Koreans are the second most hard working people in the world and grocery shopping isn’t their favorite pastime. Tesco didn’t go out to solve this problems for Korea when it went there. Instead it wanted to be #1 in Korea. It wasn’t able to beat the incumbent E-Mart which had more stores than Tesco (Homeplus in Korea).
Taking an hour a week for grocery shopping can be a real drag, so the company devised a way to have the store come to the people. Tesco set up virtual grocery stores in locations like subway/metro stations so that people can literally do their grocery shopping while waiting for the train.

The walls are plastered with posters that resemble the aisles and shelves of a supermarket. They’re lined from top to bottom with the products you’d normally see while grocery shopping. The only difference is that you can’t just grab the product and check out. The groceries each have a QR code which the shopper scans with a smartphone camera and adds to a shopping list. When the shopper has scanned all the codes for all the groceries needed, he pays using his phone and the groceries are then delivered to his home.

They just need to scan QR codes with their smartphones, products are added to their virtual cart and they get delivered to their homes as soon as they are back. You can only say “wow”!!!!

The results of the initiative are impressive also in terms of numbers: online sales between November 2010 and January 2011 increased by 130 percent, with the number of registered members rising by 76 percent.
This isn’t the first case of ordering groceries to be delivered to your home, but it’s unique since you’re not just sitting in your home clicking on a website. The customer actually gets to stroll down the “aisle” while waiting for a train to arrive and visually make their choices. An besides this virtual mall is it doesn’t even have to be replenished!

Tesco has not only saved monies in supply chain and warehousing costs but it has also given Koreans an easy and sticky way to shop, without actually waiting in a line. All the waiting they were doing was for their next train either to work or back home. Metro stations and public places will suddenly become hot real estate destinations. Tesco’s solution has once again proved that you don’t have to change the world. You just have to make something a little better.

Best
Manuel A. Alonso Coto