“The MediaCartâ„¢ system helps shoppers save time and money by being more in control of their shopping trip. Shoppers can locate products in the store; check prices; view store specials, shopping lists, recipes, and nutritional information; and scan products at their cart”.
I’ve been using MediaCart’s shopping carts for a couple of months already at ShopRite in Parsippany, New Jersey. At the store’s entrance you can still choose between picking up a regular shopping cart or a newer and enhanced MediaCart, which features a bar code scanner and a computer screen as seen in these pictures below.
I suggest watching the following video to better understand its capabilities:
This other one showcases Fujitsu’s version, adding a mobile phone:
Note that not all of the MediaCart features have been implemented at the store I am currently shopping at. While I was able to get product listings, information and multimedia ads on the spot, the automatic checkout system has not been deployed at that location. So, every single item still needs to be manually scanned.
On a couple of occasions, MediaCart’s greeters told me that these new carts happen to be equipped with GPS. I guess that was their way of implying that this is a location sensitive system. MediaCarts incorporate RFID technology instead, since GPS would not be able to deliver aisle level accuracy. Nonetheless, that anecdote reminded me about a couple of other interesting things related to location services, which at some point might end up being part of your grocery shopping experience.
For instance, at the bottom of the above collage you can also see an orange like picture of NearbyNow’s poster at the Fox Valley Shopping Center in Aurora, IL. This one is encouraging shoppers to use their mobile phones: when sending a text query (SMS) for a brand, product or sale, in exchange you get text messages with relevant information such as current promotions and discounts. Also this past summer, when enjoying the Harry Potter’s festivities in downtown Naperville, IL, we were handed paper bookmarks with directions to download Electronic Arts’ mobile game (over-the-air download), which also required sending a simple SMS to begin with.
In case you wondered about the poster that reads ”Stingray Bay Hotline” in my collage, that’s actually a picture I took this past summer at the Brookfield Zoo when patiently waiting to see the stingrays in a slow moving line. So, I called that number (+1 708 688 8954) with my mobile and got to hear a voice recording with additional information. Furthermore, callers were encouraged to share their own experiences by leaving their own comments after visiting that exhibit. Let’s connect the dots as far as what all of these could mean to our newly enhanced shopping experiences:
“[The] SplashShopper application (…) serves as an organizer for shopping-related items such as gift lists, grocery needs and DVD rentals”. The $30 downloadable application includes a synch-able desktop version and allows users to share lists with others”.
“Consumers should expect a flood of location-aware shopping applications, though, as more GPS-enabled phones hit the mass market. GPShopper is hoping to integrate such technology into its free Slifter application, which couples shopping information with community features. The service includes product images and maps to nearby stores, and users can text products to friends to create a kind of wish list”.
Mobile phones have gone even further. As an example, the following two videos talk about interfacing with vending machines and checkouts to save you from having to carry any cash or credit cards. There are a few alternative technologies facilitating this kind of shopping experience:
So far, the upper part of this post deals with what we might like to call “shopping on location“, which translates into an enhanced consumer experience. I could go on talking about shelf-checkout (e.g. Home Depot, Walmart), fingerprint payment (e.g. Jewel/Osco), electronic payments, so on and so forth; but I think MetroGroup’s videos already do an ok job at delivering the vision:
Switching tracks, the following focuses on “remote grocery shopping” from any connected PC. Peapod serves both perishable and non perishable products while Amazon will just ship the latter. Peapod has been in business for some years already. Most of their customers appear to be dual income couples or families, average basket size is $150 and regular users tend to shop at least twice a month:
“With more than 10,000 products for shoppers to choose from, Peapod boasts not just the expected selection of grocery basics, but also farm-fresh produce; restaurant-quality meats and seafood; diverse prepared foods and party trays; deli meats and cheeses (sliced to order); Kosher, organic and specialty foods; a vast selection of produce; a variety of beer, wine and beverages (in select markets); pet supplies; videos; office and school supplies and private label products from supermarket partners Stop & Shop and Giant”.
“We offer more than 22,000 non-perishable grocery items–and our selection is growing every day. We can ship all products for free, via Super Saver Shipping, Amazon Prime, or free standard shipping. We have great everyday prices plus special offers on your favorite brands. We make it exceptionally easy to find products you buy routinely, or to discover new items we think you’ll like”.
This would be the right time to talk about “virtual shopping carts” and the role of recommendation and personalization agents, but I’m thinking of making that the subject of another post. In the meantime, I would suggest having quick look at ”My Adidas Innovation Center” and “The emerging bargaining power of crowdclouts” to better understand where we might be headed.
As usual, I will welcome your comments and emails on any of these subjects.
Chicago, 28 October 07 
