http://www.supercart.com - AIM admission RNS - Fashion Windows article - Supercart: A New Alternative for Shoppers - Shopping carts - why you should change - They also do baskets... - Press releases

Hi willfagg

Found it on their website:

http://www.supercartplc.com/supercart.asp?pageVar=Markets


(edit: was also mentioned in the first company RNS re: AIM admission, quote: "The North American subsidiary has led to new sales opportunities with a number of North American retailers, including full product accreditation from US retailer Wal-Mart which has purchased its first 1,500 trolleys for two new stores in Florida, USA, on a test basis for potential future orders.")

Announced today that the FD has just chipped in for a few more :)

Realistic - "ugly thing" - that's a matter of taste.
Fortunately for Ford there were loadsa folks buying Sierras ('jelly moulds')when they came out, ugly or no. That is, whatever may constitute good taste, there always seem to be huge numbers of folks with bad taste or no taste, compared to one's own :)

It is good to see the price managing to hang on to its gains.

Has anyone ever seen any info on the degradeability of this product.A metal cart is pretty hardy BUT how long does a supercart last and how does it compare in initial purchase cost. Possibly much more interesting is the company which can produce a LOCK on the cart wheels if they are taken beyong the perimeter of the parking lot. That might appeal to a supermarket operator over and above a plastic cart.

Cant seem to add any wheels to this discussion.

Hildee, I think the cart is totally recyclable and it lends itself much more to advertising panels etc.If recyclable rather than scrap means it may have a value when broken and would be seen as better green option ( from a corporate view)I would have thought but do not know that cost are comparable especially as steel has gone up by 40% this year!!I personally think we have become accustomed to steel trolleys but the supercart is a far better product( not so many holes for things to fall throughor sharp edges to scratch damage people or possessions.Just my opinion, hope it is of use

Thanks, willfagg. Do you have any knowledge of this company which is producing the gadget which will lock the carts wheels if taken beyond a, limited, safety area? Dont know how many ARE stolen but this has to be a good deterrent IF the costs arent too high.

Today's further order is nice in that, though not huge, it helps create a news-stream. And (so long as it is positive news), that can be vital for small cap stocks like this; it helps stop the slides that otherwise so often follow spikes on good pieces of sparse news. And even neutral news can have the benefit of keeping a stock in investors' minds, on their radar.

Mike,

Good thread, SC looks interesting, and the chart is looking healthier too!
Dare one say "breakout?"

Whist I can see why some people would compare it to a traditional trolley, and not like it, I do, IMHO that cart has looks and personality!

Not a bad day for FDI either!

Just a thought, presumably they could produce them in different colours, maybe along the lines of the owning supermarket, ie orange for Sainsbury's etc etc?

Andy
As per Supercart website, colour branding is one of the stated benefits: http://www.supercartplc.com/supercart.asp?pageVar=benefits

Mike
As I understand it 'Caddie' are just a distributor. Any idea where the latest batch of trolleys they have bought is going to end up?

Slacker - re Caddie...
Simple answer - I don't know.
But Caddie are worldwide, so they are a great player to be in bed with.
See http://www.caddie.fr for info (click on Union Jack unless your French is better than mine).
Caddie are at EuroShop 2005, in Germany 19-23feb05, BTW. Maybe giving SuperCart trolleys a push?

Hilldee,the name of the company making the self locking carts if anyone tries to go beyond the supermarket carpark is Gatekeeper---GKR.I bought some and they have fallen back 8% today,so look out and pop in when you can.They have Tescos as a customer.Fairly recent IPO.9 mln sterling mkt cap.Support Services.ETHEL

On Supercart's website they say that there is "less theft".Do they havI think this looks a good punt.Only thing,are they much more expensive than the metale a locking device,or are people not stealing them because they look too different.Though I haven't tried one,these trollies look much nicer than the normal battered,filthy,hair wrapped around the wheels,only move sideways or in circles,type of trolly that I always find.aAre they competitive,price wise?Where are they manufactured?Ethel

A nice new trolly is better than an old one. However, we want to know if there is a profit in Supercart and it looks like NO is the answer. I don't go much for the recycle option, either. When plastic has been in the sun it deteriorates and trying to grind up a whole trolley will be costly and is unlikely to result in a decent second-product. This is the partial-flaw in the recycle-a-car (Rules from Brussels) IMHO. Metals being elements can be "recycled" ad infinitem, indeed the metal you see today may have had many other lives. Plastic deteriorates over time and there is really no means to "restore" it. Because of this I suspect the plastic trolly is doomed.

As to the anti-theft feature, this could be added to any trolley, it is not inherent in a plastic trolley. Similarly the problems with wheels will occur since wheels are made "to a price" and customers will insist in overloading them.
I suggest that plastic will have an advantage in being able to carry the shop "colour" and maybe for advertising (but cardboard ads could be attached to wire trollies). I thought the real advantage was they had a patented handle-mounting so the cart was "pulled" - but I think this is a fairly minor advantage as I can't remember having a wonky cart at Tesco - it's a matter of paying a little more for the wheels IMHO. Plastic carts will suffer from fires. However, they may be a little quieter to wheel about, although again this is largely down to the design of the wheel/treads.

The plastic may be lighter, but once the shopping is in, it will make no difference. I think they look quite nice, but they are plastic for the sake of it IMHO and the sp drift was predicatable.

Glad I bought GKR rather than Supercart.The sp rose 5% on no buyers,last week.No-one answered my why?post...So,there does'nt seem to be much interest in trolleys with the MAM crowd,plastic,self-locking,biodegradeable or whatever.
A good invention would be a robot trolley that does it all for you while you wait in the cafe!!

revamped the header, FYI

less damage to cars though - this is a real issue for many people

50% increase today - are folk mad - or was it oversold so much?

I read somewhere that some supermarkets are trialing locking wheels - and that supercart has such a device (?) - but I can't see why it wouldn't work with a metal trolly...it's probably a site-based rf signal that reacts when you are too far away - frankly I am suspicious this won't be very reliable - in the rain transmission is down slightly, (but they could boost it ). However, if you are stealing a trolley - and it's plastic it will be light enough to carry away....so I fail to get excited by such developments.....the real answer to trolley-theft is to issue shoppers with a tag costing 10 which they get back, or keep for another day. There will be resistance but the cost of trolleys is several hundred...passed-on to the consumer indirectly.
However, I suspect metal trolleys have several advantages over supercart in terms of design flexibility, looks, and probably cost, since most of the trolley is air between the wires - whereas with a mould each space is the same cost - only the injection is cheaper and as you get larger the risk of a bad moulding increases. That is why it is rare to get large plastic mouldings, car bumpers being the economic limit, methinks. - As trolleys get larger the metal-ones will have a cost advantage since the marginal extra metal (and holes) only needs a minor change, whereas Supercart is looking at a mould-tool costing the best part of 1m IMHO. Furthermore large plastic mouldings have a habit of becomming mis-shapen so some metal (oh dear!) may be required to keep shape....

Damage to cars is more likley to be due to inertia; so a fully loaded trolley is still about the same -and they promise smoother running so a 'runaway' could be slightly more dangerous - I think this is a small side-issue, really. The same for supermarket "colours" - the handles of metal ones are coloured and branded - isn't that enough? You are hardly likely to go to Tesco because you prefer their colour -

A nice tic up today :)