Shopping goes back to the future

Singapore - In-store marketing turned a corner today in Singapore, with the official roll-out of a technology-enabled shopping cart which delivers location based and promotional advertising messages to shoppers.

Developed locally by Store Of The Future (SOTF), the Futurecart launched its first batch in conjunction with the opening of supermarket chain, Market Place's Fusionopolis branch.

The shopping cart is actually in its second phase of testing and SOTF creative and marketing director James Ong said the ads are activated once the cart moves through a pocket of reception. Futurecart is equipped with a sensing unit which tracks location through the use of Radio Frequency Identity tags placed on shelves throughout the store.

"If you look at a supermarket aisle - it's a war zone. There are so many products and rival products out there. But this is another way to push out your key USP," Ong said.

The first phase began three weeks ago to test out the product's capability in running TVCs while the second phase will only be about static ads. A rate card has yet to be finalized but is expected to materialized after January next year, once SOTF collates the research and consumer insight/purchasing data from phase two.

"We don't want to loop ads or content to the shopper. We want to give them something which will be of a benefit to them - a tool. This can remind shoppers of certain cost savings and promotions you can get which they might not be aware of," Ong said.

A quick Futurecart spin around the newly opened Market Place branch saw ads for brands such as Coca Cola, Heinz and Kelloggs pop-up once the cart passed relevant aisles. Ong said the placements were free-of-charge and one concern he will have to address with brand marketers to convince them to buy advertising next year is on effectiveness.

"Frankly we can't show you any metrics right now," he says.

Futurecart is SOTF's flagship product since launching in Singapore over a year ago. The company declined to reveal how much was invested into the product, but Futurecart is supported by local government agencies, Spring Singapore and Exploit Technologies which is the commercialization arm of A*STAR.

In the near future, the SOTF is considering adding a barcode reader to the handlebar of Futurecart which Ong says will act as a "price checker" for shoppers.