Saturday, December 11, 2010

Brick and Mortar without the Register

So, this afternoon, I had my first experience with a sort of shopping that's been written about for years. I went into a store, picked up the items I wanted to buy, and scanned the barcodes using the camera on my phone. When I was finished, I used my phone to pay by credit card, and walked out without visiting the register.

Well, that's how it was supposed to work, and for the most part, it did. There were a few glitches: some items were not in the database of the application, and so couldn't be purchased using the app. Entering in my credit card and account information took two tries and about 5 minutes. But, all in all, it's something I would like to try again, and see in more places.

This app was available at Magic Beans stores, and can be downloaded for iPhones and Android
(Magic Beans app). There were a couple of reps from the software company on hand, who were very helpful, and explained that the database was incomplete because the app had been backloaded with the store's stock before launch, and newer items were taking some time to get into the system.

I like shopping in the brick and mortar stores, getting the tactile experience of holding the items, but waiting in line, especially at holiday time, can be a chore. So this is a nice app that I will try again, now that the initial setup has been done. I'd like to see if they could link the phone app to the online store, so that I could shop for someone else, pay for the item while I'm in the store, and have the gift automatically shipped to someone else. Or maybe link in to a video chat, so that I could check in with my wife or brother before buying something for the kids. Hey, while we're at it, why not link to Facebook, and see what my friends recommend?

For a long time, I've been reading about the RFID future, where everything in your shopping cart would be scanned as you walked out the doors, and your account would be charged accordingly. They tried it in Germany back in 2007 (see this PC World article). Stop and Shop has their SCAN IT! system, which I've tried. I'm still looking forward to the day when my fridge and cabinets can keep track of what is inside them, and link up with the Food Network site to suggest recipes based on the ingredients I already have, or generate automatic shopping lists once I choose a menu. When I can do that, and then easily pay for my groceries using my phone, I will be a happy camper.