The recent Springwise newsletter shares a new breed of smart shopping cart that displays text ads on a small screen right on the handle. Its simplicity allows retailers to run messages for one store or for a whole chain, and the retailer can easily change messages for dayparts and clearance items. It's manufactured by Modstream, a New York based company that claims:
Modstream’s messages are so powerful that national retailers have reported sales lifts of featured products up to 35%! These extraordinary sales results are possible because Modstream requires no change in shopper’s behavior.
No buttons to push or screens to navigate — shoppers push their cart and see your messages! And, since Modstream resides on the shopping cart handles, retailers and advertisers have 30-40 minutes to engage customers every time they shop.
This innovation seems a bit like Google text ads to me. Low-tech text - but located where it counts. As both a supporter and critic of new media placements in our lives, I am mixed about this one as usual. But as long as it's quiet and shoppers can choose to ignore it, Modstream could be a win-win for both shopper and retailer.
Compare Modstreams' cart to one at the opposite end of the spectrum: the beautifully redesigned shopping cart with ad space on the side. It looks exactly like a Volkswagen Beetle - if the Beetle were wrapped in a giant ad. It's called the MarkitCart.
Two polarized examples in the evolution of mobile shopping containers.
What do you think? Are cart handles like the Internet search dashboard - best used for fast and readable low-concept messages? Does Modstream's technology hit the sweet spot somewhere between interruption and engagement? Does the MarkitCart take it too far?
