Supermarkets in the future will be very different from the way we know them today.

Modern technology has allowed us to re-invent the way we shop and pay for our groceries and daily essentials. Here are some highlights to pique your imagination:

• At Price Chopper’s Burlington store, checkout lanes are equipped with automated “Easy Scan Checkout” machines. Only a few employees are present to verify age for alcohol purchases, witness credit card transactions and assist shoppers. Customers manage their own checkout. They weigh their vegetables, scan the barcodes, package the food, and pay via cash or credit cards at the automated self-checkout machines. Shoppers are reporting a greater sense of participation and achievement with this self-checkout concept ^[1].

• Europe’s Metro AG is revolutionizing the shopping experience by introducing cutting-edge technologies at its Future Store ^[2] in Germany. At the supermarket, you’ll receive a device called the Personal Shopping Assistant which allows you to manage your own shopping. Your recent shopping history can be easily retrieved, and you can even use the intelligent scales that recognize, weigh and price fruit and vegetables automatically. Interactive multimedia kiosks are located throughout the supermart so that you can obtain detailed information easily.

• Pick n’ Save Metro Market in San Francisco (USA) has rolled out a new payment service to allow its customers to Pay By Touch ^[3]. At check-out terminals, shoppers scan their finger, enter a search code, swipe rewards cards and/or payment cards, and add their checking account information to build a personal Pay By Touch wallet, which is stored at secure IBM data centers. Next time you shop, simply do a finger scan to pay for all your purchases conveniently.

Have you seen any smart, innovative technology being utilized in your local supermarkets?

* * * * *

This New Business Ideas Report is compiled specially for Small Business Trends from the editors of CoolBusinessIdeas.com ^[4].