Revolutionizing Stocktaking for the World's Leading Airport Retailer with CipherLab RK25 Stocktake Solution

Stocktaking and Inventory Check Solutions


Present in over 26 countries, this company is a prominent convenience, books, and news retailer with an extensive network of 1,700 stores worldwide. These stores are strategically located in high-traffic areas such as airports, hospitals, and railway stations. Their mission is to offer traveling customers a quick and hassle-free shopping experience, providing an extensive range of products from food and drinks to confectionery, digital goods, and travel accessories. Since opening their first store at Melbourne Airport, this mission has propelled them to rapid growth, expanding to over 120 stores and 500 employees in Australia alone.


A Global Retailer's Challenge

The retail company's commitment to speed and efficiency faced a significant challenge due to a cumbersome stocktaking process. Employees at the Australian Stores were burdened with the task of manually recording item numbers, physically counting items, documenting quantities, and then entering this data into their ERP system upon their return to the office. This outdated manual process was not only labor-intensive but also severely limited in frequency, allowing for just a few occurrences each year.

The consequences of this were frequent inaccuracies in inventory levels, ultimately resulting in substantial stock losses. This operational bottleneck highlighted the pressing need for a more streamlined and precise approach to stocktaking, one that would propel the business forward in the highly competitive retail landscape.

Optimizing Efficiency with RK25 and Stocktake Application

In their quest for a solution, the form factor of the mobile computer with a keypad emerged as one of the key requirements. The retail company adopted the CipherLab RK25 rugged mobile computer, which proved to be the perfect fit. Its high robustness and budget-friendliness made it an ideal choice. With Wi-Fi connectivity, it connects seamlessly to their database, facilitating real-time data transmission.

The adoption of CipherLab's RK25 was complemented by Track n Trace's stocktake application, which seamlessly integrated into their stocktaking process. The time saved by using the RK25 mobile computer and the stocktake application for annual and cycle stocktakes was immeasurable. The process became significantly quicker and more accurate than the previous pen-and-paper method. No more scribbling down product numbers and manual data input. Simply scan item barcodes, count items, and input quantities through the RK25.

The Incredible Results

The impact of these changes was revolutionary. With CipherLab's RK25 and Track n Trace’s stocktake app in place, our user’s stocktaking process was not only streamlined but also highly efficient. The need to manually record item numbers vanished. Staff now simply had to scan item barcodes, count items, and enter quantity data directly into the system via the RK25.

After implementing the new system, stocktaking efficiency increased by an impressive 80%. Moreover, data accuracy improved by 15%. The frequency of stocktaking also improved, now taking place weekly instead of monthly, leading to a significant decrease in store losses—almost 5% less.

In the ever-evolving world of global retail, the retail company’s commitment to efficiency and accuracy has been significantly enhanced by the adoption of CipherLab's RK25 and the stocktake app, showing that innovation and adaptation can create remarkable results, even in the most challenging retail environments.