Aldo sells shoes in more than 3,000 stores worldwide. When they moved their tills onto Apple iPads and iPods, the whole store changed shape: staff could serve customers anywhere on the floor, the cash desk went, the displays grew, and every assistant could check warehouse stock without leaving a customer. The pilot covered 60 Canadian stores, fitted with multi USB charging stations to keep the devices ready.
The challenge: batteries that gave up at 12 months
A year in, the batteries started failing. Charged overnight, flat too soon, and getting worse by the week. Aldo went to Apple expecting faulty devices. Apple investigated and found the devices were fine. The charging stations were the problem.
The stations pushed a flat 1.6 amps through every USB port, regardless of what was plugged in. An iPod wants 1 amp. An iPad wants 2.3. So the iPods were overcharged until their batteries wore out, and the iPads were undercharged and never reached full capacity. The same stations were quietly ruining both. Aldo tested a range of replacements. DeskCabby came out on top.
What Aldo asked for
The brief was strict. Two months of testing in Aldo’s own IT laboratory. Apple inspection and approval before a single unit was manufactured. 500 units in a bespoke colour, carrying Aldo’s logo. And delivery to Canada within six weeks of the purchase order.
All 500 arrived by sea and air, on time, in full, without a scratch. The UK rollout followed, store by store, each delivery timed to that store’s own refit schedule. Then Aldo asked us to do France.
The fix: charging that reads the device
DeskCabby uses Cambrionix U16S intelligent charging. Each of the 12 USB ports identifies the make and model of the device plugged into it and delivers exactly the power that device asks for. Twelve ports, twelve different rates. When a device reaches 100%, the port drops to a trickle charge. Nothing overcharged, nothing undercharged, and the batteries last.
Behind the product sat the delivery plan: daily team meetings, weekly sign offs at every stage, and Aldo kept informed throughout so each store could plan its deployment.
What changed
500 charging stations, three countries, every deadline met. Since installation, and after Apple’s own testing and approval, the system has run with a 100% success rate and not one warranty claim.
On a product with a lifetime warranty, that suits us fine.