Supermarket adds smart trolleys

Victorian-based independent supermarket chain, Ritchies will introduce a fleet of interactive trolleys, states Inside Retailing.

The trolleys, provided by VIP Retail will be introduced at Ritchies head office store at Carrum Downs. The VIP trolleys, regarded as the 'future of shopping' are also being used at Supa IGA Delahey in Victoria and Supa IGA Hawke in the ACT.

Feedback from shoppers so far has been promising, according to Nathan Dunn, general-manager of VIP Retail. “We've found that 83% of shoppers enjoyed shopping with a VIP Trolley for the first time,” says Dunn. "We've noticed that shoppers seem to enjoy having an element of control over their shop - gone are the days when you need to ask a staff member where something is.”

According to new figures from Forrester Research, Australian online retail sales will almost double from $16.9 billion in 2009 to $33.3 billion in 2015, writes Start-up Smart.

The figures, compiled in a report written by analyst Steven Noble, suggest online retailing is likely to become a much more prominent part of retailing than many people realise.

“The proportion of Australian internet users who shop online is growing by 1% a year and will do so until 2015,” Noble says. “At the same time, the proportion of Australian adults who are internet users is growing at 1% to 2% per annum.”

E-paper supplier ZBD Solutions has secured new deals in January 2011 for retail shelf label applications, says Plus Plastic Electronics.

Estonian telecoms firms Tele2 will apply point-of-purchase labels in its stores from February, following a successful trial in two stores, according to a ZBD press release.

Earlier in January, Danish retailer Dagrofa adopted e-paper shelf labels for a store in Copenhagen. The trial uses 10 000 small and 300 medium labels.