The folks over at Canadian Tire let us know they plan on deploying BlackBerry 10 devices to its employees, staff and across its family companies. Canadian Tire is set to disburse several thousand devices consisting of Z10 and Q10 smartphones in the short future. This is a step in the right direction for BlackBerry. Let’s see who else follows suit. Continue reading for full press release.
Canadian Tire Selects BlackBerry for “Smart” Solutions
BlackBerry 10 Smartphones To Be Deployed Across Canadian Tire’s Family of Companies
TORONTO, April 19, 2013 – Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (CTC.A, CTC) announced today that it has selected BlackBerry® as its official smartphone for its corporate team across Canada. Beginning at the end of April, employees from across its Family of Companies – including Canadian Tire, Financial Services, Mark’s and FGL Sports (Sport Chek, Sports Experts, National Sports and Atmosphere) – will use BlackBerry 10 smartphones as their primary business device. The Company is deploying several thousand units in the coming months, comprised of a mix of BlackBerry® Z10 and BlackBerry® Q10 smartphones.
The new BlackBerry®10 platform will provide Canadian Tire’s employees with a faster, smarter and secure experience and will create a shared platform for the Company that will increase efficiencies and drive innovation.
“With 90 years of history serving Canadians in communities from coast-to-coast, it’s fitting that we’re partnering with another great Canadian company to support our business,” said Eugene Roman, Chief Technology Officer, Canadian Tire Corporation.
“We are thrilled to work with Canadian Tire to bring innovations to its employees and customers across the country,” said Andrew MacLeod, Managing Director for Canada at BlackBerry. “BlackBerry is committed to being a leader in mobile computing and expanding mobility in the business world and by supporting companies like Canadian Tire with our carrier and other partners to bring innovative solutions to market.”
Canadian Tire’s first mobile app for BlackBerry launched three years ago and quickly became one of Canada’s most popular mobile applications. The free application enables customers to browse products on CanadianTire.ca, create shopping lists, access Canadian Tire’s digital flyers, locate store details and hours as well as check product availability by store. Customers can also use their BlackBerry smartphones to scan barcodes in-store to access detailed product information, reviews and pricing. Last year alone, the Company had over 20 million mobile visits through Canadian Tire’s Mobile App and mobile optimized site.
Today’s announcement follows Canadian Tire’s announcement in March that it has become the first retail partner in Communitech with the official opening of its new digital development lab, just down the road from BlackBerry’s headquarters. Canadian Tire now has a dedicated space within the Communitech ‘hub’ to build new applications to improve the shopping experience online and in-store for customers using ‘next in class’ advancements in digital technology.
About Canadian Tire
Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSX:CTC.a) (TSX:CTC) is a Family of Companies that includes Canadian Tire Retail, Partsource, Gas+, FGL Sports (Sport Chek, Hockey Experts, Sports Experts, National Sports, Intersport and Atmosphere), Mark’s and Canadian Tire Financial Services. With more than 1,700 retail and gasoline outlets from coast-to-coast, our primary retail business categories – Automotive, Living, Fixing, Playing and Apparel – are supported and strengthened by our Financial Services division. Over 85,000 people are employed across the Canadian Tire enterprise, which was founded in 1922 and remains one of Canada’s most recognized and trusted brands. For more information, visit Corp.CanadianTire.ca.