Home topics technology business-tech-blogs Business Tech Retail Business Tech Why today’s retailers need a purpose-built business tablet John Karabin May 30, 2012 In this era of connected consumers, retailers are making attempts at redefining the shopping experience while increasing the digital media interaction with their consumers. Consumer demands are also changing how retailers must manage their stores operations, especially when it comes to inventory. Consumers want more choices, which may result in space issues on store shelves or insufficient stock levels. Retailers are constantly looking for ways to make their store operations more efficient, while focusing on rapid order gratification, more precise forecasting and on-site inventory control. As a lead way to address this need, some early-adopter retailers have already deployed consumer tablets in their stores and, for a variety of reasons—such as limited durability and security—found these tablets fell short of their expectations. This highlights that tablets alone are not sufficient. Retailers require “blank” tablets with only business-specified applications. The term “blank” indicates the tablets have no pre-loads. In an ideal retail world, the tablets would have a highly secure Android operating system with no gmail, gtalk or Android Marketplace and are devoid of apps not specified by the enterprise. Instead, the tablets would allow retailers to customise it with applications, services and accessories for the unique needs such as payment processing and inventory control. These “blank” tablets must also feature increased durability, which is critical with retail employees working store floors. Security is another important requirement. By putting