In South Korea, a chain of grocery stores has put up interactive billboards that display their shelves with Qr codes printed on the image of the products. Once a shopper has the company's app on their phone, they just take a picture of the qr code of the items they would like to have shipped to their home. After the order is confirmed and payment clears, the central warehouse gathers the items together, packs them up, and readies them for shipping.
I would love this here! I wouldn't have to dodge the spill on isle three any longer. I may have to step over a sleeping homeless person to get my case of chocolate margarine*, but it's so worth it to not have to feel that weird that comes from under all of those florescent lights. Wasting time on price checks will be a historical memory. No need to tip the bagger, as he'll never see your face.
As much as I loathe the grocery shopping experience, I agree that there would be some things that I would miss. The grocery store is known as a meat market for way more than the selection of beef cuts they offer. I don't think it'd be the same at a billboard. Trading glances at an interactive billboard just wouldn't feel the same as the dance of courtship played out in local stores. First of all, the sexy walk of pushing the cart past is replaced by a bending, stooping, or squatting to take a pic. Those may be dance moves at a strip club, but I prefer the drawn out mystery of the isle waltz.
Spoiled goods and getting the wrong item would seem to be too much hassle for what it's worth. Nothing like salivating over a meal that's been planned to see that the meat and veggies has gone bad. Or reaching for the mustard, and grabbing mayo. The amount of rage felt when knowing you have to go to a store anyway and have to put off eating how it should be.
Overall, the convenience of this type of virtual market wins me over. The future seems faster and a little more yummy.
*choco-margarine shouldn't exist.
