High-tech shopping carts face hurdles
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It took a grocer's offer of a cookie to finally tear 4-year-old Trey Malcom away from the small TV screen in his shopping cart.
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Tables are turning for IT buyers with new tech trends that have given shoppers the upper hand.
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Past attempts at a high-tech quill have ended up as expensive paperweights, but a new crop of start-ups has higher hopes.Photos: Pens get smarter
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Mobile payments and banking are now moving into the U.S. through some big names, but the speedy checkout system is slow to put in place.
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RFID is out there, but the onslaught has been slowed by practical and economic considerations.
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What does one do when modern transport just can't get the shopping to the front door?
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Question: We're in the early stages of startup and beginning to shop for technology. We'll need basic hardware and software, plus many other technology and Web-based services to sell online, service customers and keep it all secure.
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Sharp designs and colors fight the impression made by older devices.
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While Apple is cruising along, other computer outfits are frantically trying to crack the consumer-electronics nut. Dell (DELL ), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ ) and, yes, even Gateway (GTW ) are all pushing new products
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But it's not as simple as point-and-click.
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Fewer consumers turned out for the post-Thanksgiving shopping bonanza this year, but they spent more than last year as they stocked their carts with expensive electronics, according to a retail trade group.
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This retailer's still trying to loosen up.
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Boston's new high-tech parking meters may be running afoul of Visa and MasterCard rules that prohibit vendors from imposing minimum purchase requirements on their customers.
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Apple may be facing greater difficulties than previously thought in sourcing chips to power its high-end personal computers.
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Some unscrupulous vendors manage to worm their way into price comparison site listings. Knowing how these shopping engines work can help you avoid the bad apples.
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A partnership unveiled this week between Microsoft, MediaCart Holdings, and Wakefern Food will deliver personalized ads to grocery shoppers through computerized carts. The initiative is yet another way that Microsoft aims to derive revenue from ads, even as it continues to struggle with Google to take more of the online advertising market.MediaCarts have been tested for nine months by Wakefern in its ShopRite grocery stores and involve shopping carts with computerized screens that deliver ads and other information to shoppers based on their preferences, the companies said.The carts log preference information from customer loyalty card programs that most grocery stores have. Customers scan their cards at the MediaCart and ads on the screen are delivered to them according to their buying history, the companies said. No personal information will be shared with Microsoft or advertisers through the MediaCarts, although advertisers will acquire reporting and analytics information about how the ads are performing in the stores.Microsoft&#39;s technology is serving video ads to computers on the MediaCart screen through the Atlas technology, which Microsoft acquired through its&#160;purchase of aQuantive&#160;last year. The $6 billion deal to purchase the digital marketing, advertising and creative agency is Microsoft&#39;s largest acquisition to date and was meant to bolster the company&#39;s plan to diversify its revenue so more comes from its ad business.So far, Microsoft&#39;s advertising business has improved only incrementally, according to company financial reports, but it expects more significant growth this year.In addition to ads, the MediaCarts also will provide information about where products are located in the store and give shoppers electronic coupons. Shoppers also can view store specials in the aisles in which they&#39;re shopping and total the cost of items in their carts before checking out through the technology, the companies said.MediaCart also uses Microsoft Windows CE and Microsoft SQL Server software along with the Atlas ad-serving technology. MediaCart is expected to begin customer trials in ShopRite stores in the second half of this year.
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Although Wal-Mart was expecting its top suppliers to use radio tagging technology to ship goods by Jan. 1, the technology is not yet ready.