MasterCard and Samsung introduce pay-by-fridge

At the Consumer Electronics Show, MasterCard introduced Groceries by MasterCard, a new app which enables consumers to order groceries directly from Samsung’s new Family Hub refrigerator. The first shopping app integrated into a refrigerator, Groceries by MasterCard connects consumers to leading grocers in the most convenient and efficient setting – their kitchen.
„Groceries redefines the family grocery shopping experience by allowing households to share, build, manage and modify their grocery lists and shopping carts throughout the week.”, according to the press release.

Groceries was developed in partnership between MasterCard Labs and Samsung and will come preloaded in Samsung’s Family Hub refrigerator. At launch, consumers will be able to shop and select their needed items and favorite brands from leading online grocer and key integration partner FreshDirect, and ShopRite, the largest supermarket cooperative in the country with more than 250 stores in the Northeast. Items are added to a cart and the final shopping list is approved with a 4-digit pin, providing control over household purchases. Items are then paid for in a simple, single checkout experience that accepts any U.S.-issued credit and debit cards. Orders are delivered directly by the merchants and are not dependent on a third-party or concierge service, making shopping more efficient.

Introducing Groceries™ by MasterCard on the Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator

The Groceries shopping cart will also learn a family’s shopping habits, making personalized suggestions on items and brands. New features will continue to roll out, including recipe and video integration. As the rollout continues in 2016, additional grocers will be added to the Groceries app through MasterCard’s partnership with MyWebGrocer, which provides e-commerce and digital marketing solutions for more than 130 grocers across the globe and over 500 major consumer packaged goods brands.

“In a world where every device – from the phone to the refrigerator – is connected to the Internet, the ways in which consumers interact and transact with their favorite brands are changing,” said Betty DeVita, Chief Commercial Officer, MasterCard Labs. “We’re developing compelling, safe and seamless commerce experiences for consumers across channels and devices as we continue to eliminate the boundaries between how we shop and how we pay.”

MasterCard has also developed a companion mobile app for Groceries, which allows multiple members of a family to add to a single cart from a device of their choice. At home, consumers can also use the mobile app to scan barcodes on products for easy additions to the online shopping cart.

“Just as Family Hub changes the way we interact with our fridge, the new Groceries app will change how consumers shop,” said John Herrington, Senior Vice President, General Manager of Home Appliances, Samsung Electronics America.

Groceries by MasterCard is creating a new channel of consumer engagement for launch partners FreshDirect, MyWebGrocer and ShopRite.

“Since launch, FreshDirect has been on a mission to get consumers great, fresh food with less friction,” said Jodi Kahn, Chief Consumer Officer, FreshDirect. “This new technology speaks directly to that mission, giving consumers a new, seamless way to shop for groceries right from their own kitchen.”

“Commerce-enabled devices like the Family Hub refrigerator represent an unprecedented opportunity for our customers because it puts them right where the consumer path to purchase begins: in the kitchen,” said Eric Healy, President of MyWebGrocer. “We look forward to leveraging the open, API-centric capabilities of our Digital Experience Platform to advance our partnership with MasterCard and enable grocers and CPG brands to capitalize on the way in which the IoT revolution will transform the grocery shopping experience.”

“ShopRite has been a supermarket leader in digital commerce, making it easy for our customers to shop for their groceries online with our ShopRite from Home service,” said Wakefern President and COO Joe Sheridan. “By partnering now with Groceries by MasterCard, we can make life even more convenient for our customers with this latest innovation in on-demand grocery shopping. This new technology incorporated into the Samsung Family Hub refrigerator allows families immediate access to our ShopRite stores the moment they run out of food or need ingredients for a recipe or planned meal.”

The Samsung Family Hub refrigerator will be available in the U.S. in May of this year.