The coolest part though, is that if a shopper walks into the store to pick up a purchase that they made using the downloadable Apple Store App’s Personal Pickup feature, the staff is alerted when they arrive in the store for pick up without the shopper having to do anything. It even tells them the location of the customer. The goal is that the person walks in, and a store employee walks up to them with their stuff.

That actually sounds pretty darn cool. It would be great to walk into a crowded Apple Store and have them bring you your stuff rather than having to wait in line or find someone free on the floor. Are apps like this cool in your mind or too “big brother?”

[via NYT]

The management firm had antennas and software installed from a company called Footpath Technology. The software allows the malls to see the path that shoppers take through the mall using triangulation of the unique device ID of the mobile phones most of us carry. The reason for the tracking is to see how people flow through the mall to help optimize retail space and merchandising.

The malls say that nothing personal is tracked about the user. The tech claims to not be able to capture phone numbers, texts, or calls. I still think most people won’t like this at all. That said, malls have been using similar tactics using video cameras for quite some time now.

[via CNN via PhysOrg]

This system is currently being used in one of Vanquish’s men’s stores in Shibuya in Tokyo. There are a bunch of LCD displays located at the top of the clothing rack. Whenever you remove clothes, it will burst to life and give you information, while at the same time suggesting other matching accessories.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

This is definitely a more subtle way of trying to upsell wares, but honestly I still prefer a human over some LCD screen. Still, for some goods it might work well, since it’s a novel approach to shopping.

[via Japan Trends via Ubergizmo]

The system works like this: Images of numerous items are postered on walls in the subway station, merchandized just like they are at the physical store. Each image is accompanied by a QR code of the products. Users shop the “aisles” of the subway store, selecting items with their smartphone camera. Once all items are picked, quantities selected, and placed in the electronic cart, shoppers simply check out, and shortly after they get home from their train ride, the items are delivered to their homes.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Clever, no? It’s sort of like a new spin on a service like Peapod, or the long-defunct, but much-beloved Kozmo. The whole instant gratification delivery model has always intrigued me as a consumer, but as Kozmo proved, it’s also costly to operate at a profit.

Still, with one-in-five South Koreans owning a smartphone, and not all of them living near one of the few Tesco Home plus stores, this is a great opportunity for them to expand their market, and for consumer convenience. I can’t tell you how much time I’ve wasted waiting for the train to arrive, and wishing I could use the time more productively. I hope to see something like this here in the U.S. sometime soon.

[via KoreAm via My Modern Met]

This project was led by Dr. Michael Beets and Dr. Bernd Radig, part of a team or researchers in the IAS group at Germany’s Technical University in Munich. The robots they created actually go shopping and prepare a traditional Bavarian breakfast. Two robots were created for this project, TUM-James and TUM-Rosie. TUM-James takes care of the shopping while TUM-Rosie does the cooking. TUM-Rosie can boil sausages, skim them out and serve them. TUM-James can cut some baguettes for you. These ‘bots learn from doing, so sure enough, we’ll have Skynet (or a robotic Denny’s) on our hands soon.

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The ‘bots use MS Kinect sensors as their vision, and the robots can make logical decisions when handling materials that they are unfamiliar with. Hopefully, at some point, they’ll be making a fruit salad or some eggs to go with the sausages.

[IEEE Spectrum via Designboom]

The Wi-GO shopping cart is designed to make it easier for the disabled, elderly as well as pregnant women to be able to shop independently, i.e. without the aid of other people. It tags a person to follow around, maintaining just the right distance to avoid bumping into the user but still within arm’s reach. I guess that’s a huge part of being disabled – it’s not that the difficulty of the task itself but the thought of being dependent or helpless that hurts. Watch the video to see the hack in action (the good part starts around 1:20).

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I’m sure this technology will take off because of the convenience it offers not just for those with special needs but to the rest of us lazy shoppers as well. I just hope it doesn’t get twisted derivatives, like I don’t know, automatic baby strollers.

[via Hack A Day]

ENON was exhibited at CEATEC in Japan last year. Ever since then, the robot has been selling well. The robot can be used as an information terminal, for entertainment purposes, patrolling, and general assistance.

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Last weekend, ENON was seen in a shopping mall in Osaka. It spent the entire time interacting with customers. It’s equipped with a camera and face recognition software, allowing it to detect a human’s age and gender.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

ENON can also speak and move around, so it’s one particular store clerk that you won’t easily forget! During the test, ENON was able to entice different customers into going into stores, depending on their age and gender.

On top of that, ENON can use either a male of female voice to appeal to different customers. I wonder if we’ll be seeing a ‘bot like this Stateside. Here, it would probably be used to sell pre-paid cards, hand out flyers for hot dogs or try and sell you an extended warranty on your gadget purchases.

[via CrunchGear]

What actually surprises me even more is that it’s currently being tested in Kyoto, Japan. It’s part of a wave of new technology helping you do your groceries. It’s part of a form of retail assistance, that uses a network of sensors and wireless devices.

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It’s shown here helping the elderly in doing their grocery rounds. It’s part of a whole process, which starts at home. The user enters their shopping list into a special mobile device. When the shopper arrives at the store, the robot will sense this device and greet the shopper. Then, the robot will help the shopper around the store, carrying the grocery load, and reminding the user of any items that were forgotten. It can also recommend further items. For now, it’s in testing in the Apita-Seikadai supermarket in Kyoto, Japan, until next March.

[via PopSci]

The little shopping bag clocks are sold under the brand name “innocent” and come in four stylish color combinations. My personal favorite is the Dreamsicle-inspired orange and white combo. It makes me not only want to shop, but makes me hungry for something sweet too.

You can find the shopping bag clocks online at AssistOn for ¥3675 (about $32 USD.)

The Concierge system provides shoppers with a wireless, touchscreen computer which can provide interactive advertising and other content to shoppers. The system can be set up to automatically display relevant products after scanning a bar-coded frequent shopper card. It can also scan products in the cart, letting shoppers keep track of their shopping list and their current cart total. The Concierge can also be set up to allow for self-checkout in your cart, and can be outfitted with a wireless credit/debit card reader to facilitate purchases without waiting in line. Other features include an live product search, store directory and a recipe database.

Each cart runs on an embedded version of Windows CE, with 802.11g WiFi connectivity, 2GB of Flash memory and a 500 MHz MIPS CPU. The Concierge was developed by Springboard, an IT company focused on marketing products and information systems for retail.

[via GeekSugar]