"Smart Mall" in Dubai metro stations

Rta and etisalat have partnered up and have come up with an innovative way to go grocery shopping while going on the metro. Currently at 5 metro stations including the Mall of the Emirates metro station you can purchase groceries from a wide range of products (currently 300) and have it delivered to your house for free. This system will be further expanded in the future to more metro stations as well as Damac Properties, Dubai Internet City, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Baniyas metro stations.

Smart mall being used at the Mall of the Emirates metro station

How it works

It is a very simple system that uses touch technology on a wide screen with larger icons so its easy to use and two people can use it at the same time. There is no need to log in or create an account. All you have to do is key in your address and mobile number while shopping for the first time. Then activate the smart cart and select the items and quantity after which you must swipe your credit/debit card to complete the transaction. The goods will be delivered to your chosen address at the time given.

Stakeholders

• People using the metro
• People who have a metro station closer to them than a super market to purchase food from 
• Business that want to know if their product is popular compared to their competitors
• People who don't own cars to transport grocery's to their house

Social and ethical significance

This is beneficial because it helps people shop on the go and save their time and effort. Customers can set a time of delivery and have the items delivered at their doorstep. There is a good user friendly interface since the system has large icons to tap on as well as large text to read and the system is all controlled with a large touch screen. Although on the other hand this may cause some issues with anonymity and security since it is a large screen everyone around the person using the smart mall will see their information, such as where the person lives and possibly their credit card information.  A solution could be to allow customers to pay through their Nol card, or their mobile phone (Etisalat Balance) since they have an online database that has all customers addresses so they don't have to type it in on the big screen where everyone can see this will also allow a quicker purchasing process. Another suggestion to fix the address issue would be to have a small screen on the side with a keyboard so that they may type in their address without anyone seeing.