Tesco ditches the trolley for QR codes at Home Plus supermarket
South Korean customers can scan advertisements to order groceries
By Chris Brandrick | PC World | Published: 10:56, 12 July 2011
Global grocery retailer Tesco has been testing a new virtual way to shop, making use of the increasingly popular QR code. Their experiment allowed South Korean customers to shop at Tesco's Home Plus supermarket, without the need for them to actually enter any store at all.
The alternative shopping experience lets commuters on a South Korean underground train use their smartphone to grab a range of everyday groceries. A wall in an underground station was decorated with a range of images, all showing food, drink and other daily essentials.
All "shoppers" (if you want to call them that) had to do was scan a QR code of a desired product, and it was instantly added to their virtual shopping basket, ready for home delivery.
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As the above video shows, Tesco sees its move into the "virtual" shopping space as a way for the company to get more customers without having to build more brick and mortar stores.
It's a clever and very visually engaging idea, and one things for sure: all those travelling on the subway will have time to kill whilst waiting for their train, so why not get the weekly grocery shopping done while you're waiting?
