Chicago’s L transit stations to feature QR codes in virtual malls

qr code virtual store

A new ad campaign from Peapod will bring mobile grocery shopping to two stops

Online grocery store, Peapod, has unveiled its new mobile shopping ad campaign, which allows commuters to use their smartphones to purchase food products directly from the walls of the L train stations in Chicago by scanning QR codes that are posted there.

The virtual malls began last week at the State and Lake Station Tunnel and with ads plastered all over the walls, allowing mobile device carrying passengers to scan the barcodes next to images of grocery shelves that feature popular food and household products

Commuters can choose to scan the QR codes to download the PeapodMobile app for free and do their shopping.

The app is compatible with both Android smartphones and iPhones, and lets commuters do their grocery shopping, manage their lists, and schedule their food deliveries quickly and conveniently during the time that they wait for their trains to arrive.

This is an increasingly popular use for the two dimensional bar codes, as virtual malls pop up with shopping campaigns all over the world. Singapore, Japan and South Korea are examples of countries that have already had their own digital shops popping up in various public transit spaces.

In fact, Peapod had a similar campaign in Philadelphia, this year, at 15 of its commuter stations.

That 12 week program, which started in February, was highly successful, and the company has stated that it experienced a reorder rate of 90 percent among the individuals who downloaded the app by scanning the ads on the station walls. The length of Chicago’s program has not yet been announced, nor has it been indicated whether or not other L stations will be included.

This type of pop-up store is appearing in Europe, as well, as Jetshop opened its own location in Stockholm, Sweden. Consumers were able to look at the images of the products on the walls of the Central railway station and then scan their associated QR codes in order to either download the app necessary to fill a shopping cart, or simply purchase the product that interests them.

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