Use for iPads

Well, I was stunned to find out recently that iPads can be used for other things other than playing Angry Birds! In fact, if you look around they’re being used everywhere in the retail and commercial environment. Sure, they look sexy, but are they just a passing fad or do they have a valid place in the business world?

Retailers such as The Men’s Wearhouse, Wholefoods and Kate Spade are using them in their stores. La Guardia Airport has hundreds of them for passenger use; Chilli’s are rolling out Tablets (although not iPads) in their restaurants. One Texas school district has 6,500 of them, and even the guys who fixed our sprinkler system this week had an iPad in their truck to handle all their invoicing!

So, what do iPad and other Tablets offer that conventional POS systems and computers can’t?

The iPads at La Guardia Airport are a good example. Passengers waiting for their flights can use the iPads and order food. Reports say that passengers using the iPads spend up to 20% more on food and drinks. In addition they’re a big upgrade to old fashioned paper menus in restaurants.

Some companies gather data from them. Apart from the obvious information that customers input about themselves, they can tally how popular different items are. For example, Kate Spade can see how often different clothes are viewed through a store iPad (and whether that translates to a sale). You can order cakes through the one at our local Wholefoods.

But beware of iPads and other Tablets just being used for the “Cool” factor. You need to make sure that you have a valid application for them and they’re not just “Trophyware!” How will you handle maintenance on them? Avoid the “Graveyard of broken iPads” that can appear if you don’t have a good depot repair provider in place for them.