Florida grocer debuts hologram shopping experience

The Seed to Table grocery store, in Naples, Florida has launched a 7-foot conversational hologram, with a shopping cart called Goldie, that aims to help shoppers discover products in an engaging and fun way.

Situated at the store's entrance, the Proto Hologram creation presents information and advertising. Goldie is an emotionally intelligent, golden shopping cart complete with a face, voice and whimsical personality.

"Seed To Table is a cutting edge grocery store/entertainment mecca like no other and adding Goldie to it just brings us to another level that no other supermarket has," Dan St. Martin, general manager, Seed to Table, said in the release. "Seed To Table is the Disney World of supermarkets."

Shoppers can ask Goldie questions, get recommendations and discover ideas. Best of all, she can remember preferences and previous interactions, creating a more personalized experience over time.

The experience brings together AI, personalization, immersive technology and storytelling.

Shoppers can participate as much—or as little—as they want. The experience can also communicate in almost any language, helping make it accessible to diverse shoppers.

"Seed to Table deserves tremendous credit for having the vision to be first," James Beckmann, CEO of Live Buzz Intelligence, said in the release. "They're showing what is possible when a retailer modernizes engagement at exactly the right moment. We're excited to bring something genuinely new to shoppers."

"For years, we've been bringing people face-to-face with holograms in ways they never imagined possible," David Nussbaum, founder and chairman of Proto Hologram, said in the release. "Now we're bringing that same magic to something as ordinary as a trip to the grocery store. What excites me about this collaboration with Live Buzz Intelligence and Seed to Table is that we're introducing new technology into retail which enhances the entire customer shopping experience. When a shopping cart has a personality, products can tell their own stories, and customers can interact with AI in real time, you're getting a glimpse of what the future of retail looks like."