Grocery shopping via smartphone on South Korean subways

Previously submitted (with discussion). http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2856609

Form a comment of cliff: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2857088

It is fake / only a proof of concept: http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_business/48...

I love the execution on this, turning what was otherwise a normal billboard into something that's much more interactive and useful. What stands out for me are:

- They tried to duplicate the look and feel of being in the supermarket, allowing customers to navigate naturally in their browsing and shopping habits. Don't underestimate the power of routine/habit and creating experiences that are familiar/comfortable.

- They also deliver the groceries so it completely replaces the need to make a trip to the grocery store which is a time-saver.

- This works well in areas of high smartphone/internet adoption rate like South Korea and Japan.

I was thinking about whether or not this idea would work in San Francisco/Bay Area given the high mobile adoption rate and young tech-savvy crowd. I would focus exclusively on fresh produce given that these are often the most expensive in stores and its risk of spoilage leads many of us to not buy as much as we should.

Ask HN: Would you shop via a BART/Caltrain/Bus Ad using a smartphone app for groceries if the price as more competitive than Whole Foods and you got free delivery to your workplace/home?

From what else I've seen about this, it's not actually a functioning store and was mostly a publicity stunt.

That aside, I'm curious about why they would have multiple slots on the same shelf for the same product. At least looking at the image in the article, it appears that some of the milk and various juices have >1 slot on the same shelf. Since there is no stocking issue and there need only be one QR code to scan per product, this seems like a waste of space where additional products could be displayed.

I suppose in this case, it was probably just a consequence of them using a photo of a real-life cooler. However it would be interesting to find out if it's more effective to retain that traditional in-store setup versus using a display that had only one image per item. Perhaps keeping the normal in-store look adds a certain level of comfort/familiarity that makes up for reduced product set.