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Sears to give iPads, iPods to employees in 450 stores

Sears will soon outfit its employees in 450 stores with iPads and iPod touch devices. Sears sales associates will use the devices to help customers find product information, check inventory, and make purchases without having to be tethered to a cash register. Sears will also offer free Wi-Fi to customers so they can use their own smartphone devices in the store.

Sears is following in the footsteps of other retailers like Nordstrom, Home Depot and Urban Outfitters which have announced plans to roll out iOS devices in their stores. Lowes has also announced it'll give out 42,000 iPhones to its employees which will be used to ring up purchases and pull down product information.

Even small retailers are shelling out cash to adopt this technology. Clothing retailer Pacific Sun has plans to roll out 300 iPads now and 600 more by next year. The clothing retailer predicts each device will let its employees handle five additional transactions each day, an uptick in sales that'll quickly pay for the devices.



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iPhone iPad

Sears will soon outfit its employees in 450 stores with iPads and iPod touch devices. Sears sales associates will use the devices to...
 

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Yomachaser

So now they're becoming the basic office tool? Even my kids pediatrician service has gone all ipod touch for patient charting. We live in interesting times.

October 19 2011 at 1:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Carl Moebis

They are using our iBackFlip case to make the iPad hands free. We've been working with them over the last 3 months on the roll out.

October 19 2011 at 10:28 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Akamas

So when these salespeople all have iPads and iPhones, they're going to be even harder to find. I challenge anyone to go into any Sears or Nordstrom's now and try to find someone who is happy to help you.... go ahead, I'll wait...

October 19 2011 at 6:23 AM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply
iAAPL

I had a job interview with them a few weeks ago. The first half was spent with the typical interview questions ("What kind of animal would you describe yourself as?" "Describe in exactly 23 words, why we shouldn't hire you," etc). I was shocked when they spent the whole second half of the interview asking about my views on technology. Keep in mind, this wasn't anything special, just a generic sales associate position. They asked how I use tech in my personal life, in what rare situations I would opt to buy a product in store rather than online, and how frequently I help others to shop online. I thought these were trick questions or something. I didn't want to tell them that I only buy from Amazon, and that I think they'll be dead in 10 years. I guess it wasn't a trick. They also seemed happy when I explained what a big Apple fanboy I am.

Now there's a 20% (450/2200, assuming they aren't counting Kmart locations) that the retailer I chose to work for on a whim is going all Apple. On a side note, try searching the App store. For some reason they have dozens of iOS apps. (Somehow I can get by with one Amazon app...)

October 18 2011 at 7:16 PM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply
Elranzer

"Give" is not the operative word. These are not the personal property of the employees nor a gift.

They're basically replacing Windows Mobile and PalmOS devices as Point-Of-Sale PDAs. They're still tools and property of the store (Sears).

October 18 2011 at 3:45 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Elranzer's comment
proud2bafrican

Actually, property of SHC.

October 18 2011 at 6:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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