Microsoft is looking to revolutionize the way grocery stores are able to communicate with their shoppers. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is rolling out MediaCart consoles later this year that will let grocery stores send advertisements to consumers depending on where they are located in their stores.The basic concept behind the new MediaCart consoles is that users are able to log into a website from their home, enter a shopping list, and have that list waiting for them on a shopping cart when they get to the store. The first of these mediacarts will be in ShopRite supermarkets on the East Coast later this year. For shoppers that have a ShopRite loyalty card, they will be able to get online at home and enter their shopping lists. Once they hit the stores, they will then be able to swipe their cards into the MediaCart, and their list will magically appear.
The carts will be able to keep track of items as they are gathered and will even keep track of the consumer's running bill as well as give them the option to pay for their merchandise without having to wait in the checkout line. I'm not really sure how this would work with weighed items such as produce, but I'm sure Microsoft has thought of this as well.
Where it gets really interesting is that the carts will use radio-frequency identification to keep track of where the cart is located inside the store. With this knowledge, the console will be able to serve up advertisements to shoppers based on their location. Pretty nice idea I think. Suppose you are walking down the salad dressing aisle... the device could show you advertisements of which brands are on sale.
MediaCart will also be able to store consumers' past purchases in order to send them targeted advertisements the next time that they go shopping.
We are definitely a culture that is submerged in advertisements. Everywhere you look you are hit with ads... television, radio, websites, billboards... everywhere. I guess it only makes sense that our shopping carts should join the list of advertising outlets. After all, you can't find a much more targeted group of shoppers to serve up a milk ad to than one presently standing in front of the grocery store cooler.
[photo : yananine]
Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-16-2008 @ 4:27AM
Ryan said...
This is such a good example of why MSFT can keep growing while it's already a huge company. They innovate. Their valuation is still lower than a lot of tech, so they may get more buying from value funds that consider RIMM GOOG and AAPL too expensive on a P/E basis.
I am posting my trading thoughts on MSFT here
concisetrading.blogspot.com
much love,
Ryan
1-16-2008 @ 9:28PM
Patricia Williams said...
I think this is a phenomenal idea! I think this would go over well in many grocery stores. I also think they should go even further by having a way to show a healthy way we could use certain items we put on our grocery list, and things they recommend as we shop. For me, that would definitely help me out, and maybe even make my grocery shopping more enjoyable and a learning opportunity. So once again, I say that this is a great idea.
1-16-2008 @ 9:56PM
Kati said...
Hate the idea! Our store has tv screens all over the store and start advertising out loud when you walk by - At first I think someone is talking to me but it's an ad. All I need when I'm trying to shop is someone telling me what to buy.
1-16-2008 @ 11:05PM
Joreatha said...
Well its about time. Now, we need for those carts to also add to Web site grocery orders with much needed improvement, isn't THAT right ALBERTSONS?
1-16-2008 @ 11:41PM
Bonniej8 said...
This would be really great for handicapped people, to be able to shop from home and have their order delivered. I live in a small town and haven't been in the grocery store for 3 or 4 years. I can't walk all the way through the store and I definitely can't manuever carts around the corners. Afraid I'm dreaming - it will never get to small town America in my lifetime. Hope I'm wrong!
Bonnie Clark
Decatur, MI
1-17-2008 @ 12:14AM
natalie m said...
As if Americans aren't on auto-pilot enough as it is. The only thing these "advancements" in technology produce, are distractions from our lives. We may think they make basic tasks easier yet what they are really doing is making us think less. People who use these will end up like zombies which will make them weak to advertising resulting in poor decision making. Furthermore, don't we see enough ads as it is when were NOT shopping.
1-17-2008 @ 6:15AM
Grnwytch32 said...
Obviously, you've never forgotten your grocery list at home?
1-17-2008 @ 12:55AM
sasha said...
This is just what every mother in America needs. Another distraction so that she can ram the grocery cart right up my ass. As if the cart full of screaming kids and cell phone isn't enough, now she can have her attention focused on this. This will also be another excuse for them to park in the middle of the aisle while looking at something and be totally unaware of those around her that would like to get by. That is if her brat kids do not break the media screen first. Because she sure wont do anything to reprimand them while they do it. She will just stand there and act oblivious.
1-17-2008 @ 1:55AM
theladyk said...
What are you?...A child hater?...Get real and get a life w/ LOTS of children in it~
1-17-2008 @ 1:47AM
jen said...
I would like to try it out. It would be great to be able to leave a hard copy list at home and have one that will keep my total too! My only question is with so many different brands and prices of the same basic item, how will it know what you have?
1-17-2008 @ 1:56AM
theladyk said...
What are you?...A child hater?...Get real and get a life w/ lots CHILDREN in it~
1-17-2008 @ 2:31AM
Re Wes said...
thank you ladyk for responding to someone who sounds as immature as the children she is against.
1-17-2008 @ 3:04AM
Wolfster said...
I like the idea of yet more obnoxious ads blaring at you. It will help me decide what products NOT to buy. >:)
1-17-2008 @ 3:37AM
linda said...
i think it may be a good idea if it's not too noisy, because with all the kids screaming for what they want in there, it would be a real headache if it was too loud. also, i really don't want any computer to know, or tell the world what i buy every time i go there. make your own grocery list up, and scan it into your computer your whole list like i did at realsimple.com, and all you have to do is print it up and mark on it what you need that day. it's noones business what you buy at the store. it's bad enough that the credit card companies know everything we buy.
1-17-2008 @ 3:53AM
Julie Clark said...
I am disabled, and I think all grocery stores should provide online shopping for us handicapped people. The handicapped carts they have in some grocery stores are just too small for all items I need. Plus most stores don't have enough of those carts. I would love to have home delivery. I used to have it with Albertson's in San Jose, but they stopped that service. Don't know why. It would be a big hit here, lots of elderly and disabled people here in this small town. Only two grocery stores, and I would prefer Stater Bros. to be able to have the ability to shop online and have them deliver it. I already do a LOT of online shopping for UPS delivery of non-food items, but would just be tickled pink to be able to shop for food online and have it delivered.
1-17-2008 @ 4:22AM
shopithere said...
Delivery is the way
1-17-2008 @ 4:30AM
pjbunch1951 said...
cool idea. how much will that cost in the grocery total? have hard time buying now.
1-17-2008 @ 5:05AM
karen said...
To Bonnie and others who would like to grocery shop from home - here on the east coast, Stop and Shop's Peapod has grocery shopping online from a menu and then home delivery of the items. It works very well, with only a few drawbacks. Shop-Rite has this service as well, but the way they set it up is not as convenient. Also Shop-Rite has an online menu from which you can select your groceries to have them ready to be picked up in the store. I don't understand why it would be an improvement to have only a list waiting for you there - the only benefit would be to SR who would provide ads along with the list.
1-18-2008 @ 4:36PM
Docc Occ said...
I am loving the idea. Man it just makes so much sense.
1-18-2008 @ 5:14PM
Megan said...
Re: pjbunch1951 said...
cool idea. how much will that cost in the grocery total? have hard time buying now.
Probably nothing, as it's ad-supported. The coolness factor to the consumer has nothing to do with ads, it's the fact that you can swipe a card and see your grocery list prominently displayed on the screen (not on a little slip of paper that keeps getting lost under the wheels), probably organized an way that makes sense with the grocery store layout. I can't imagine how much time this will save in the store.
And to natalie m who thinks we'll all turn into a bunch of mindless over-spenders, people are MUCH more likely to over-spend by adding impulse purchases to the cart when they're walking through the aisles. Working from a list curbs this tendancy, as does the running dollar total on the machine (though if I were a grocery store exec, I can't imagine allowing that feature).
To all you ad haters out there, the ads are secondary to what in my opinion is a great innovation... it's just a way to keep the thing free (and let me know that I can save 50 cents on a gallon of milk).