Frantically busy getting the packing sorted and calming down the kids ahead of a holiday that you forget about the normal domestic routine for the return home?
This is what London’s Gatwick Airport and supermarket giant Tesco are pondering as they open the UK’s first interactive grocery store.
A two-week trial is currently taking place in the airport’s north terminal departure lounge allowing travellers to use digital booths to select items (milk, bread, etc) from Tesco and have them delivered at home on the day they arrive home.
The booths are essentially large upright digital screens which let the user browse through groceries and then scan each product’s barcode with their smartphone.
Once the shopping list is created, users arrange the delivery date and pay from within the application.
The move follows the successful launch in South Korea last year of what Tesco claims was the world’s first virtual supermarket. The Korean facility allowed commuters to buy groceries in subways and at bus stops in the capital Seoul by pointing their mobile phones at billboards.
The mobile element for the Gatwick trial will come by way of the existing Tesco app on Android and iPhone devices.
The service is not a completely human-free experience – as with other self checkout services in supermarkets, Tesco is deploying staff to the lounge to help passengers who might get into difficulty using the booths.
Gatwick says the north terminal currently has around 30,000 passengers passing through every day and each spends on average 70 minutes waiting for their flight after passing through security.
Tesco internet retailing director, Ken Towle, says:
“Our business in Korea is teaching us a lot about how customers and technology are transforming shopping. It gives us a unique window into the future and the chance to try out exciting new concepts.
“The virtual store blends clicks and bricks, bringing together our love of browsing with the convenience of online shopping.”
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