Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA) has announced the completion of its acquisition of Elo Touch Solutions, Inc., a company specializing in solutions for retail, hospitality, quick service restaurants (QSR), healthcare, and industrial markets. This acquisition is expected to expand Zebra's addressable market by approximately $8 billion, focusing on customer-facing workflows.
Elo, with decades of experience in touchscreen technology, offers solutions that modernize point of sale (POS), streamline self-service and payment experiences, automate kitchen/industrial workflows, and optimize production and process management. The company caters to a wide range of industries, including convenience stores, QSRs, retail stores, hospitals, airports, hotels, manufacturing environments, and consumer packaging businesses.
The acquisition is particularly timely as businesses are increasingly turning to digital solutions to accelerate workflows and provide consumers with more choice in how they interact with the frontline of business, especially in the face of continued labor constraints and increasing consumer comfort with self-service technology.
With hundreds of innovative patents, Elo's offerings include flexible, modular solutions with cross-generational compatibility, an enterprise-ready platform, robust software tools, and innovative technology such as accessibility solutions for the sight-impaired and color-blind individuals.
According to Bill Burns, Chief Executive Officer of Zebra Technologies, the combination of Zebra and Elo will benefit enterprise customers looking to digitize and automate their workflows, creating in-person experiences as smart and connected as the online world. This acquisition strengthens Zebra's strategic position across retail, hospitality, QSR, healthcare, and manufacturing industries through the breadth and depth of the combined portfolio of solutions.
The acquisition is expected to empower retailers and QSRs to enhance consumer experiences with complementary solutions at the point of service, including compute, scanning, personal shopper devices, and touchscreen displays. Over time, Zebra aims to offer a common platform across mobile and fixed digital touchpoints throughout the store to improve frontline efficiency and customer service.
The press release emphasizes that Zebra and Elo are well-positioned to capitalize on industry trends such as interconnected digital platforms and the advancement of POS technologies beyond store-only transactional services to enable an experience-led unified commerce strategy.
Zebra Technologies Corporation, a global leader in digitizing and automating workflows, provides connected frontline, asset visibility, and automation solutions to organizations across various industries. The company, along with its partners, aims to drive innovation and improve productivity through new ways of working.
This acquisition marks a significant development for Zebra Technologies, expanding its offerings and capabilities in customer-facing workflows and positioning the company to capitalize on evolving industry trends. The market has reacted to these announcements by moving the company's shares 0.08% to a price of $297.16. For the full picture, make sure to review ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORP's 8-K report.
