Swiss supermarket Migros lets consumers compare products in-store

Swiss supermarket chain Migros lets customers check and compare products on their mobile phone while they are in-store. With the new Discover function in the Migros app, consumers can scan products and see what other customers have to say about the articles. They can also consult nutritional and allergy information.

Migros updated its app with the Discover function, which enables consumers to scan a product, after which they will receive a product rating in stars and as a text. Migros’ software recognizes the product after scanning pictures of it, but also by letting the customer take a picture of the product itself. The app recognizes 5,000 products and shows consumers about 80,000 product evaluations it gathered via Migipedia, the company’s product catalog and community platform. In addition to these evaluations, users get also access to nutritional tables, allergy notes and prescriptions, the company explains. Critical ratings or calories are also available.

It seems like a very bold move. Giving your customers an overview of product reviews, so they could end up choosing for a branded product instead of the private brand. But still, the customer will shop at Migros and the app can also inspire consumers to buy more as they show them recipes based on a scanned article.

Online goes offline

If anything else, it looks more like a logical response to the fact that more and more consumers check products in-store, compare prices online and then purchase the product elsewhere, mostly online, for a lower price. With the updated app, Migros offers more information to its customers, while trying to keep them at the supermarket.