A unique in-store system developed by The Co-operative has been opened up to other retailers.

The Co-operative Group, in partnership with Retail Manager Solutions, is now marketing its InControl Evolution system to other retailers.

Initially developed within the convenience retailer Alldays, which was subsequently acquired by The Co-operative Group, InControl Evolution offers an in-store solution specifically developed in a retail environment.

All the functionality in the system has been designed to help realise business benefits rather than being speculatively introduced by a software developer.

The system, which is used throughout The Co-operative Group’s Food and Pharmacy estate as well as in other independent co-operative society stores, is used in some 13,000 checkout lanes in 3,500 stores and completes more than 1.5 billion transactions a year.

Ian Dyson, director of Trading Group IS at The Co-operative said: “We believe the InControl Evolution system is one of the best available because it was developed by ourselves and offers specific functionality designed to meet business needs and not as a result of a software house thinking it would be a good idea.

“The solution offers a full range of functions designed to be up to date, flexible to use and maintain with the ultimate aim of providing a premier customer service.”

The InControl Evolution solution provides robust cash and management controls, flexible pricing and promotional capabilities and real time monitoring of sales activity.