With many supermarkets having raced to the bottom of the value proposition, they are increasingly relying on alternative ways of persuading consumers through their doors to win that all important share of wallet.
And amongst the product differentiations and brand nuances, customer experience is more important than ever. Technology, therefore, is playing an increasingly important role where it is able to improve the shopping experience. We’ve written about many supermarket innovations, and were interested to see this latest move from technology-loving South Korea. Grocery giant E-Mart has developed a new solution to help shoppers accurately find their way around its massive stores using some smart technology. Their downloadable app uses the smartphone’s lens to detect LED light signals, which give it precise location data. It’s being called ‘sat nav’ for shopping, directing people to products and sale items with incredible efficiency. [Watch].
It’s a big step forward in the technology used for internal store mapping, and integration with shopper data could make it a powerful sales and recommendation tool. While supermarket giants battle their way into the unknown, many other brick & mortar retailers (and online retailers keen to expand offline) will have a firm eye on their innovations. They could be decisive.
