Smart Ways to Pay

Turning smartphones into payment devices, using Near Field Communication (NFC) chips containing personal data, is being touted as the next big thing by both retailers and phone manufacturers. THis video report by Kabir Chibber investigates possible applications of the latest technology in supermarkets. The Future Store, near Dusseldorf, is the combined initiative of 90 different retail and technology companies, from Coca Cola to IBM, which share the aim of discovering lucrative links between technology and shopping habits.

“Our store was created as a ‘living lab’”, says Dr Gerd Wolfram, managing director of Metro Systems, part of the global supermarket chain that runs the Future Store.

Dr Wolfram is willing to give anything a go, from robotic shopping assistants, to fridges that know exactly how much food they hold and when it expires. But, as he freely admits, his customers do not always lap it up. His first big failure – a fingerprint payment system that no privacy-conscious Germans wanted to use – is particularly revealing in light of the current push towards mobile payments.

The Future Store already uses an iPhone app that is meant to speed up payment, but the app also reveals the pitfalls of bringing mobile phones into the shopping process. Unlike other shopping list apps, Future Store’s app lets you scan barcodes of items as you pick them off the shelves. When you finish shopping, the app generates a final bar code displayed on your phone, which you then scan at a self-service checkout.