The recent world-famous Expo 2015 had much to offer, so I thought I’d pop over to Milan to take in this year’s extravaganza. The event is huge. Years of bidding, projects, design, scandals and construction finally coming to fruition as a surreal showcase of 184 countries around the theme: “Feeding the planet. Energy for life.”
The Expo provides a platform for a number of seminars, talks and business and educational events around the themes of food production, distribution, consumption and sustainability.
As well as the exhibiting countries showcasing their know-how and technology, a number of global brands take to the stage, with their attention-grabbing exhibition stands and experiential events.
The exhibition I was most intrigued to visit was from Italian chain Coop, one of Europe’s largest supermarket chains and one of the main event partners. Coop set out to predict and demonstrate what the supermarket of the future might look like.
Well, let me tell you. The future looks pretty sleek.
Coop’s vision is that of a digital marketplace: I pick up a courgette and the display above the counter animates to tell me where the produce has been grown and its nutritional properties. A robotic arm packs my fruit on demand.
Holograms replace printed in-store communications (remember the dreamy hologram of Kate Moss from McQueen’s Savage Beauty? Same technology. Just swap Kate for ham). The display above the food counters detects what ingredients I’ve picked up and promptly suggests food pairing and recipes. The glass of the chilled-goods counter animates, showing me serving suggestions.
All this technology is exciting. It feels like an interesting possibility for brands to engage with the consumer in a relevant way. When picking up ingredients, I could be getting recipe suggestions from a brand and be directed to the aisle.
As a consumer I’d be able to make better-informed choices and see how other shoppers have rated the same product. I could see suggestions for complementing purchases. I could receive tailored offers in real-time based on my choices.
I’ll admit that if taken too far, it could feel like shopping under the watchful eye of Big Brother. But if brands embrace the possibility and create smart content with the shopper’s interests in mind, the future could be exciting.
A floating, holographic ham is just around the corner.
Silvia Sella is head of design at Lowe Open
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