• by kyle , Daisy Whitney , October 26, 2006

Cereal makers, deodorant peddlers, and paper towel sellers have faced the dilemma for years of how to reach consumers at the very moment they trundle down the aisle in the grocery store contemplating which brand to buy.

Dallas-based start-up Mediacart has an answer: digital ads on shopping carts. The company is installing a system in several stores to deliver ads to consumers for products in the aisles they happen to be in. Mediacart installs chips every two feet in grocery stores aisles; its carts then sync with those chips and show ads based on the in-store location. Mediacart is testing the system and expects to roll it out in three grocery stores by year-end and 400 by the end of next year.

Mediacart sells the ads and splits revenue with grocers, says Jon Kramer, chief marketing officer. “If we can create a product or system with true shopper value that delivers ads in the store and help the retailer differentiate themselves, we could have a powerful model.” About 100 ads will run in each store in any four-week period, with about four ads for each aisle.