25/06-10   -   Press releases

Co-operative Food strengthens retail store systems with IBM® SurePOS

IBM (NYSE: IBM) has today announced that The Co-operative Group is implementing a new robust IBM EPOS platform across its recently expanded estate of food stores. The IBM SurePOS 340 provides The Co-operative with easy-to-service systems and saves valuable selling space at the counter.

With a target of reducing energy consumption across all business premises by 25 per cent by 2012, The Co-operative Group had already taken action to cut out-of-hours electricity use in its food stores. When the stores close each evening, the Group’s InControl store management software runs an end-of-day batch process to collate sales and stock data for submission to head office. Working with IBM Retail Store Solutions, The Co-operative Group’s in-house IT team re-engineered the software to include a controlled power-down of all point-of-sales equipment.

Now as the stores re-open in the morning the solution uses ‘Wake on LAN’ technology to automatically re-start all the relevant systems. The solution is making a significant contribution to reducing the business’ carbon footprint.

Mark Hale, Director of IS at The Co-operative Food said: “The Somerfield integration has involved an enormous amount of work behind the scenes to establish a food business with almost 3,000 stores in the UK. We required business solutions which are reliable, easy to integrate with existing systems, and enabled a fast and seamless implementation as well as being economical to support."

Simon Pendlebury, Vice President of IBM Systems & Technology Group UK & Ireland, said: “IBM is committed to helping retailers find new, affordable ways to apply new technology to create smarter, greener, more efficient retail operations. This implementation marks the latest development in a long standing relationship between IBM and The Co-operative Group. Both companies share a dedication to keeping today’s energy and climate related issues at the top of their strategic agendas."

The solution consisted of 3500 IBM SurePOS 340 units. The IBM SurePOS 340 provides The Co-operative with an easy-to-service system in a small footprint, each unit is 90mm high, 245mm wide and 257mm deep. The IBM system also introduces a Deep Sleep mode. This mode, along with an efficient processor and power supply, could provide The Co-operative with further energy savings.

Notes to editors:

About IBM: www.ibm.com

About The Co-operative Food: www.co-operative.coop/food

The Co-operative Group stands apart from other major retailers in the UK as a business which is owned, not by a small group of shareholders, but by more than five million consumers. With core interests in food, financial services, travel, pharmacy, funerals and farms, it has an annual turnover of £14 billion, employs 123,000 staff and operates over 5,000 retail trading outlets handling more than 20 million weekly transactions.

Following the acquisition of the Somerfield supermarket chain in March 2009, The Co-operative Food is the fifth largest food retailer. The Co-operative Financial Services is one of the largest and most diversified financial mutual businesses, operating The Co-operative Bank, The Co-operative Insurance and Britannia.

The Co-operative is the UK’s number one provider of funeral services, the third largest retail pharmacy chain, a leading travel retailer, supplying the travel needs of more than three million people annually, and is the UK’s largest farmer.

Among its other businesses are The Co-operative Motor Group, The Co-operative Electrical and The Co-operative Legal Services.