Symbol Technologies Inc. Each week, users can scan bar codes of products in their homes that they'd like to buy, check off the time they'll be at the store, and send the information via dial-up lines to Safeway. At the store, customers go to a reserved aisle to pick up their orders. Safeway is also considering delivering the groceries or letting customers pick up their orders at central sites, such as train stations. But we actually found that people give themselves a finite amount of time to shop, and they forget things. One reason for the growth may be the new database Safeway uses to push items such as dip to people who already buy chips.
Customers receive a personalized shopping list each week based on their buying patterns.
Included in that list is an ideas section that lists other items they may want. Safeway also provides a loyalties section that tracks points customers can redeem for purchases. There's also a recipes section that will soon be automated. Customers will be able to click on a specific recipe, and all the ingredients needed would automatically be added to their shopping cart. The mainframe collects and mines customer data and delivers to the Palm Pilots the personalized shopping lists.