IT MAY be dismissed in some quarters as an executive toy or a large iPhone, but convenience store chain ADM Londis yesterday handed out more than 200 Apple iPads to its retailers to enable them “take the shop with them wherever they are”.
The move is the culmination of a a €5 million five-year transition to electronic retailing by the 57-year-old symbol group.
Chris Donnelly, head of IT at ADM Londis, said the iPad was the first device on the market that enable the retailers to manage their business from the shop floor rather than from a back office.
“With the iPad they are freed from the office and they can take the shop with them wherever they are,” said Mr Donnelly.
The Apple tablet computers were handed out to retailers at the Londis annual conference which was held in Kerry yesterday.
They are pre-configured to access the Londis wholesaling platform Isis, allowing the retailer to order stock directly from the shop floor or from a remote location.
Mr Donnelly said Londis had invested in “shock-proof covers” for the devices in order to encourage shopkeepers to carry them with them at all times. “We have used other portable devices in the stores but the screens have been too small to provide the kind of capabilities we can now offer through the iPad,” he said.
Although Bluetooth scanners are available to work with the iPad, which would allow a retailer scan a barcode to order a product, Mr Donnelly said Londis would continue to use its current RFID hand-held scanners.
