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No Shelf Supermarket

Alternative for those who don't like "on-line" shopping
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(+4, -1)
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This Supermarket, looks much like any other, it has aisles, and checkouts, but no produce. Instead the shelves are replaced with large screens, which give the image of shelves laden with your normal Supermarket produce. Just reach out and touch the image of a tin of beans, the display then shows, price, ingredients and nutritional information, then all you need do is touch the buy button. The neat thing is that although you still walk up and down the aisles, the "virtual" shelves are only a few centimetres thick, you don't need to push a trolley laden with goods, and of course no one can tamper with the products either. When you get to the checkout, all your goods have been packed in the warehouse and placed in a trolly, ready for you to trundle across the car park. So this Supermarket is a great bonus for those who don't want the hassle of barging around a Supermarket with a bulging trolley of stuff, but who still like the social aspects of the "shopping experience".
Micky Dread, Nov 11 2003

Wall Supermarket [pashute, Aug 02 2015]


       Damn croissant sign is broken. I keep pressing it, but all it will sell me is one.
Worldgineer, Nov 11 2003

       that thoundth 'uber (markt)   

seedy em, Nov 11 2003

       Me like, me like!
fullybaked, Nov 11 2003

       This is similar to convenience stores in the 1920's and before, when every item in the store was on display behind the counter and you would tell the clerk what you needed.   

       I like this idea because people wouldn't know how much they have bought, and as a result, would buy more groceries than usual.
Condiment, Nov 11 2003

       I can see it now, when I get to the checkout and my three year old son (if I had one) would have been bashing away at the screen feverously and I would have an extra 85 Twix bars, 15 Action Men, and 26 tubs of Ice Cream...   

       But if the place was kiddy free, and dereft of the elderly blocking isles.. I would be there.. cwasoiiint..
Supercruiser, Nov 11 2003

       i like it, reminds me of a store we had but which is now closed - service merchandise. they had a catalog, and you could come to the store as well, but they only displayed one of each item. then you had to fill out a form or type into a terminal and they got everything from the back (wharehouse) for you and it appeared on a long conveyor belt.
hlfbkr23, Nov 11 2003

       This would be nice for food in boxes, bottles, cans and jars; but for fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and baked goods I like to be able to select individual items.
AO, Nov 11 2003

       I would pay good money for a grocery store that provided the items on my shopping list to me by the time I got there to pick it up ... online ordering available ... stuff like that ... i'm all about it [+]
Letsbuildafort, Nov 11 2003

       I enjoyed using WebVan (while they existed) for my shopping needs when I just didn't have time to go out. I found it very convenient to order groceries at my lunch hour to have them arrive at my house soon after I came home. True, the produce wasn't always what I would have chosen, but for everything else it worked nicely.   

       Do I think they need a physical location such as this idea describes? Probably not. But some might like it.
Worldgineer, Nov 11 2003

       [UnaBubba] But the beauty of this system is that all the information about the goods is displayed, sure, I can see your concerns with fresh food, vegetables and fruit, but think about this, how many times have you been to the supermarket and seen dented cans, broken boxes and even opened packets, the shelfless Supermarket ensures all product is delivered in pristine condition, untouched, and of course of the best quality. The bonus is that the Supermarket doesn't have to pay for goods damaged by customers (costs which are passed on to the consumer)and the customer knows that the goods haven't been handled, poked and prodded by unknown hands. Of course, they wouldn't dare sell shoddy goods, not with all the competition between the Supermarkets these days.
Micky Dread, Nov 11 2003

       Whoops, nearly forgot, this would really stuff up the shop lifters too, who cost the honest consumers a fortune because they end up paying (Through increased costs) for all the stuff thats been ripped off by the bad folks.
Micky Dread, Nov 11 2003

       takes the fun out of "cleanup.. aisle 8"
FeelinPhine, Nov 11 2003

       Use a swipe card or RF card so that your kids won't interfere (unless you're stupid enough to let them hold the card). The card given to you when you enter the store, and rescinded at the register (so it won't matter if anyone steals it).
Detly, Nov 11 2003

       It would be cool to if you had a good rewards system cause they would keep track of all your purchases, and when you couldn't remember which jar or curry you purchased last time it would allready know..
Supercruiser, Nov 11 2003

       Why can't it be a real supermarket? Then your 'virtual shopping' experience at home would be just that - from your PC you'd be controlling a remote controlled shopping trolley with independently controllable video caamera and robot arm. When you finish, someone would pack up your purchases and send them to you.
hippo, Nov 12 2003

       I like [hippo]'s idea, that would be great. I like the main post too but it would only work for non-fresh items.   

       As I buy mainly fresh stuff I wouldn't need to use it often but I'd be glad to not have to push round a massive, overloaded trolley around Christmas , birthdays etc. It would also feel very swanky to just be pressing screens (with soft voice *Squeak...You have selected... Whiskers Cat Milk... Quantity... 4*?) and then ambling along to the checkout.   

       Paying would be incredibly quick compared to now. You could maybe even just pay by card at a terminal.   

       But hang, on. Excyyooose *me*. I have to *load* the bags into the car MYSELF. I *don't* think soo. Like, hellooooo. Assistance!
squeak, Nov 12 2003

       Nice idea. Would you still have a checkout lane for those who have purchased fewer than 8 items?
dobtabulous, Nov 12 2003


       Excuse me, sir, I think you dropped your 'tongue in cheek' icon. :)   

       Maybe if you had a hand-held display to carry around the store, you could see if Junior had added stuff to your basket behind your back - and you'd get a tally of how much you'd spent... Hang on, they wouldn't like that...
English Bob, Nov 12 2003

       It's great to combine the benefits of online shopping with the social experience of offline shopping.   

       I would like to see cafes provide a very lightweight wireless device that allows cafe customers to read any publication online in a cafe.
xmarcus, Nov 12 2003

       How do you put stuff back? What's happened to all the free samples?
phoenix, Nov 12 2003

       With today's flat monitors ( vs 2003 ) the amount of floor space required to implement this has shrunk by half or so.
popbottle, Aug 01 2015

       At the supermarket it's easy and intuitive to pick up an item to get a sense of its size or weight. Or to inspect produce. Or to look at the ingredient list. Only one of these things is easily replicated on a monitor. It's also easy and intuitive to look in one's cart for a measure of the amount of food one is purchasing by quantity, price, brand, nutrition and other less tangible criteria.   

       Obviously a list can give you a simple number but that number isn't naturally intuitive. I an eyeball a cart of food and say, okay that's what I need for this week. I can't do that with a list, no matter how well displayed. It's much easier to pick up a 6 ounce can of tuna and know how much food that is than to see the description, "six ounce can of tuna". It's more easy to eyeball a box of pasta and say to myself, "That's three meals worth" than a description of its dimensions and dry weight on a screen.
Voice, Aug 02 2015


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