High-Tech Shopping Carts

(CBS)  Welcome to "Store Wars."

Armed with high-tech weaponry, one supermarket chain is battling to keep shoppers like Stephanie O'Brien and her mom Valeria from deserting, reports CBS News Correspondent Cynthia Bowers.

"Has it made you a more determined Stop and Shop customer?" Bowers asked.

"Yes, actually, because this is the only supermarket that has it around the area," replied Stephanie O'Brien.

It is the "Shopping Buddy." A touch-screen, cart-mounted computer that Stop and Shop is trying out in the Boston area.

"If they find that it's easier and faster to get it done at Stop and Shop because they've got all the tools at their fingertips, then they're probably gonna buy more stuff," said Stop and Shop Marketing Director Peg Merzbacher.

Shopping Buddy is half butler and half big Big Brother. It knows exactly where in the store you are ...

"It's reminding me that since I'm in the deli area now, I can order my deli while I'm shopping," said Merzbacher.

"So you don't have to stop and get a number and wait in line?" asked Bowers.

"You don't."

... what you might be looking for....

"Now it's gonna show me all the items I've bought in this aisle," Merzbacher said.

... and even helps in the kitchen.

"If you don't know what to fix for supper, you can get a recipe right on here?' Bowers asked.

"Exactly. You can e-mail the recipe home."

• 1
• 2
• Next Page »