Apple tracks the revenue performance of its retail stores in real time at the Cupertino (Calif.) headquarters, and can immediately spot purchase trends, new product success, returns and other activities. Now, that technology is reportedly being extended to managers at the stores themselves with special software installed on an iPhone, allow them to track sales, inventory and employee performance. The software will also include complete contact information for the store employees, along with maps and contact information for other stores in the chain, creating a wireless, mobile source of valuable retail information.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Its hardly so fancy as you suggest… its a “web app” interface to the existing sales tracking system, and provides the same information already available to managers in-store.
The above,
I am sorry to say your incorrect, it may be possible you have not been following the latest iPhone software updates. In June the bata software kits will become not beta and will be available for others to make similar applications for the iPhone such as the Managers iPhone application. You can find more information on Apple.com :)
Why is he incorrect Joe? Web apps have been around since the first day of the iPhone. It has nothing to do with the beta release of the SDK. May it be possible you have not been owning an iPhone? You can find more information at http://www.apple.com/webapps/ :)
Making data available to an iPhone user is hardly groundbreaking.
However…the Concept behind what they are doing is very interesting, and should allow them to possibly sell products (and this type of data collecting system) to retail or supply chain companies.
Hey Joe, have you used it? No? That’s what I thought. I have. And its a webapp.
Next time, maybe you should stick to making claims you actually know things about.
Ok asshole “someone”,
You can take your negative attitude else where, I was simply making a suggestion. As Apple usually only makes things work great, I would of assumed that it would be a application. I would also hope you are not a manager at a Apple store because you are VERY unfriendly. I presume that’s why your name is “someone”.
Mike,
I am a iPhone owner and have been for almost a year now, that is why I assumed that Apple would not make the application run this way. The web-apps are very slow. :(
I agree with Joe. If it’s a webapp, I’m sure someone out there with way too much time on their hands will go and find it. It probably wouldn’t take Apple engineers more than a hour or some to code up an excellent app that uses the same data on that cupertino display.
Webapps run inside Safari which doesn’t really provide the authentic iPhone experience, at least not up to the level of an actual app.
Apple store managers tracking data through their iPhones is entirely possible. Heck – other companies are doing similar things. Check out the April 29th issue of BusinessWeek:
“Apple’s (AAPL) hit iPhone, with its large color screen and full Web access, has been a boon for some graphics-rich medical applications. A software company called Life Record is using the iPhone to help physicians view patients’ medical records, including electrocardiograms and brain scans, on the go. “Since the iPhone release, our business has quadrupled,” says Michael Pike, Life Record’s chief software architect. Doctors can also use Life Record to order prescriptions, an area where many medical errors occur.”