Using a display on their trolleys, shoppers in a test in the US will be able to find the products they need and pay for them. The system comes from Microsoft in collaboration with Media Cart.

And of course, by knowing where the trolley is travelling around the store, relevant ads can be placed just as the consumer is passing the right spot. The east coast ShopRite supermarket chain will get the test this summer.

Scott Ferris, general manager of the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft, tells us:

“Digital advertising opportunities are expanding rapidly into new areas, as many of consumers’ daily activities, such as shopping, become increasingly ‘connected,’ and Microsoft is committed to working with advertisers and agencies to take advantage of these opportunities as they unfold.”

The shopper will get promotions based on location within the store but that’s the least of it. The whole thing works with loyalty cards, so the store will also deliver suggested shopping lists and promotions based on previous habits. Expect more crashed trolleys and tumbling displays of tall canned goods pyramids as shoppers no longer look where they are going in your local supermarket.

Recently launched Modstream creates text advertising on shopping carts. Via their website, advertisers create messages, select stores, days, day-parts and pay for their campaign. The system works through internet and wifi to deliver messages to the trolleys.

Nice enough, but it’s missing a critical element. Where’s the RFID or Bluetooth signal? With that, the trolley would deliver timely promotional messages in the right aisle. It needs a new level of infrastructure both in terms of hardware and in store management. But I’m sure it’s what clients will be demanding.

Japanese vending machine operator Apex and ad agency WillB are introducing vending machines that will give users a free or discounted drink if they are prepared to watch an advertisement that plays on the touch screen that’s also used to order the drinks. Apex is the country’s second largest vending machine operator and the ad funded freebies will include coffee and soft drinks. Ads will appear on the cups, too, with advertisers paying 70 to 80 yen (roughly 30p, 40 Euro cents or 60 US cents) per cup distributed. (more…)