The World’s First Virtual Supermarket: Life Just Got Easier

I’ve been waiting for this to happen, and it finally has. If you think about it, doesn’t it seem inefficient for supermarkets to store their groceries in several different stores around town? Doesn’t it seem like they could save a lot of money, and more importantly, save a ton of energy and be more environmentally friendly if they stored everything in one central location? How would people in different parts of town still be able to shop conveniently though? Well, through barcodes of course! The world’s very first virtual grocery store opened this summer in Korea. This isn’t an online supermarket, which we’ve seen before, but it’s an actual store location where customers can purchase virtual items.

Shoppers see the items on the shelves as if they were in a grocery store. If they want to purchase them, they simply scan the barcode with their smartphone (after downloading the app) and the item is placed in their online shopping cart. Once they’ve paid, they simply drive home and the items they bought are delivered to them right away. They can even schedule a later delivery if they aren’t going straight home. If you’ve purchased a product in the past and you simply want to order it again, you don’t have to physically visit the virtual store. You can just go into your smartphone app and order it via the product’s barcode. The video below which explains it all is brilliant.

If we had one of these stores in Atlanta, I would shop there every week. Just think, no more pushing a heavy cart, emptying that cart at the register, loading up the car or unloading the car…. All of those things would become inconveniences of the past. I’d be able to tell my grandchildren, “Back in the old days, we had to actually load what was called a grocery shopping cart with the foods we wanted to buy. We had to make several trips back and forth to the car to get it all in our house when we got home.” It’s interesting how things progress, isn’t it?

Via: [Amusing Planet]