Escher wins retail technology deal with Armenia's Haypost

US retail and communications software firm Escher Group has won a contract to provide postal counter automation technology for the Armenian postal service, Haypost. The company said today its RiposteEssential point-of-sale product has been chosen as part of Haypost’s post office modernisation programme.

The $1.5m contract will see RiposteEssential systems rolled out during 2012, and comes with a five-year service and maintenance component.

Boston-based Escher Group said its “comprehensive” retail management system was in use by postal operators around the world, supporting “some of the most demanding transactional environments worldwide”.

The system includes a set of applications allowing a range of transactions from postage assessment and weighing to banking and bill payments.

Escher Group chief executive Liam Church said: “Our product will give the Armenian post office the flexibility it requires to respond to the changing business environment that many companies are experiencing.”

Church added: “This contract is the first of a few opportunities that we are progressing towards completion in the near term.”

Riposte

The Escher Group, which listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange in August, rolled out its RiposteEssential system across Botswana earlier this year, having run trials with Botswana Post this spring.

This company also provided the Isle of Man Post Office with automated retail kiosks this year, to give customers speedier service.

Haypost has been upgrading post offices across the country this year, with a goal to reopen 104 post offices in Armenia by the end of 2011. Modernisation is including the installation of new It infrastructure to give post offices internet access and provide more rapid and efficient services, including postal, financial and commercial services.

The upgraded post offices include internet, fax and copying/printing services as well as traditional postal services.