Some of you will remember seeing the design team from IDEO building a futuristic shopping cart when you did MBM Academy. (If you have forgotten, or would like to see their design just follow this link)
It seems a store in Boston, Stop and Shop, (CBS News) is bringing the shopping experience into the 21st Century. The Shopping Buddy, attached to each shopping cart in the store, knows exactly where you are in the store, keeps track of everything you have bought so far, and displays a running total of how much it all costs. Stuck for dinner ideas - Shopping Buddy provides a selection of recipes and then email you if you see something you would like to try.
From the article, "Everything's changed in the grocery game since Wal-Mart muscled in and quickly became the biggest in the business. Supermarkets quickly learned that, since it's almost impossible to compete on price, they better have something else to sell. And surveys have shown almost half of us are willing to pay more for a more pleasant trip down the aisles."
This is a great example of businesses competing on things besides price in an area (groceries) traditionally thought of as a commodity industry.
Great story about a grocery store being a price seeker. It will be interesting to see how quickly the advantage from this innovation is competed away by other players in the market. A key part of capturing value creating innovations is to build barriers to entry. I wonder how soon we will see "The Shopping Buddy" or a similar shopping cart in our local Wal Mart Supercenter?
Posted by: Dick Anderson | 17 June 2005 at 11:37 AM
It's only a matter of time before cell phones are offered free to the consumer with subscriptions to sales and bluelight specials bleeping up on the little screen at regular intervals, targeted demographically to the end user matched with their purchasing habits.
...and the beat goes on
Posted by: Cash Wakefield | 17 June 2005 at 05:39 PM
Was lookin' for this... I might even
have to throw down a bookmark.
Nickster
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Apple Iphone Mobile Phone
Posted by: nerihinetal | 21 October 2007 at 08:00 PM