News

Back-office retail suite available for iPad

April 19, 2010

Cornell-Mayo Associates (CMA) today announced that its full suite of back-office retail solutions is now available on the iPad. The new iPad suite is the latest development in the company’s overall mobile strategy, which also includes the availability of all its software on the iPod touch and iPhone, including its Omniexpress POS solution on the iPod touch, complete with scanner and magnetic stripe reader.

Apple’s wildly popular iPad has already surpassed 500,0001 units in sales in only a week since its U.S. release, and some analysts estimate that 2010 iPad orders could exceed six million units if Apple can keep up with demand. Now with CMA’s entire suite of software available, retailers can enjoy tangible benefits far beyond the mere “cool factor” of the iPad.

“Mobile is a key focus for CMA, and we are proud to say that we have been first-to-market in the industry with both the complete iPod touch POS solution and the availability of our back office software on the iPad,” said Gene Cornell, president, Cornell-Mayo Associates. “CMA’s product suite is the most open in the business, accessible on traditional platforms such as Windows and Linux (including mobile devices that run these platforms) and also on Apple’s iPod Touch and iPad. CMA is the first company to bring the ‘Write Once, Run Everywhere’ philosophy to Apple’s mobile devices. For executives who need to move faster than ever in today’s non-stop retail market, the ability to manage operations and problem-solve on-the-go is a necessity. CMA offers them complete freedom of choice to run our software on the form factor that best meets their operational needs.”

According to a company release, the iPad is an ideal platform to access CMA’s back office products, with a right-sized screen and a design that is touch-enabled to require minimal keying. For operations such as the central help desk, professionals who have traditionally relied on PCs can portably control and interrogate the stores or central site. Staff can continue to interact with the system and have continuous control even as they walk away from their desks to labs or to confer with colleagues. Store managers can keep a low cost iPad in a drawer and have complete visibility and control of store operations. The smaller footprint of an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch lowers costs and reduces the required floor space of standard PCs while delivering identical capability and functionality in a more convenient, flexible and mobile package.

CMA solutions available on the iPad include:

• Omnistore Back Office: Provides real-time in-store reporting and management over store operations.
• Omnistore Central: An add-on extension to the Omnistore Back Office, Central is the real-time chain-wide view of sales, credit, file transfer status, opening and closing information and other key indicators for executives and the help desk/network control operations staff. Information is presented within a browser and is dynamically refreshed.
• Clientsmart:CMA’s clienteling solution is designed to provide a customer database accessible in all business channels. Clientsmart provides extensive information about customers with flexible queries available at the point-of-sale.
• Omniwatch Returns Management: Omniwatch validates that merchandise is properly returned at the right price, to the right tender, and for the right customer. It can also locate original sales without a receipt if other identifying information is available.