Editor’s Note: Being a provider of mobile app development and eCommerce solution development services, the team of QuartSoft never stops following new trends in the industry. We noticed that a breakthrough in mobile technology and the latest developments in eCommerce had helped create a revolutionary synergy of these two technologies for a remarkable shopping experience. A virtual store in a South Korean subway is a perfect specimen of the new virtual shopping era.
People can now purchase things using QR-codes at a virtual store right in the subway station in South Korea. The concept is not new unlike the approach to setting up a store chain.
Whether you want it or not you have to stock up with food and other essential products at least once a week. And this is the reason the idea gained such popularity. And I mean it literally.
The idea belongs to marketers of the HomePlus chain owned by the international retail giant Tesco. A market research showed that South Korea citizens worked so much that they almost had no time for shopping.
Tesco workers installed picture boards showing shelves with goods in subway stations, illuminated them and thus created the simplest virtual store.
There are no hi-tech screens or software. All a buyer needs is a smartphone. The buyer opens a special application and uses a phone camera to scan QR-codes of the desired products showed on the virtual display. Then the products are automatically sent to an online shopping cart. Payment is also processed through the mobile phone.
The merchandise is delivered to the specified address later in the evening.
Thus, people can save their time they’d have to spend on shopping, and make necessary purchases before the work while waiting for a subway train.
A trial experiment showed that 10 287 used the virtual shop to purchase things. Online sales grew by 130% and the number of registered users increased by 76%.