Supermarket ad trials: your shopping trolley knows what you want
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday September 17, 2009
ADS delivered to supermarket trolleys based on a shopper's in-store behaviour and purchasing history are set to go live within the next six months €“ a move that could quite literally take the thinking out of shopping.A trial of the technology will begin in two supermarkets in November. Several advertisers have signed up to have their messages beamed to small screens on trolleys as shoppers move around stores.Media Cart trolleys are fitted with a GPS navigation system that alerts the store's database when a shopper moves into a particular area and triggers a relevant ad.A milk ad, for example, could be beamed to the screen as a trolley moves into the store's chilled dairy area. Alternatively, as soon as a product is put through the trolley's self-scanner, an ad for a rival product could be shown.The system also has the ability to read and deliver shopping lists by inserting a loyalty card which will also tell the customer in which order to visit the aisles.Media Cart's managing director, Brian Paterson, said that during an average 25-minute shop customers could expect about eight minutes of ads, each one no more than 10 seconds long.He said in US trials store sales rose by 10 per cent and sales of featured products rose by 30 to 40 per cent.Apart from the coffee maker Lavazza, he would not divulge the names of the eight companies participating in the six-month trial other than to say a soft drink company and breakfast cereal manufacturer were among them."There is no other media that can show an ad to a shopper and then record if they buy that product," Mr Paterson said.Media Cart has signed a deal with a research company, TNS, to analyse the data from the 50 to 100 trolleys that will operate in the Super IGA stores at Doonside and in Hawker in the ACT.TNS's director, Chris Kirby, said the data could show suppliers what ad types work best.Media Cart also talked to Coles and Woolworths but they were waiting to see the trial results.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
Share This