I was talking to a consultant from Korea the other day who told me about this Korean retailer who had a wall with the products mapped to their QR codes. All the shopper had to do was to click the QR code and select the product. Once the lsit was complete the shopper could just order through this app and the grocery store would deliver the grocery to their house.

In the UK a fashion retailer has also developed its app to allow prospective shoppers to take part in a contest. All winners of the contest would be given free merchandise. The only catch is that the contestants havve to play this game on their smart phone and have to be within 200 yards from the store.

Welcome to the world of Mobile commerce. Though the conpect is not new, it has been given a new boost of life with the advent of smart phones and the growth of platforms like Android which have allowed developers to create many apps. 

Smart phones have changed the retail lanscape in most parts of the developed world and the apps have just increased their effectiveness of the shopping experience. 

Many retailers in the US are developing apps that help customers locate products along the shelf and the ailes. The other concepts like QR codes and radio tags are also helping customers and retailers to maximise their retail experience. 

Many experts believe that QR codes would eventually give way to apps that can directly help custumers shop. Just as the Tablet is directly challneging the Laptop the mobile apps are challenging websites.

The biggest advantage of using an app on a smart phone is that the customer has the added feature of calling in the call center directly from the phone rather than using the computer where he would need a headset or an external phone to call.

Both smart phones and tablets have revolutionized shopping, the retailers need to understand this shift and embrace technology accordingly.