Lowes

US department store, Sears, announced today that they are rolling out iPads and iPod touches to 450 retail stores nationwide. The rollout is to better the relationship between the customer and sales associate to improve the shopping experience. Sears will train their employees to utilize these devices to order products online for customers, access product information and videos, and show customers how to utilize enhanced purchasing tools to buy products they desire.

Sears isn’t the first company to rollout Apple products across their fleet. Lowe’s did something similar by bringing 42,000 iPhones to their stores to process sales. Old Navy, Home Depot, and of course Apple also use iOS devices to enhance the sales experience.

In the press release, Sears also said they’re working to upgrade their technology infrastructure so that customers can use their mobile devices to compare products (Wi-Fi). Sears will also use the iPads and iPod touches to train employees. Cheers, to a better shopping experience!

Linea-Pro from Infinite Peripherals

Lowe’s has purchased 42,000 iPhones to begin using a similar payment system that you see in Apple Store’s, as reported by Bloomberg (via The Next Web). We’ve all had the pleasurable event of purchasing an Apple product, where the checkout doesn’t take place at a cash register. Rather, the Apple retail employee whips out a EasyPay iPod touch to take your money. Each Lowe’s store will receive 25 iPhones to process payments and answer customers’ questions.

Along with the purchase of the phones, Lowe’s will roll out a web app called MyLowe’s that will allow customers to look up information regarding products, warranties, etc. Presumably, the device features a credit card scanner added on (as seen above on an iPod touch). Lowe’s isn’t first to hop on this bandwagon, as Old Navy and Home Depot have been doing similar with portable devices.

Update: We have screenshots of the app after the break:

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