The person who invents Google Maps for supermarkets which can direct you to whatever you are looking for in whatever supermarket will be a true tech genius.
Replies
Stores have their products mapped in, it's how those who collect delivery orders pick them. Tesco's staff app shows you exactly where products are, so it shouldn't be difficult to transfer that to the shopping app. Although, customers wouldn't wander around buying more than they need then.
aug 22, 2025, 3:09 pm • 0 0 • view
I disagree. They would have wasted a lot of their time.
aug 22, 2025, 8:26 pm • 0 0 • view
B&Q app is pretty good for exactly that
aug 23, 2025, 2:02 pm • 0 0 • view
Rage quitting to the other supermarket (i.e. Aldi/Lidl flip) due to layout changes is the ultimate neurodivergence.
aug 22, 2025, 7:25 pm • 0 0 • view
All the staff have the app that does this. They just don't want you to have it.
aug 23, 2025, 1:37 pm • 0 0 • view
Tesco's Grocery & Clubcard app does this.
aug 22, 2025, 3:27 pm • 2 0 • view
Technically possible, logistically nightmarish, commercially unwanted.
aug 22, 2025, 4:06 pm • 1 0 • view
Indoor 'gps' is already possible using the frequency of light fixtures.
aug 22, 2025, 6:46 pm • 0 0 • view
The supermarkets will shut it down: supermarkets want you in there as long as possible.
aug 22, 2025, 5:51 pm • 1 0 • view
Yet they want your car out of the car park within 90 minutes, which doesn't seem fair, what if I want a good 2 hour wander round Lidl?
aug 23, 2025, 1:27 pm • 0 0 • view
Not a technical problem at all. No invention needed. Supermarkets don't want you to find things quickly, they want you to wander into other aisles so you buy more items.
aug 22, 2025, 4:39 pm • 16 0 • view
You’d need to update the app every week for each time the supermarket changed things around
aug 23, 2025, 7:33 am • 1 0 • view
They are called Customer Service Assistants and you can ask them questions with your mouth.
aug 22, 2025, 3:06 pm • 10 0 • view
I also find reading the list of item categories posted above both ends of each aisle to be very helpful. Same goes for checking where an item was last time I shopped there.
aug 22, 2025, 7:56 pm • 2 0 • view
As they change the layout every few months so it'll be always out of date...
aug 22, 2025, 3:01 pm • 0 0 • view
Many supermarkets fulfill online orders directly from the same shelves as customers. They use the space/floor planning data to direct the instore pickers efficiently around the store. Just not in their interest to use that for a customer app
aug 22, 2025, 5:42 pm • 0 0 • view
WHERE ARE THE EGGS
aug 22, 2025, 3:01 pm • 2 0 • view
Yeah, where's that app?
aug 22, 2025, 4:09 pm • 0 0 • view
Was in a shop looking for birthday candles. Couldn't find them. Assistant said they were in the stationery aisle. I explained that I'd been in the aisle labelled "stationery" but there wasn't any there. "Yeah" she said "we moved the stationery. It's a couple of aisles further up now" 🤷🏻
aug 22, 2025, 10:05 pm • 1 0 • view
Or the app which directs you to the nearest shop that has what you want. If I'm entering a shop it's because I need something in a hurry.
aug 23, 2025, 4:56 pm • 0 0 • view
And they will not have to beg for a Nobel Peace Prize, it will be on aisle 11, waiting for them.
aug 23, 2025, 1:35 pm • 0 0 • view
Yeah but then the supermarkets will move stuff around to fuck with your head. A supermarket worker will reply to this saying this isn't true. But we all know it is.
aug 23, 2025, 3:42 pm • 0 0 • view
And if they can make it happen for any given Costco at any given time, they’ll be richer than Musk!
aug 22, 2025, 10:32 pm • 0 0 • view
Thinking this through seriously. For it to work effectively and sustainably, supermarkets would have to cooperate by recording shelf coordinates that match food codes. This seems technically possible and must be how Ocado operates. But it's not in their interests, as they want shoppers to browse.
aug 22, 2025, 2:58 pm • 3 0 • view
Target does it in their app, it’s something I miss about not shopping there.
aug 22, 2025, 2:59 pm • 0 0 • view
Oh, really? I wonder how they keep the data up-to-date.
aug 22, 2025, 3:05 pm • 0 0 • view
In house in company so it wouldn’t be like a Google maps per se. Inventory control and bin location data is usually something these big box stores do, they already have that live, up dated by shelve stockers, data. Target just found a way to use that data in their app for their costumers.
aug 22, 2025, 3:13 pm • 1 0 • view
Maybe their model is to get people in and out as quickly as possible rather than have people wander in, meander and spend more than they'd planned to spend? Interesting.
aug 22, 2025, 3:21 pm • 1 0 • view
Target is the king of impulse purchases. It’s as if marketing is basically a science. From their store layouts to end caps, even which level shelve stock goes on it all plays a huge part in getting people out the door spending more than they intended to and quickly so they return.
aug 22, 2025, 3:36 pm • 1 0 • view
And think of all the data that could be sold to companies from this.... Profit!! 😁
aug 22, 2025, 3:32 pm • 0 0 • view
The Tesco app tells you the aisle. I assume other supermarkets are at least as good.
aug 22, 2025, 3:05 pm • 9 0 • view
The funny thing though, the Tesco staff often haven't a clue.
aug 22, 2025, 6:14 pm • 0 0 • view
+1 on this..the layout of every Tesco store is held on a computer at HQ, it will direct you to the aisle and shelf that you need for each product - If you put a list in to the app, it works out the best route
aug 22, 2025, 3:33 pm • 1 0 • view
Where's the adventure in that?
aug 22, 2025, 7:15 pm • 2 1 • view
You could always set it for a different store to the one you’re actually going to, if you want to mix things up 🤣
aug 22, 2025, 11:06 pm • 0 0 • view
I haven't seen other supermarkets here do it. The "other things on this shelf" list the app/site has is great for finding where in the aisle it is too.
aug 22, 2025, 5:28 pm • 0 0 • view
I think WM already have that, when I type the item into their search on their website it gives me the aisle number. Prob the same for other grocery stores too.
aug 22, 2025, 9:12 pm • 0 0 • view
I visited a Tesco recently that had been “re-merchandised” I only wanted two things. Needless to say they weren’t where I thought they were, so I left empty handed. The person who doesn’t want to do a big shop, but wants something specific that only the larger stores stock will stay away.
aug 22, 2025, 3:21 pm • 0 0 • view
Already exists for one of the DIY chains here in Europe. Search product in app, find aisle number… transpose on to map. Super helpful for those tiny items.
aug 22, 2025, 5:12 pm • 0 0 • view
B&Q have aisle numbers in their app
aug 22, 2025, 6:46 pm • 1 0 • view
Just organise goods by colour....
aug 22, 2025, 3:06 pm • 2 0 • view
Alphabetical. “Where am I? I’m in the cheese, chicken, chorizo and chamois cloth aisle.”
aug 22, 2025, 3:54 pm • 1 0 • view
Yep, do your yellow shopping first, then the green, then the red....
aug 22, 2025, 4:33 pm • 0 0 • view
It does mean peppers would have to be packed individually....
aug 22, 2025, 4:34 pm • 2 0 • view
Skittles.
aug 22, 2025, 4:55 pm • 1 0 • view
I've looked into this. It' not the tech that's an issue, it's coordinating with every supermarket—who like you to get a little lost. We considered whether you could crowdsource it, but no-one could be bothered with that while out shopping.
aug 22, 2025, 2:59 pm • 0 0 • view