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43-482: Launched on 1 February 2018, the program allows shoppers to earn points based on specific purchases at Loblaw grocery store locations, including in-store promotions, personalized offers delivered via the PC Optimum website and mobile app , as well as per-dollar spent on eligible products at Shoppers Drug Mart , Esso and Mobil locations. These points can be redeemed in-store for grocery and other purchases. The program

86-697: A phone , tablet , or watch . Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on desktop computers , and web applications which run in mobile web browsers rather than directly on the mobile device. Apps were originally intended for productivity assistance such as email, calendar, and contact databases, but the public demand for apps caused rapid expansion into other areas such as mobile games , factory automation , GPS and location-based services , order-tracking, and ticket purchases, so that there are now millions of apps available. Many apps require Internet access. Apps are generally downloaded from app stores , which are

129-472: A Loblaw financial report, the expenses associated with the creation of the PC Optimum brand was 189 million dollars. On March 13, 2018, Loblaw announced that Imperial Oil would switch to PC Optimum as the main loyalty program for its Esso -branded gas stations, ending a 14-year relationship with Aeroplan . PC Optimum is also accepted at the gas stations of sister brand Mobil , which launched in Canada as part of

172-732: A PC World Elite Mastercard. As 1000 PC Points are valued at $ 1, the minimum rate of return is 1%. Promotions are sometimes used to give bonus points on specific products. Points can be redeemed for free groceries or other rewards. Points may be redeemed once a customer has reached a total of 10,000 or more (1,000 points = CA$ 1). Customers must also have a second form of payment once points are redeemed (as customers can only use points in multiples of 10,000) if they do not want to overspend their points. Points can not be redeemed for gift cards, alcohol , tobacco , lottery tickets , or prescription medication . Unlike many other retail loyalty schemes, customers must buys specific products to earn points. It

215-669: A browser, which can be noticeably slower than the equivalent native app. It also may not have the same level of features as the native app. The concept of the hybrid app is a mix of native and web-based apps. Apps developed using Apache Cordova , Flutter , Xamarin , React Native , Sencha Touch , and other frameworks fall into this category. These are made to support web and native technologies across multiple platforms. Moreover, these apps are easier and faster to develop. It involves use of single codebase which works in multiple mobile operating systems. Despite such advantages, hybrid apps exhibit lower performance. Often, apps fail to bear

258-504: A browser. Hybrid apps are built using web technologies such as JavaScript , CSS, and HTML5 and function like web apps disguised in a native container. Most mobile devices are sold with several apps bundled as pre-installed software, such as a web browser , email client , calendar , mapping program, and an app for buying music , other media, or more apps. Some pre-installed apps can be removed by an ordinary uninstall process, thus leaving more storage space for desired ones. Where

301-592: A drive-through; however, subsequent locations have used dedicated parking spots instead. By November 2015, the program had expanded to include Real Canadian Superstore locations in British Columbia. In December 2017, Loblaw Companies began offering click and collect in Atlantic Canada , starting with Halifax . By the start of 2018, about 300 stores were on the PC Express network, with plans to significantly expand

344-552: A growing number of mobile applications available at app stores and the improved capabilities of smartphones, people are downloading more applications to their devices. Usage of mobile apps has become increasingly prevalent across mobile phone users. A May 2012 comScore study reported that during the previous quarter, more mobile subscribers used apps than browsed the web on their devices: 51.1% vs. 49.8% respectively. Researchers found that usage of mobile apps strongly correlates with user context and depends on user's location and time of

387-541: A mobile device's screen size for a user's hand. Mobile UI contexts signal cues from user activity, such as location and scheduling that can be shown from user interactions within a mobile application. Overall, mobile UI design's goal is primarily for an understandable, user-friendly interface. Mobile UIs, or front-ends, rely on mobile back-ends to support access to enterprise systems. The mobile back-end facilitates data routing, security, authentication, authorization, working off-line, and service orchestration. This functionality

430-485: A result, most businesses develop apps for multiple platforms. While developing native apps, professionals incorporate best-in-class user interface modules. This accounts for better performance, consistency and good user experience. Users also benefit from wider access to application programming interfaces and make limitless use of all apps from the particular device. Further, they also switch over from one app to another effortlessly. The main purpose for creating such apps

473-634: A type of digital distribution platforms. The term "app", short for " application ", has since become very popular; in 2010, it was listed as " Word of the Year " by the American Dialect Society . Apps are broadly classified into three types: native apps, hybrid and web apps. Native applications are designed specifically for a mobile operating system, typically iOS or Android. Web apps are written in HTML5 or CSS and typically run through

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516-438: Is app wrapping . But there also are some disadvantages like copyright infringement or the loss of warranty rights. Functionality, productivity and user experience are particularly limited under app wrapping. The policies of a wrapped app can not be changed. If required, it must be recreated from scratch, adding cost. An app wrapper is a mobile app made wholly from an existing website or platform , with few or no changes made to

559-447: Is added to each order, unless a customer has a PC Express Pass subscription. Delivery is provided by Instacart contractors. A rapid delivery option with marked up item costs is also available, which uses DoorDash Dashers to pick and deliver each order. Click and Collect at Loblaws stores began in fall 2014 with a product selection of around 20 thousand items, and had expanded to 60 active locations by June 2016. The first location had

602-472: Is also essential. Mobile UI considers constraints and contexts, screen, input and mobility as outlines for design. The user is often the focus of interaction with their device, and the interface entails components of both hardware and software. User input allows for the users to manipulate a system, and device's output allows the system to indicate the effects of the users' manipulation. Mobile UI design constraints include limited attention and form factors, such as

645-414: Is an alternate approach to security. Rather than controlling an employee/s entire device, containerization apps create isolated pockets separate from personal data. Company control of the device only extends to that separate container. Especially when employees " bring your own device " (BYOD), mobile apps can be a significant security risk for businesses, because they transfer unprotected sensitive data to

688-543: Is available to Loblaw supermarket affiliates. PC Plus launched as a digital loyalty program in May 2013. In January 2017, an Ottawa man was arrested for fraud and money laundering for the redemption of points from stolen PC Plus accounts to purchase gift cards worth hundreds of dollars in value. On February 1, 2018, the PC Plus program merged with Shoppers Drug Mart 's similar Optimum program (Loblaw Companies had previously acquired

731-426: Is meant to off-set the security risk of a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) work strategy. When an employee brings a personal device into an enterprise setting, mobile application management enables the corporate IT staff to transfer required applications, control access to business data, and remove locally cached business data from the device if it is lost, or when its owner no longer works with the company. Containerization

774-928: Is possible to offer native apps securely through enterprise mobility management . This enables more flexible IT management as apps can be easily implemented and policies adjusted at any time. PC Express PC Express is a grocery click and collect & delivery service owned by Canadian retail conglomerate Loblaw Companies . The service began in October 2014 and the company now has over 700 pickup locations and delivers to ~70% of Canadian households. These locations include curbside pickup, self-serve kiosks, refrigerated vans, and Shoppers Drug Mart locations in urban areas. The Loblaw Companies banners participating in PC Express are Dominion , Fortinos , Loblaws , Maxi , No Frills , Provigo , Real Atlantic Superstore , Real Canadian Superstore , Valu-mart , Your Independent Grocer and Zehrs Markets . A service fee of $ 3 to $ 5

817-595: Is possible to spend several hundred dollars in a single grocery transaction and not receive any points at all through the standard loyalty program. Specific credit cards affiliated with Loblaws offer bonus points based on purchases themselves. One such credit card is President's Choice Financial. Announced in November 2017 as a pilot program, PC Insiders is a $ 99 per year (or $ 9.99 per month) pilot program for PC Plus members. The program includes bonus points on diapers, infant formula, PC Organics products, Joe Fresh products, and on

860-453: Is primarily used to distribute "Windows Store apps"—which are primarily built for use on tablets and other touch-based devices (but can still be used with a keyboard and mouse , and on desktop computers and laptops ). Mobile application management (MAM) describes software and services responsible for provisioning and controlling access to internally developed and commercially available mobile apps used in business settings. The strategy

903-747: Is supported by a mix of middleware components including mobile app servers , Mobile Backend as a service (MBaaS), and SOA infrastructure. Conversational interfaces display the computer interface and present interactions through text instead of graphic elements. They emulate conversations with real humans. There are two main types of conversational interfaces: voice assistants (like the Amazon Echo ) and chatbots . Conversational interfaces are growing particularly practical as users are starting to feel overwhelmed with mobile apps (a term known as "app fatigue"). David Limp, Amazon's senior vice president of devices, says in an interview with Bloomberg, "We believe

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946-425: Is to ensure best performance for a specific mobile operating system. A web-based app is implemented with the standard web technologies of HTML , CSS , and JavaScript . Internet access is typically required for proper behavior or being able to use all features compared to offline usage. Most, if not all, user data is stored in the cloud . The performance of these apps is similar to a web application running in

989-524: The Amazon Appstore and F-Droid . Usually, they are downloaded from the platform to a target device, but sometimes they can be downloaded to laptops or desktop computers . Apps can also be installed manually, for example by running an Android application package on Android devices. Some apps are freeware , while others have a price, which can be upfront or a subscription . Some apps also include microtransactions and/or advertising . In any case,

1032-540: The 2017 acquisition of Loblaw's gas station network by Brookfield Business Partners . The partnership officially launched August 2018, with 10 points being awarded for every litre of gas and every dollar spent on other eligible purchases (including car washes and convenience store purchases). In April 2019, Loblaw announced a trial program under which customers can receive free bonus points for opting into online behavioural advertising based on information associated with their PC Optimum accounts. In 2024, an investigation

1075-784: The App Store has 650,000 available apps to download as well as 30 billion apps downloaded from the app store until that date. From an alternative perspective, figures seen in July 2013 by the BBC from tracking service Adeven indicate over two-thirds of apps in the store are "zombies", barely ever installed by consumers. Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) was introduced by Microsoft in 2012 for its Windows 8 and Windows RT platforms. While it can also carry listings for traditional desktop programs certified for compatibility with Windows 8, it

1118-473: The Google Play Store surpassed 50 billion, of the over 1 million apps available. As of September 2016, according to Statista the number of apps available exceeded 2.4 million. Over 80% of apps in the Google Play Store are free to download. The store generated a revenue of 6 billion U.S. dollars in 2015. Apple 's App Store for iOS and iPadOS was not the first app distribution service, but it ignited

1161-454: The Internet without knowledge and consent of the users. Reports of stolen corporate data show how quickly corporate and personal data can fall into the wrong hands. Data theft is not just the loss of confidential information, but makes companies vulnerable to attack and blackmail. Professional mobile application management helps companies protect their data. One option for securing corporate data

1204-478: The Shoppers Drug Mart beauty website. In addition, subscribers receive free order pickup with PC Express , complimentary online shipping, and a PC Travel credit. In December 2018, the program exited its pilot phase and became available to all PC Optimum members. Mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as

1247-601: The app economy creates revenues of more than € 10 billion per year within the European Union, while over 529,000 jobs have been created in 28 EU states due to the growth of the app market. Mobile applications may be classified by numerous methods. A common scheme is to distinguish native , web-based, and hybrid apps. All apps targeted toward a particular mobile platform are known as native apps. Therefore, an app intended for Apple device does not run in Android devices. As

1290-472: The chain) to form PC Optimum . Users were instructed to transition their existing PC Plus and Optimum accounts online or do so in person and exchange their cards at Loblaw grocery or Shoppers Drug Mart locations. There were also several technical issues on-launch, including errors when creating an account on the PC Optimum app, the PC Optimum website being down for several hours, stores not giving out new cards, as well as some users' points not being transferred to

1333-557: The day. Mobile apps are playing an ever-increasing role within healthcare and when designed and integrated correctly can yield many benefits. Market research firm Gartner predicted that 102 billion apps would be downloaded in 2013 (91% of them free), which would generate $ 26 billion in the US, up 44.4% on 2012's US$ 18 billion. By Q2 2015, the Google Play and Apple stores alone generated $ 5 billion. An analyst report estimates that

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1376-446: The dollar value of all purchases placed on the card through any retailer. The rate of point acquisition varies depending on which credit card is used, and whether or not the purchase made was at a Loblaw-affiliated store. For example, if a purchase was made at a participating Loblaw affiliate, then the stated rate is 10 points for every dollar spent on a PC Mastercard, 20 points per dollar on a PC World Mastercard and 30 points per dollar on

1419-483: The explosion in number and variety of apps made discovery a challenge, which in turn led to the creation of a wide range of review, recommendation, and curation sources, including blogs, magazines, and dedicated online app-discovery services. In 2014 government regulatory agencies began trying to regulate and curate apps, particularly medical apps. Some companies offer apps as an alternative method to deliver content with certain advantages over an official website . With

1462-425: The mobile revolution and was opened on July 10, 2008, and as of September 2016, reported over 140 billion downloads. The original AppStore was first demonstrated to Steve Jobs in 1993 by Jesse Tayler at NeXTWorld Expo As of June 6, 2011, there were 425,000 apps available, which had been downloaded by 200 million iOS users. During Apple's 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference , CEO Tim Cook announced that

1505-515: The new service correctly. Loblaw acknowledged these difficulties, stating that they were aware "that the transition has not been smooth for some", and were working with customers to rectify them. As was the case before, only Shoppers Drug Mart locations will offer base points on purchases, at 15 points per dollar spent. Several glitches and errors were related to the launch of the PC Optimum program; such as difficulty in merging points, missing and stolen points, and several technical issues. According to

1548-468: The next big platform is voice." The three biggest app stores are Google Play for Android , App Store for iOS , and Microsoft Store for Windows 10 , Windows 10 Mobile , and Xbox One . Google Play (formerly known as the Android Market) is an international online software store developed by Google for Android devices. It opened in October 2008. In July 2013, the number of apps downloaded via

1591-472: The platforms (although these issues can be overcome with mobile device detection). Mobile application development requires the use of specialized integrated development environments . Mobile apps are first tested within the development environment using emulators and later subjected to field testing. Emulators provide an inexpensive way to test applications on mobile phones to which developers may not have physical access. Mobile user interface (UI) Design

1634-402: The program to over 700 locations by year end. In February 2018, Loblaw Companies signed a partnership with Metrolinx to begin offering grocery pick-up at some GO Transit stations in the greater Toronto area. In November 2018, Loblaws began testing a self-checkout like feature in the PC Express mobile app at five of its Ontario stores, allowing customers to scan items as they shop and pay at

1677-537: The revenue is usually split between the application's creator and the app store. The same app can, therefore, cost a different price depending on the mobile platform. Mobile apps were originally offered for general productivity and information retrieval, including email, calendar , contacts, the stock market and weather information. However, public demand and the availability of developer tools drove rapid expansion into other categories, such as those handled by desktop application software packages. As with other software,

1720-510: The same look-and-feel in different mobile operating systems. Developing apps for mobile devices requires considering the constraints and features of these devices. Mobile devices run on battery and have less powerful processors than personal computers and also have more features such as location detection and cameras. Developers also have to consider a wide array of screen sizes, hardware specifications and configurations because of intense competition in mobile software and changes within each of

1763-540: The software does not allow this, some devices can be rooted to eliminate the undesired apps. Apps that are not preinstalled are usually available through distribution platforms called app stores . These may operated by the owner of the device's mobile operating system , such as the App Store or Google Play Store ; by the device manufacturers, such as the Galaxy Store and Huawei AppGallery ; or by third parties, such as

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1806-473: The underlying application. The "wrapper" is essentially a new management layer that allows developers to set up usage policies appropriate for app use. Examples of these policies include whether or not authentication is required, allowing data to be stored on the device, and enabling/disabling file sharing between users. Because most app wrappers are often websites first, they often do not align with iOS or Android Developer guidelines. Alternatively, it

1849-525: Was launched by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in regards to the ability to delete PC Optimum accounts. Customers earn points for purchasing specific weekly "loaded offers" (which are managed from the PC Optimum website and mobile app ) based on purchasing habits, or through in-store promotions tied to specific purchases or coupons. PC Financial credit card users also earn points based on

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