Grocers Are Testing Smartphones

Supermarkets -- recognizing that many customers use their mobile telephones to compare prices and check lists as they shop -- have begun to experiment with smartphone-related technology.

The stores hope to use apps, high-tech bar codes called Quick Response Codes and other technologies to drive sales and lower costs just as millennials, who grew up using electronic devices, are becoming a bigger percentage of their shopping base. Grocers have considered incorporating new technologies into the shopping experience for some time, but the industry has small margins and many stores don't have big technology budgets, analysts say. But building their programs around smartphones will allow them to break into the space without investing a lot of money. In addition, according to Agata Kaczanowska, an industry analyst with IBISWorld, making the shopping experience easier will help the grocers to boost customer loyalty.