A New Way To Shop!

The internet is all around us and is changing our world everyday.  One of the biggest changes I see is the way people shop.  We have all heard of the death of the Big Box retailer with chains such as Blockbuster and Rogers video closing, as well as the announcement by electronics retailer Best Buy closing 65 stores.  Well no wonder, check out this video from Home Plus, a South Korean discount retail chain jointly owned by Samsung and British grocery chain Tesco.

The supermarket opened a virtual grocery store in a south korea subway station, permitting users to shop using their smartphones. A large, wall-length billboard was installed in the station, designed to look like a series of supermarket shelves displaying images and prices of a range of common products. Each sign also includes a QR code that users scan any product they would like to purchase, thereby adding it to their online shopping cart. After the web transaction is completed, the products are delivered to the user's home within the day.

The strategy makes productive use of commuters' waiting time, while simultaneously saving shoppers time spent going to the supermarket. Whether you think it's stupid or not, it's an obviously ingenious marketing ploy that actually WORKS.  The chains online sales have increased 130%.