Rebate Compliance Process for Wholesale Alliance
to Be Automated Within an Order Entry Application
CHICAGO – February 1, 2008 – Software developer Ai2 today announced the release of HERO®, a new handheld ordering application for retailers. The solution is designed for rugged handheld PCs running Windows Mobile and combines scanning, the keying of item numbers and an advanced communication protocol. HERO® is meant to replace older legacy ordering devices such as Telxons and MSIs that have been in operation for over 20 years and rely on outdated communication capability.
HERO® was developed in response to many of the problems that distributors face with getting information to their retailers. Retailers often do not have the most recently updated information that they need to place accurate orders and save a distributor time. “Our clients asked us if we could bring some of the functionality from POW® to the customer environment and we’re thrilled to say we’ve been able to do that,” said Ray Walsh, Vice President of Sales for Ai2. POW® is Ai2's handheld for an outside sales representative environment. Some distributors do not send sales reps to customer locations regularly or the sales representative is not responsible for generating every order. In these situations, the distributor must still ensure that high-profit items are being promoted and accurate orders are being received in a timely fashion.
Among HERO®’s features are the ability to generate a “one-touch” order based on a retailer’s buying history. The retailer sets the time period over which to calculate an average (orders, weeks, months) and the application creates a “usual” order in about sixty seconds. A full color screen permits the retailer to view pictures, videos and color-coordinated items generated by a distributor’s host computer. “We wanted to take advantage of the full-color capability of these devices and instantly inform the user of an item’s status. Seeing something is on sale always makes someone more likely to buy,” said Walsh.
Ai2 is a 23-year old family owned and operated software firm headquartered in downtown Chicago. Their solutions are used by over 35,000 users each day to capture over 30 billion dollars in sales each year. Ai2 handles the order entry process for some of the nation’s largest distributors in foodservice, convenience store, grocery, beverage, hardware, medical, beauty and industrial supply. For more information about Ai2, visit www.ai2.com.
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Ai2 Media Contact
Ray Walsh
(800) 835-3200