Is Walmart pursuing the ‘Tinder’ of grocery shopping?
Walmart is pursuing a project that could give the term “swipe right” new meaning.
The discount giant filed a patent for an online grocery shopping service that functions like the dating app Tinder. Called ‘The Fresh Online Experience (FOE) system,’ the solution will allow customers to view the exact item that in-store associates are picking to fulfill their online grocery order.
The item will be scanned using three-dimensional scanning. As the associate packs the order, they scan images of the items. Upon receiving a notification of the merchandise, shoppers can approve or reject the fresh item before it is packed into the order, according to the patent filing.
Approved merchandise is added to the order. However, if an item is rejected, in-store associates would swap that piece of produce out for another selection, and send the customer a photo of the new item for their approval, according to Business Insider.
According to the patent, there would be a cap on how many times customers can reject a specific item. When that limit is reached, customers will be able to make a selection from all the images that were sent to them.
The technology can be used via a mobile app or a web browser, the patent said.
Walmart originally filed for the patent on December 28, 2017, according to the filing.
The discount giant filed a patent for an online grocery shopping service that functions like the dating app Tinder. Called ‘The Fresh Online Experience (FOE) system,’ the solution will allow customers to view the exact item that in-store associates are picking to fulfill their online grocery order.
The item will be scanned using three-dimensional scanning. As the associate packs the order, they scan images of the items. Upon receiving a notification of the merchandise, shoppers can approve or reject the fresh item before it is packed into the order, according to the patent filing.
Approved merchandise is added to the order. However, if an item is rejected, in-store associates would swap that piece of produce out for another selection, and send the customer a photo of the new item for their approval, according to Business Insider.
According to the patent, there would be a cap on how many times customers can reject a specific item. When that limit is reached, customers will be able to make a selection from all the images that were sent to them.
The technology can be used via a mobile app or a web browser, the patent said.
Walmart originally filed for the patent on December 28, 2017, according to the filing.