Subscribe by EmailGerman supermarket introduces mobile phone shopping
July 2, 2008 by Mark O'Neill | 0 comments
By Mark O’Neill
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
A German supermarket chain has introduced a new chain of stores where customers can pay for their purchases with a specially adapted mobile telephone.
Real (pronounced REE-AL) has started “The Future Store” and the first one was recently opened near Duesseldorf. When customers come into the store, they can pick up a specially adapted phone, and when they place something in their cart, they can just scan the barcode of the item with it. The phone then just keeps a running total of their purchases, and when they are ready to pay, the device is inserted into a machine at the door, the price is automatically displayed and they can then pay with a credit card, bank card, or cash.
You can see an excellent BBC television report on the store here, including a guest appearance by Roger the Real Robot!
It wasn’t that long ago that Kiltak mentioned another technological setup here in Germany – the automated restaurant in Nuernberg. I’m hoping to get to that one very soon to test the food.
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