Grocery shopping has long been one of my most procrastinated activities, mainly because I don’t like going to the store, interacting with strangers, and waiting in line. I know we have things like Instacart and the works nowadays, but I don’t want to pay the premium. Since technology is advancing rapidly, this got me thinking about the future of grocery shopping, and whether or not we will continue to go to the store ourselves as things continue to progress.
I am picturing some sort of 360 camera robotic mechanism that goes up and down the isles and shows you what the store has in stock. So, you no longer need to go to the grocery store and walk around yourself. You simply pull up the grocery shopping interface and direct the robot to the isle that you’d like to shop, and then you can see what they have on the shelves.
I think it would work well this way because many people go to the grocery store without having a full plan on what they need to buy. They walk down the isles with a general idea, but the specifics are often up in the air. Things pop out and you decide that’s what you want to eat.
So, this kind of robot could replicate the experience of walking up and down the grocery store isles, without us having to actually be there ourselves.
Pretty interesting idea. Feel free to steal it and make a billion dollars. Although I’m sure I’m not the first one to think of this.
What do y’all think about the future of grocery shopping? Will humans continue to go to the store? Or will the mainstream way become digital, leaving small independent grocery stores to rise back up for the niche audience who prefers an in-person experience?
