How to Improve Online Shopping (Slogging Insights)

Technology has an impact in many fields. In this slogging thread, we approached this impact in the theme of shopping and discussed how it can be advantageous for us. We talked about which technology is already available on this topic, and what we would like to see to make the experience easier.

This Slogging thread by Sara Pinto, Limarc Ambalina, Mónica Freitas and Jack Boreham occurred in slogging's official #technology channel, and has been edited for readability.

Sara PintoNov 29, 2021, 10:58 PM

What features would you like to see to make our shopping experience easier?

Sara PintoNov 29, 2021, 10:59 PM

I've come upon the Amazon Go shop, which is basically a store with no checkout. So, you go into the store, enter the app to scan a QR code, you pick up whatever you wish, and when you are done, just walk away. They will later send the receipt and take the money from the Amazon account. What do you think? https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=16008589011

Sara PintoNov 29, 2021, 11:08 PM

Limarc Ambalina Mónica Freitas Jack Boreham Favour Amadi Ellen Stevens Abeer

Limarc AmbalinaNov 30, 2021, 8:10 AM

Personally, I would like a universal carbon footprint tracker like this one: https://ecocart.io/extension/

Mónica FreitasNov 30, 2021, 12:31 PM

Sara Pinto For me, it would be something like an app that, upon identifying the supermarket you're in, gives you a list of products according to your preferences. For example, imagine you want to buy only vegan products or fair trade or sustainable brands; that app could let you know which brands math you're criteria, and you wouldn't have to spend hours online researching each brand. Another example could be something like you being allergic to some ingredient, and the app would let you know which items in that store are safe. A bit out there, but I can see good uses for it. :woman-shrugging:

Mónica FreitasNov 30, 2021, 12:33 PM

Sara Pinto Oh, your amazon idea is also great! It would be a time saver since we spend a lot of time at checkouts. I wish this idea spread to other stores as well. It would make shopping a less draining task 😅

Mónica FreitasNov 30, 2021, 12:36 PM

Limarc Ambalina I love this!! How does it work? Does it measure according to product type, its packaging waste, and how it was produced? Where did you first hear about this extension?

Limarc AmbalinaNov 30, 2021, 12:38 PM

I'm not 100% sure and actually the first one I ever tried was this one: https://shopneutral.io/index.html

Limarc AmbalinaNov 30, 2021, 12:39 PM

For Neutral, they state, "Neutral calculates the carbon footprint of your product by accounting for **entire lifecycle** of your product.

This calculation factors in all material and energy inputs consumed, material and energy outputs generated, transport, storage, and waste outputs generated throughout the life of a good"

https://www.notion.so/Our-Methodology-81b3a89154d94ea5bca41374bf8680d7

Sara PintoNov 30, 2021, 7:42 PM

Limarc Ambalina That's amazing! Neutral seems quite detailed and complete! I might start using it, I think it's a good way to bring awareness to our impact on the environment, something that we often need. Which one do you prefer?

Sara PintoNov 30, 2021, 8:02 PM

Mónica Freitas That would be so useful, especially for people who have restrictions, as you said. They could save a lot of time instead of having to read every label and check every ingredient. If it doesn't exist already, you should trademark it. If you don't, I will! The closest I got to find something like that was a page on Instagram that disclosed vegan products, where you could find them and at what prices and they also update if the products remain vegan or their ingredients have been changed

Sara PintoNov 30, 2021, 8:13 PM

Mónica Freitas I got quite excited about the project. It would be simple and dynamic, just going in and out, no trouble! This kind of store could have saved me in a lot of situations haha

Jack BorehamDec 1, 2021, 7:22 AM

Sara Pinto, I love all of these ideas! I want something along the lines as to what Mónica Freitas is talking about. An app that tells me what ingredients to buy for a certain recipe and where it's located in store. I'm terrible at gathering ingredients, so this would be a game -changer 😂.

Mónica FreitasDec 1, 2021, 12:44 PM

Sara Pinto Maybe we'll get a few programmers and kick this idea off! Not we start seeing particular supermarket alleys for bio food and healthy food, but if you're vegan, you won't find everything you need there. Or if you're allergic to something, there's nothing to make shopping easy. And I bet that for some people, groceries shopping can be really overwhelming for this exact reason.

Mónica FreitasDec 1, 2021, 12:46 PM

Sara Pinto Especially when you have to sprint to a store for a particular ingredient and then there's a massive queue 😂

Mónica FreitasDec 1, 2021, 12:51 PM

Jack Boreham I got you! There was one app I discovered while I was living in London, Mealime. It gives you recipes ideas, minding your dietary restrictions, and gives you a shopping list for each meal and portion you choose. So if you make up your meal plan for the week and add those meals to the "shopping cart," the app will give you a detailed list of everything you'll need to buy for that week - ingredient by ingredient.

Jack BorehamDec 1, 2021, 4:57 PM

Mónica Freitas 😱😱😱, you might have just changed my life. I'm downloading this!

Sara PintoDec 1, 2021, 5:41 PM

Jack Boreham I think you are all set up haha. Please tell us how that experience went on, if it actually helped. Me and Mónica Freitas might want to bring that to Portugal haha

Sara PintoDec 1, 2021, 5:48 PM

Mónica Freitas Exactly! Bio and healthy doesn't translate literally to vegan or vegetarian. There are tons of more common foods that might be vegan, but having to read all through the label of each product... Oof. An app would definitely solve this! We should get going on this hahaha

Jack BorehamDec 2, 2021, 10:16 AM

Mónica Freitas will do😂

Mónica FreitasDec 2, 2021, 11:19 AM

Jack Boreham let me know your thoughts on it 🙌

Mónica FreitasDec 2, 2021, 11:20 AM

Sara Pinto So true! Let's get this idea to Shark Tank 😂