In South Korea, ‘flying store’ offers wifi and online shopping

Consumers in the Czech Republic have already been able to do their grocery shopping through a virtual store in the form of Mall.cz. Now, South Korea supermarket Emart has created a wifi-based flying store, enabling those within its range to buy products online. Developed by creative agency Cheil, the campaign saw a large, remote-controlled balloon – fitted with a wifi router – flown over populous locations in Seoul, such as public squares, shopping centers and transport hubs. People who saw the balloon were encouraged to connect to the wifi through their smartphones, which automatically directed them to the Emart app. When downloaded, the app offered discounted products and vouchers to use on its online store. According to the company, although it targets families on a budget, often they will just go to the nearest convenience store and pay higher prices rather than make their way to an Emart. Through the flying store, Emart was able to bring its competitive prices direct to the consumer.