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back to article Koreans visit Tesco through subway hoardings

Tesco is causing quite a stir in South Korea with a virtual shopping experience that encourages customers to scan billboards on the subway. The company, which is known as HomePlus in South Korea, has started filling subway stations with virtual store shelves - billboards of products with QR codes attached. Shoppers simply scan …

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  1. Ralph B
    Happy

    What a great opportunity

    What a great opportunity for a practical joker with a bunch of "alternative" QR code stickers.

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    1. Sandy Donaldson 1
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      Thumb Up

      Nice one ...

      It never ceases to amaze me how devious some people are ... :)

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    2. Anonymous Coward
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      Meh

      Could be a good way for Phorm to sell some shares.

      You thought you were buying a cabbage, but end up with a lemon.

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    3. JohnG
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      Graffiti

      In the UK, the displays and QR codes would just get tagged with a load of graffiti.

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Accent

    Wtf is that American accent about?

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  3. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Good on 'em!

    I used to think home delivery was being a bit lazy, thought I should be down the supermarket duking it out with everyone else on a Saturday morning. Tried home delivery a few times and the one thing it really helped with was stopping me buying nibbles! You know, you're fed up getting all your stuff in the trolley, then you spot the biscuit aisle and next thing you've spent £15 on sugary rubbish. Losing weight and saving money!

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    1. Goat Jam
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      Headmaster

      Shopping

      Always eat, before doing so.

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  4. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Coat

    I've got this vision of someone scanning the wrong bit

    and ending up buying the advertising hoarding.

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Slick

    Clever. We'll see if it catches on in the less "work is my life" orientated countries.

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  6. Scarborough Dave
    WTF?

    Why Home Plus?

    Is "Tesco" a rude word in Korean?

    Can they not pronounce it?

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    1. Chad H.
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      No....

      But what the heck is a "Tesco" supposed to be? I get what a home plus is probably going to have.

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      1. Anonymous Coward
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        Anonymous Coward

        @chad h

        Tesco Tea was the first own brand product in 1924 back when it was still just market stall. Its the initials of TE Stockwell (partner at the tea suppliers) and CO from Jack Cohen's surname. The first real store opened in 1929.

        http://www.tescoplc.com/about-tesco/our-history/

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        1. Chad H.
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          Thumb Down

          I know that

          But to your newcomer who walks down the street it's just a meaningless word - that's what I'm getting at

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          1. Shades
            Reply Icon

            By that logic...

            "But to your newcomer who walks down the street it's just a meaningless word"

            And so is Morrisons, Sainsburys, ASDA, Waitrose, Lidl, Netto, Co-Op, Safeway, etc, but no-one had a problem figuring out what they were for. I believe thats what a marketing department is for too.

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            1. Chad H.
              Reply Icon

              That much is true

              But I know what a "Cartridge World" sells, a "Burger King" sells, and before they changed the name, I knew what a "Kentucky fried Chicken" sold.

              Its easier to introduce people to a new shop if they have a clue what the heck is in it - and thats exactly what Tesco was trying to do when they changed their name to something meaningful.

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            2. Anonymous Custard
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              Meh

              ASDA

              Actually ASDA started as a dairy firm (it's a contraction of Associated Dairy iirc).

              They sell a lot more than that now...

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  7. ZiggyZiggy
    WTF?

    Neat

    A really neat idea! Like it...

    Don't like the american though - a british company in Korea, narrated by an American - huh!?

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    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Has to be!

      The Koreans are so Americanized they wouldn't understand a British accent. Yes, I've tried.

      I'm surprised Tesco managed to get 2nd place in that market, with only 6% participation by Samsung.

      Walmart tried and failed.

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  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wow..

    What a great idea, so obvious once someone else has thought of it...

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  9. JohnG

    Favourites

    For me, one of the most useful features offered by Tesco's online grocery store is remembering the things I buy regularly (I guess other stores offer something similar). It saves a lot of time to be able to pick from a selection of my favourite items/brands and then look for few special items afterwards.

    Personally, I prefer shopping from home, with a sensible sized screen and where I can check in the fridge and cupboards to see if we are running out of anything. All the same, it is fairly clever giving people the feel of normal shopping and offering it to them while they are waiting about for a train with nothing better to do.

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  10. Old Handle
    Terminator

    Meanwhile in American

    What consumers want is not virtual stores, but virtual cashiers. Apparently. I'm not sure I see the appeal myself.

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