Tesco has become the first major UK retailer to launch a Google Glass shopping app.
Tesco Labs describes the software as a “basic” version of its Grocery app, available on iOS and Android.
Pablo Coberly, Innovation Engineer at Tesco Labs explains: “At Tesco we want to ensure we have the means in place to allow customers to shop whenever, however they want which is why we’re testing the possibilities of customers topping up their online basket with Glass.”
He admits there’s no chance of Glass replacing other devices that we would more often go to for online shopping, since “its functionality is different, and more immediate”. In fact, it seems as though customers can’t actually order online using Glass — according to a press release on the launch, they’d have to log back on to their Tesco account using the aforementioned devices to do that.
The app allows customers to add items to their online basket using voice commands or by scanning barcodes.
Tesco has launched a free app for Google Glass to make online shopping easier for customers.
The app allows customers to find products to buy using voice commands such as “OK Glass, find a product: cheese”, or by scanning the barcode of a product the customer already has.
When the information appears, the customer can view the nutritional information and add it to their shopping basket, ready to order and get their shopping delivered to their front door.
Tesco Groceries were officially announced in June last year, initially with the supermarket’s staff in mind, to improve the picking and packing or re-stocking processes, for example.
Although consumer applications were on Tesco’s mind, it took a lot of research and testing to get the app produced in its current form.
Tesco’s tech lead Pablo Coberly said in a blog: “We have refined and shortened the user journeys and also clarified the experience to make it consistent with the Glass design patterns.
“You can already add items to your basket and view nutritional information, but we’ll continue to develop the glassware based on your feedback. We are keen to discover how we can take Glass further, how we can improve the experience for customers and what your thoughts on Glass and other wearables are.”
Coberly went on to give some insight into developing for Google Glass too, saying the community and supporting materials around creating apps for the platform are improving, making it easier for businesses to adopt it.
“The Glass software platform went through 6 updates in the time we worked with it, which shows how much Google is still investing in the platform.
“Given the steady flow of software updates, and the various articles that have been published alluding to updated Glass hardware, I can’t help but feel this is still the beginning of the journey for Glass and for Tesco,” he explained.
https://glass.google.com/u/0/glassware/1657055482003112863
