A new Irish company is seeking to capitalise on transactions conducted in department stores worldwide through its digital network.
GloboGift (www.globogift.com) has developed software that will allow a Macy's customer in New York to purchase a Brown Thomas' gift voucher in Dublin. The new company is based in Citywest Business Park. Its software system facilitates multiple languages, currencies, time zones and exchange rates, enabling the voucher to be purchased in local currency and issued to the recipient in another country in their own currency.
GloboGift projects sales of £8 million (€10.16 million) in the first year of the new system, which was officially opened yesterday by the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney.
The company has already signed contracts with a number of the world's most famous department stores to run GloboGift's application on their computers.
They include Galeries Lafayette in France, Myer Grace Bros in Australia, Kaufhoff in Germany and Hudsons Bay in Canada. In total, the service will be available through 800 stores worldwide.
Following a start-up grant of £15,000 from Enterprise Ireland, GloboGift is currently talking to venture capital companies in Ireland, Britain and the US with a view to raising a further $3 million to finance an international marketing campaign.
According to Mr Eric Mosley, operations director of GloboGift, the current staff of six is expected to double by January, 2000.
"The website will be marketed in conjunction with the stores worldwide, and we plan to integrate a lot of services that previously would only have been provided on a local level," said Mr Mosley. With its database of transactions between countries, GloboGift is hoping to utilise some of this information for its stores to provide valuable consumer behaviour information.
Attending a separate event in Park West Business Park yesterday, Ms Harney also opened the offices of MSAS Global Logistics' new shared services centre.
The IDA-supported company employs 45 people and has plans to expand to 135 over the next two years. MSAS is a British-based company specialising in travel logistics for multinational companies.
