Tesco launches virtual store at Gatwick Airport
LONDON, Aug 7 — Tesco, the world’s No. 3 retailer, launched an interactive virtual grocery store at Britain’s Gatwick Airport today to help holidaymakers shop for their return using their smartphones.
Tesco said the facility builds on its launch of a virtual store in Seoul, South Korea, last year, which allowed commuters to shop in subways and at bus stops by pointing their mobile phones at billboards.
Travellers from Gatwick could avoid returning home to an empty fridge by scanning images of products like milk, bread, cheese, wine and chocolate with their smartphones and arranging a home delivery.
UK consumers are expected to spend £4.5 billion (RM22.5 billion) using mobile devices in 2012, a 53 per cent rise on 2011, according to data from the Centre for Retail Research.
Once one of the most consistent British companies in terms of earnings growth, Tesco stunned investors in January with its first profit warning in over 20 years. — Reuters
