Shopping for groceries can now be as easy as swiping your smartphone over a quick response code and having your purchases delivered to your home. It's a new innovation presented by Home plus, a South Korean/British discount store retail chain, who unveiled its idea for a virtual supermarket in South Korea. The supermarket chain, previously known as Tesco, had one mission in mind: “Could we become no.1 without increasing our number of stores?” as stated in their case study video describing the concept of the virtual stores.

               
Home plus began by studying the Korean population. The studies showed that people responded positively to simplified and fast shopping, especially during a time consuming task like waiting for the subway.  The placement of these stores was designed to save a few extra minutes for another activity.

               
"It saves you gad and time. Not everyone has Smartphones, but those that do can really benefit from it," said Crystal Rodriguez, a senior in Commercial Arts.

These virtual stores consist of pictures that visually show products in the same a regular supermarket does, making it very familiar for the customer. Once the QR code is scanned, the item gets loaded into an online cart, and the next screen is the process of checking out the purchases to be delivered.

               
While there are negative perspectives including the overwhelming advancements in technology are increasing the amount of laziness from its users, there are positive aspects.

                 
“This is a great idea! It gives another option of virtually shopping, rather than just from a computer, and it takes away the hassle of crowded supermarket stores,” said Nathalie Rodriguez, a sophomore from Hialeah High.

               
Along with the positive feedback concerning comfortable, less crowded shopping experiences, business owners of these stores are responding well. Sally Yong, from Edward R. Murrow High School in New York, felt mixed feelings.

                
 “This new method of shopping also prevents the risk of shoplifting since the products are pictures, but it would definitely increase carbon emissions with an increase in food trucks delivering to your home,” she said.

               
While Kevin Arab from Information Technology was asked if this is something he would like to see in the US, he said:

“Sure, why not? I can get my Nesquick delivered to my house, that’s beautiful.”

               
From these virtual stores, Home plus has already received 76% increase in just online membership and an incredible 130% increase in online sales showing the success of this virtual grocery store experiment as stated by their advertisement video. Homeplus’s popular new gadget brings new light into the possibilities of the Smartphone era.