A pocket size shopping helper
Funded by the EU, the 'Shopping Mate: A location- and context- aware service for assisting consumers during their shopping time' (SHOPPINGMATE) project sought to combine the ease of online shopping with traditional shopping. From conceptualisation to design to implementation and demonstration, the service saves time and money, and enhances the satisfaction of shoppers. For businesses, it increases turnover and boosts competitiveness. Researchers employed advanced technologies that enable content searching, location and navigation — even providing the consumer with directions to the shop stocking the item they wish to purchase. Adding to its value, SHOPPINGMATE uses artificial intelligence-matching algorithms that allow would-be buyers to describe the desired item. User requests, represented as ontologies, are matched with descriptions of products provided by shop agents. Central to the project's work and its innovation was a semantic-based searching utility employing web ontology language. The integrated system comprises various components that are individually responsible for a particular part of the information workflow. The software has been designed to allow components to interact with each other to produce the end result. In itself, this represents another project success, namely opportunities for exploitation of individual components, which can be considered as customisable libraries. To measure the system's effectiveness and usability, field trials were conducted in Greece and Finland; positive feedback was provided from consumers as well as shop owners. The system also has potential for use as a search tool for special offers or promotional items. As such, plans have been outlined to adapt the platform for a location-based, context-aware special offers service. SHOPPINGMATE succeeded in introducing a novel digital shopping experience that benefits consumers and retailers alike. With the demands of time and resources weighing heavily on modern-day living, shoppers now have another time-saving yet experience-enhancing service at their fingertips.
