Grocery shopping made easier with new MC17

Computerworld - The grocery shopper in a hurry who wants to find a 12-oz. can of garbanzo beans might benefit from a new MC17 handheld announced by Motorola Inc. for retail uses.

Once the bean buyer locates the can with information obtained from the MC17, he could use it to scan the can's price, find comparable brands and their prices, scan a coupon and pay for it without waiting in a checkout line.

The concept of automated shopping with handhelds has been around since the 1990s and has grown more popular in Europe than in North America, said Frank Riso, senior director of retail operations at Motorola. The MC17 is the third generation of similar products ranging back to the early 1990s, before Symbol Technologies was purchased by Motorola, he said.

Motorola MC17

Retailers will find the device more attractive as well because it can be linked to a shopper's purchase history, allowing the store to instantly send a custom promotion to frequent buyers of Crest toothpaste or another brand, Riso said.

Riso estimated 1,000 stores in Europe use earlier versions of the devices, which are checked out to shoppers. In the U.S., Bloom, a division of Food Lion LLC, in Salisbury, N.C., and Giant Eagle Inc. in O'Hara Township, Pa., use a prior generation of the device. Bridal registry departments at J.C. Penney Co. stores have also deployed them.

"There's now a lot more enthusiasm as retailers provide more and more competitive offers," Riso said. "And customers do it themselves, and will treasure hunt for an electronic offer."

The devices will also double as mobile computers for store clerks, who can look up stock and perform other chores, Riso said. The MC17 has a 2.8-in. color display and will work in 802.11b/g wireless networks.

He estimated a single grocery store might purchase 25 to 50 of the devices. Shoppers check out the devices at the store using an identity card, which is also used to unlock the unit.

Not everyone believes the technology will suddenly grow more popular, including Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates LLC in Northboro, Mass. "The technology is not convenient enough yet for shoppers," Gold said. "You need a no-brainer device, something attached right to a shopping cart or built right into it. It can't be something I can lose."

Gold said there has been renewed interest in shopping automation by vendors, including In-Store Personal Shopper, which combines a Cisco Systems Inc. unified wireless network with MediaCart, an interactive shopping cart with a video display.

"All these technologies can be helpful to direct a shopper to the right place, take coupons and help them check out faster," Gold said. "It can mean fewer clerks for a store as well."

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