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Photo: Daniele Iodice

Thinking Space Technology

Supermarket of the Future: Brief Me!

Traditional supermarkets could soon look entirely different – with physical products still on the shelves, but with extra information provided about each of the products on display. Italian architect Carlo Ratti, a professor at the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is the man who planned the very first Supermarket of the Future in Milan. He explains how it works – and why many more could soon follow.

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Photo: Daniele Iodice

Why did you invent the “Supermarket of the Future”?

Carlo Ratti: We do much of our shopping online – and, as a result, we’ve become more and more accustomed to having lots of data put in front of our eyes as we shop. Our growing dependency on data is an interesting challenge from an architectural point of view: how can we incorporate this data into the real, physical world too?

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More screens, more information: is this what supermarkets will look like in the future?

Photo: Daniele Iodice

How did you put this into practice in your “Supermarket of the Future”?

Ratti: The Supermarket of the Future covers an area of more than 1,000 square metres. An assortment of around 6,000 products is displayed on large, interactive tables. If you reach out and hold your hand close to a product, you’ll be provided with additional information about it: this information flashes up on a digital mirror suspended from above. In this way, you can learn more about the respective nutrients of the products, about their origin, about the allergens they contain, and about similar products and special offers. All this information promotes the purchase of fresh, local produce.

How do your customers react to it all?

Ratti: We’ve received a lot of feedback. For example, we know that many people are surprised at how simple and user-friendly the whole system is. And many kids love the interaction.

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Photo: Daniele Iodice

How many customers do you have?

Ratti: Statistically speaking, stores with our system do about eight times better than average supermarkets. This means that in the future interactive supermarkets are going to get more and more customers.

How do you think we’ll be shopping in 20 years from now?

Ratti: On the one hand, we’ll be even more used to shopping from the comfort of our own homes. On the other hand, we’ll still be shopping in physical stores to choose the products and interact with them – it’s only in this way that we can satisfy our desire for a real physical shopping experience.