Filed under: Travel News
Gatwick's North Terminal: PA
Ever returned from holiday feeling a bit peckish - only to find you'd stumble across more groceries at Old Mother Hubbard's house?
Well, don't fear, Tesco is trialling a new way to ensure that never happens again - by launching the UK's first virtual supermarket at Gatwick Airport.
For the next two weeks, travellers will find a virtual store in the departure lounge at Gatwick, with four interactive screens that you can scroll through to pick from an array of 80 products, according to the BBC.
You can buy products by scanning the barcode with a smartphone (like an iPhone), with the idea being that you order a basket of groceries to be delivered to your house the day you get home to prevent post-holiday hunger.
The virtual store is being trailed at Gatwick's North Terminal during the two busiest weeks of the flying weeks of the year.
According to the Telegraph, Tesco says it is a great way for passengers to use their average of 70 minutes downtime while waiting to board flights.
Tesco's internet retailing director Ken Twole said a similar scheme launched last year in South Korea for commuters to shop at train and bus stations had been a success.
He told the Guardian: "We got a lot of interest in our Korean sites and it went viral, so we wanted to see if customers would use this, with a view to launching at more airports."
But not everybody was impressed; Mike Cameron, 50, travelling to Edinburgh told the paper: "The last thing you want to do when you're going on holiday is start thinking about coming back."
Would you be ultra-organised and do your grocery shopping at the airport? Leave your thoughts about the idea below...
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