Checking out can be a breeze. Fujitsu already has the U-Scan brand on self-checkout stands that have become commonplace, and the U-Scan Shopper will allow the purchase to happen quickly, with a cashier needed only to audit what's in the cart — no rescanning is necessary — and handling the tender at specially designated aisles.

"The main two complaints people have at stores are lines and not being able to find their items, and this addresses both of those," said Danny Warner, Klever Marketing's president.

"This can be a valuable tool for the grocer, but certainly I think the biggest advantage is for the consumer — being able to have that quick shopping trip, not get frustrated by not being able to find things and not being able to know what the price is, and not having to wait in lines as they go out the door," Slack said.

Advertising help

Still, for manufacturers and retailers, a big plus is the system's flexible advertising capabilities. Get within about 10 feet of an item and the device will display an ad in the form of a banner or electronic coupon or brief video commercial. That can be handy for stores because, Slack said, studies indicate 70 percent of shoppers make buying decisions at the point of selection.

"Consumer goods manufacturers find this valuable because they've spent all this money developing their brand image and whole advertising campaign, and if they can complete the circle — hitting you on the freeway, hitting you in your living room — they can now remind you of that image and all they've created right in front of the product in the aisle," Warner said. "It's very valuable."

"You absolutely have to manage how many ads that you do," Slack said. "If you think about the typical store, it probably has 30 or 40 aisles in the store, and you'd probably never want to have more than 50 ads, which means less than two ads per aisle.

"One of the things we know is you can't keep someone's attention here for 20 seconds or 30 seconds or a minute like you do on television, so the ads have to be nine to 12 seconds, be hard-hitting and make their statement. They have to be very entertaining to keep the shopper's attention, and they have to be very informative. There are lots of different ways of doing that without, in the vernacular of the day, 'spamming' the customer."

The devices can even be set up to advertise based on shoppers' individual buying histories. Coupons or discounts could be offered only to certain shoppers who make buying decisions based on price rather than brand loyalty.

Stores, knowing their bananas have only one day of shelf life remaining, could advertise them at half-off in order to clear the shelves.

Convenience and privacy