Where Is Supermarket Technology Headed?
Today's Dietitian
By Dina Aronson, MS, RD, LDN
Vol. 6 No. 5 p. 26

A new supermarket “cart companion” technology could make grocery shopping less of a chore—perhaps even an adventure.

How many of you love the grocery store? I thought so. How many of you would like it more if it were faster, more efficient, and seemed to work very hard to save you time and money? How would you feel about a store that allowed you to scan your groceries as you shopped so you could skip the checkout aisle and bag your food the way you want? Does this sound like a dream? Now it is a reality.

Recently I had the good fortune to try out the Shopping Buddy, a new shopping cart technology, at the Super Stop & Shop store in Braintree, Mass. I’m sure on the outside I appeared to be just a typical grocery store shopper. But on the inside, I felt like a kid in a candy store. The Buddy promises to enhance your shopping experience, save you time and money, and make you feel like part of the modern, high-tech world.

The Shopping Buddy is a wireless, portable, touch-screen computer that you click into place on the front of your shopping cart. Part of the ensemble is a handheld scanner, which is used to scan bar codes of items to purchase. Before setting out on your shopping journey, you scan your Stop & Shop card, which enables the Buddy to use your personal shopping history to make purchasing recommendations based on your own preferences. But not to worry: Stop & Shop officials say the Buddy respects your privacy. You can even opt to hide your name from appearing on the screen.

The Buddy knows not only who you are but also where you are … in the store, that is. Throughout the store’s ceiling are small “beacons” that communicate with the Buddy so it can inform you of sale items in your current vicinity and even tell you what aisle you’re in if you are feeling lost. The system is something like a personal shopping assistant, guiding you through the store and aiding you in your purchases. It knows everything that’s on sale every week and remembers what you’ve bought in the past 12 weeks.

My Adventure With the Shopping Buddy
After I scanned my Stop & Shop card, the Buddy informed me of “Buddy-user Only” special offers, including a 50-cent coupon for baby carrots not listed in the regular circular. I didn’t need any of the products mentioned, but I did want to know where the beans were. So I typed in “beans” at the search screen, and the Buddy not only told me what aisle they were in but also showed me a map and how to get there. As I turned a corner and headed toward the cereal aisle, the Buddy informed me that I was currently in aisle 3 and let me know which of my favorite items (based on my purchasing history) were on sale in this aisle. I scanned a few items and dropped them in my cart.

While in aisle 3, I decided to test out the remote deli-ordering feature. I pressed the “deli” button, looked over the list of available deli items, and selected one-half pound of bruschetta salad, all by just touching the screen. Minutes later, a sound emanated from the Buddy (it sounded like I earned a bonus round in a Nintendo Game Boy game) with a message that my order was ready to be picked up. I strolled over to the deli section, found my salad waiting for me in the Shopping Buddy Pickup rack, scanned it, thanked the deli man, and moved on.

As I browsed the fresh greens, I glanced over at the woman next to me. She already had her groceries all bagged in her cart—and she hadn’t paid yet. “That’s the big time saver,” Debbie, a Stop & Shop employee, told me. “You scan the items as you take them off the shelves, bag your groceries as you go, scan your card on your way out, and that’s it.” I asked Debbie whether or not this self-bagging increased the frequency of shoplifting. She said that there hadn’t been any problems but that they do use security cameras just in case.

The produce aisle has another area that the Buddy benefits. I weighed my broccoli on the special digital scale at the Shopping Buddy produce station and discovered immediately how much it would cost—no more looking around for a hanging scale or doing math in my head.

As I browsed the health food section, I changed my mind about a bottle of salad dressing I’d already scanned. This gave me the opportunity to see whether or not it is difficult to remove an item from the Buddy purchase list. Turns out it’s not a problem at all. I simply pressed the minus button, rescanned the dressing, and put it back on the shelf. The dressing disappeared from my purchase list.

Why Use the Shopping Buddy?
• Convenience. Many shoppers just want to get in and get out, sans the wait at the deli line, checkout line, etc. (In fact, some customer surveys show that time spent in the checkout line is one of the things that decreases a shopper’s satisfaction the most.) Because the Buddy allows you to scan your own items and bag as you go, there is no waiting to check out. Plus, because you can place your special orders while shopping, there’s no waiting for your number to be called at the deli counter. The Buddy keeps a running total of your purchases as you shop so you know how much you owe the store when you’re through. When your shopping is complete, you just take your bagged groceries to the front, pay a machine with cash or a credit or debit card, and head on home.

• Cost savings. Some of the store’s weekly discounts are available only to Buddy users, so this could save a few dollars per month, depending on whether or not you would purchase those items anyway. Also, the Buddy alerts you to items you’ve purchased in the past that are currently on sale. This is especially useful for things you might not be looking for on that particular trip, such as personal care items, paper goods, pet supplies, and other things that have long shelf lives and will be needed eventually anyway.

• Monitoring spending. Who hasn’t tried to add up grocery store purchases before hitting the cashier line to see what the damage might be? The Buddy keeps a running total of all of your purchases as you shop, including an itemized list of everything in your cart. If you’re over budget, you can glance at all the prices of the things in your cart and remove items as necessary.

• Fun. Why not add some amusement to your weekly grocery store excursion?

Who Uses the Shopping Buddy?
During my visit to the store, I interviewed some of the users of the Shopping Buddy, as well as some abstainers. The main difference I noticed was that, on average, the users tended to be younger than the abstainers. The reasons users gave for using the Buddy included “It saves me loads of time,” “It helps me stick to my shopping list,” “The kids love to play with it,” “I get extra coupons,” and “It tracks how much I spend.” Some of the reasons for ignoring the Buddy were: “The old way works for me just fine,” “I don’t like computers,” and “I can’t be bothered.” It appears that the tool appeals to those who are comfortable with computers and don’t mind the learning curve necessary to use the system.

How Much of a Learning Curve Is There, Anyway?
The user interface is menu-driven, which makes it simple to navigate the different areas of the system. The images are clear and colorful, and the words are sharp and easy to read. You’re always given options, so you’re never really “stuck” at any point in using the computer. If you do need help, however, Shopping Buddy associates are happy to answer your questions and guide you through the experience. I found that it took a few minutes to figure out how to jump around from my list of foods to the store map to the deli menu and back to my list of foods. But once I tried it a few times, it was easy as pie.

The Brains Behind the Buddy
I spoke with Ida Marusich, the director of marketing for Cuesol, the software company that created the Cart Companion (known in Stop & Shop as the Shopping Buddy). She told me that while only three locations were testing the technology (at the time of this writing), the future of the Shopping Buddy is very bright. “Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” Marusich says, “both from Stop & Shop associates and the store’s customers.”

It’s obvious why customers like this tool. But what does Stop & Shop get out of it? After all, the system is expensive. “The Shopping Buddy attracts new customers, promotes customer loyalty, and helps turn secondary shoppers into primary shoppers,” Marusich explains. “Also, it keeps the store competitive with other growing grocers, such as Wal-Mart.”

Faith Weiner, Stop & Shop’s director of government and public affairs, agrees. “The Shopping Buddy differentiates us from other stores,” she says. Weiner also explains that while the store has access to the shopping habits of its customers, Stop & Shop’s privacy policy dictates that none of the information is shared with or sold to other organizations. Rather, it is used to improve customer service.

Some of the shoppers I spoke with in the store were concerned that the Buddy may eliminate jobs. This is not true, say both Marusich and Weiner. There are no plans to reduce the number of employees. Even if the stores eventually require fewer cashiers, the focus would shift to increased manpower in customer service, which would possibly improve customer satisfaction overall. In fact, points out Marusich, “the system is creating a new army of Shopping Buddy associates, which may increase job satisfaction among the Stop & Shop employees.”

What’s in It for Dietitians?
• It’s appealing to our clientele. Assuming this idea catches on and a significant number of our clients will eventually have access to this technology, we can help our clients use the Buddy to become smarter shoppers. The common complaint that “it is too expensive and time-consuming to eat right” has made grocery store guidance a substantial part of nutrition counseling. The Buddy will help with the time issue and also increase consumer awareness of their food choices. Shoppers who are more conscious of their purchases at the store are better equipped to make healthful food choices. The technology also helps its users be more organized—another strategy used to eat more healthfully. Plus, using the Buddy may reduce temptation of impulse purchases (eg, impromptu selections at the deli counter).

• It can assist our own research. Many dietitians see clients who eat ethnic foods, new foods, or special “dietetic” foods—foods with which an individual dietitian may not be familiar. Using the Buddy, we can more easily find and research these foods at the supermarket, enabling us to better understand our clients. It is even possible that clients may be more willing to try new foods if they don’t have to hunt for them all over the store. When counseling clients, I often suggest new foods that fit their diet plans, such as whole grain crisp bread, tempeh, or a new vegetable. This system will allow me to check out exactly where these foods are located. Wouldn’t your clients be much more likely to try a new food if you could tell them exactly where in their favorite store it was located (or, how to find it with the touch of a few buttons)?

• It may create career opportunities. Once the Shopping Buddy system is in place, it has endless potential to expand into other areas. Nutrition education, supermarket tours, food marketing, recipes, goal setting, nutrition label information, and nutrient analysis are just some of the ways that nutrition may eventually be incorporated into this technology. As the nutrition experts, we dietitians can use our skill and creativity to offer value-added services as a way to get in on the action.

What the Future Holds
According to Marusich, future possibilities for the Shopping Buddy include integration of the system with a Web site; the ability to create shopping lists online, which would then appear on the Shopping Buddy screen in the store; and product comparisons.

For more information on the Cart Companion (aka the Shopping Buddy), visit www.cuesol.com.

— Dina Aronson, MS, RD, LDN, is a nutrition consultant, freelance writer, and speaker specializing in dietetics-related technology and vegetarian nutrition.

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