Your typical shopping cart is about to get a lot more high tech, allowing marketers, as well as participating retailers to advertise while the consumer shops. King City, Ont.’s Springboard Retail Networks (springboardnetworks.com)is launching the Concierge Electronic Shopping System in the fall.
The device, to be put on shopping cart handles in grocery stores cross-country (so far the company has signed one major chain), will provide ultra-targeted dynamic ad opps and allow retailers to display in-store specials through its wireless web portal.
Consumers will be able to create online profiles at home, upload grocery lists, then log onto the touchscreen system at the store and proceed to scan products, view a running subtotal and look up in-store product locations. The system draws on profile information and past purchases to display relevant ads for products available in-store.
Ads can also be triggered based on wireless tracking software, so if a customer is going down aisle three after scanning a bag of tortilla chips, a promo for salsa could appear. There will be dedicated ad space on the screens so consumers won’t have to contend with annoying pop-ups.
‘The ads will be targeted – it becomes your concierge,’ says Michael Alexandor, Springboard’s CMO (formerly of Unilever). Ad rates will start off at $10-$30 CPM, and go up as the system becomes more established and grows its database of consumer info.
He says the main benefit to consumers is to get them out of the store more quickly, without forgetting anything. Explains Alexandor: ‘This will be a huge timesaver.’ It can also map out the most time-efficient in-store route based on the consumer’s shopping list, and it will eventually be able to incorporate self-checkout capabilities to help impatient shoppers bypass long lines at the cashier.
Also, it will help retailers get a leg up in the constant battle for same-store sales growth by allowing them to advertise in-store specials, acquire data about consumer behaviour, and provide a better retail experience by giving consumers their own little digital helpers.
