Wi-Fi trolley finds shopping for you

A trolley has been developed that uses Microsoft software to tell customers where items are located within shops.

The trolley has a colour screen and uses Wi-Fi to pinpoint itself in the store and has an RFID sensor that is used to flash up offers on shelves. To find an item the user says the name of what they are looking for into a microphone on the trolley handle. Voice recognition software then identifies the item sought.

The computer can also be programmed to display recipes for food while people shop and also flash up a warning if an item picked has too much fat. If the trolley is stolen it begins broadcasting its location immediately and the wheels lock to prevent movement.

Loyalty card customers can also swipe in their details and be shown relevant offers and see what they bought on previous visits.

Scott Ferris, general manager of the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft said: "Digital advertising opportunities are expanding rapidly into new areas, as many of consumers' daily activities, such as shopping, become increasingly connected. Microsoft is committed to working with advertisers and agencies to take advantage of these opportunities as they unfold."

The trolleys are being built by Texas-based company MediaCart and a nine month pilot in Shoprite stores in the US begins next month. The company has said that the trolleys should come to the UK within a year or so.

See also:

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Online sales up 19 per cent on 2006  03 Jan 2008

Shoppers snap up digital photoframes

Sales soar 900 per cent  20 Dec 2007

2007 Roundup: The rise of the 'omni-consumer'

Sceptical end users use technology to exert power and control over organisations  24 Dec 2007

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