When we walk into a supermarket we are all overwhelmed at the choices we have to make while we purchase food items, & other stuff. But allow me to ask you this, Have you ever walked into a superstore & felt the need to ask your self " Do I need the Hand basket, the tiny trolley or the JUMBO cart maybe a cargo truck?? Alright I guess I went too far there but seems to me that the guys at Microsoft have come up with a new cart that will make your shopping experience a wee bit exciting. The software maker spent four years working with Plano, Texas-based MediaCart Holdings Inc. on a grocery cart-mounted console that helps shoppers find products in the store, then scan and pay for their items without waiting in the checkout line. Microsoft's acquisition of aQuantive, an online advertising company, last year for $6 billion shored up the company's capacity to serve video ads onto these grocery cart screens. Starting in the second half of 2008, the companies plan to test MediaCart in Wakefern Food Corp.'s ShopRite supermarkets on the East Coast. Customers with a ShopRite loyalty card will be able to log into a Web site at home and type in their grocery lists; when they get to the store and swipe their card on the MediaCart console, the list will appear. As shoppers scan their items and place them in their cart, the console gives a running price tally and checks items off the shopping list. The system also uses radio-frequency identification to sense where the shopper's cart is in the store. The RFID data can help ShopRite and food makers understand shopping patterns, and the technology can also be used to send certain advertisements to people at certain points - an ad for 50 cents off Oreos, for example, when a shopper enters the cookie aisle. Microsoft said it is still working on how it will present commercials and coupons.

I wonder what Bill's up to now if this much consumer behaviour is within his reach don't be surprised if Billy BOy makes a Big comeback as a shopping mogul giving others a run for their money. Anti trust anyone?? But fear not neither Microsoft nor any advertisers will have access to the personal information consumers provide when they join the supermarket's loyalty card program. Anyone for SPAM Videos playing while we shop?

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