Tesco expands its virtual stores to bus stops

The move follows on from Cheil Worldwide's Cannes Lion-winning campaign for Tesco Homeplus last year, in which it turned one of Seoul's biggest subway stations (temporarily) into a virtual supermarket. Using a pre-downloaded smartphone app, commuters could scan item images, and have the groceries delivered straight to their home.

While that full supermarket experience has been dismantled, Tesco is now providing the same opportunity for bus commuters. Using the virtual display images, on outdoor ad panels, consumers can scan from a selection of different products and organise home delivery for the same day.

The smartphone app is the most popular shopping app in Korea, with more than 900,000 downloads since it launched in April last year.

SH Lee, chief executive officer of Tesco Homeplus, says virtual shopping is proving most popular amongst 20 to 30 year olds. "The growing trend in smartphones in Korea means that virtual grocery shopping is even more accessible and convenient than ever before," he said. "The first virtual store in the Seoul subway was a great success with customers and has paved the way for the opening of these new stores at bus stops."