Attention shoppers: Smart carts … aisle 6

Companies such as Microsoft have been working on technology to make shopping at the grocery store easier and more efficient for shoppers and store employees. Although new shopping technologies always interest me, I never get too excited about them until I see them in action.

Recently, I watched Lara Spencer demonstrate the new MediaCart system on the "Rachael Ray Show." After seeing this impressive demonstration, I certainly hope the pilot testing goes well so we can all have access to these shopping carts.

Shopping carts equipped with this system have a computer screen facing you attached to the front of the cart. There is a scanning device attached to the cart's handle. When you select an item, you can scan its barcode and immediately see its price on the screen. Because pricing errors are easy to overlook at the register, this would be an excellent tool to avoid overcharges on your grocery bill.

Recently, I found $6.19 in overcharges on my store receipt, which was 15 percent of the total. I had to go to the customer service counter to get the refund. Most shoppers wouldn't take the time to do that. If that bill was typical, that would be about $500 per year in overcharges. Being able to scan the price before purchasing an item may not only save money but would be a big timesaver as well.

This system could also be an ideal budgeting tool. If you have a dollar amount in mind for your grocery spending, you will see a running total of your grocery bill as you shop. This "smart" shopping cart will also let shoppers know if there is a less-expensive alternative for the item they selected.

During Spencer's demonstration, she selected one brand of pasta. After she scanned it, the system suggested she look at another brand that was less expensive. My guess is that the system suggested a sponsoring advertiser's item, not necessarily the least-expensive item. Smart shoppers will need to discern suggestive selling by these carts.

Because you scan their store loyalty card when you start using the cart, the system will know your purchase history. That means the cart would be able to provide you with special coupon offers for specific items as you shop. I would hope that the system is designed so that the coupon offers would be electronically delivered to your loyalty card and deducted automatically from your bill at checkout. No paper to clip out and organize!

Shoppers can also view nutritional information for the item on the cart's screen. Since the same information is on the package, I don't think that's a major benefit, but it is nice to see the information in bigger print.

At the end of the shopping trip, the cart would have its total on the screen so the shopper would simply pay the bill and have the groceries bagged. This saves a great deal of time for each transaction, since the groceries would not have to be unloaded on the conveyer belt and scanned again.

According to MediaCart holdings, the business plan depends on having the shopping-cart systems funded by advertisers, rather than the stores. I think that's good for shoppers since getting advertisers would probably be easier than asking retailers to invest in new technology.

They have been testing the system in ShopRite stores in New Jersey and plan to expand the testing to more stores this summer. If all goes well, the company said they expect national expansion by the end of the year.