MasterCard and Samsung Come Together on Grocery Shopping

It wasn’t so long ago that the idea of a connected refrigerator that could make a shopping list for users was a pretty exciting notion.

Now, MasterCard and Samsung have come together in the form of the Family Hub refrigerator, that not only makes a list, but also buys the groceries ahead of time for the user to pick up.

Dubbed “Groceries by MasterCard,” the service uses the connectivity functions of the Samsung Family Hub refrigerator to allow users to order and pay remotely for groceries using a companion app.

At launch, the service will only work with ShopRite and FreshDirect, but those won’t be the only points of access forever. Eventually, reports note, the service will be made available to thousands of grocers directly. Users can even browse virtual grocery store shelves to find items to purchase and then make purchases accordingly.

Those interested will need to shell out $5,000 for a Samsung Family Hub refrigerator first, however.

It’s a reasonably exciting notion, and about the only thing missing to make it truly complete is to incorporate drone delivery with it so that ordering that carton of eggs ends up in delivery direct to the home.

For right now, however, this may not work out so well. In the end, it’s a niche product on several levels. Not only is it largely useless to those who don’t have a ShopRite or FreshDirect accessible, but it’s also fairly high-priced. It’s likely going to be well out of most users’ range, at least for now.

Given that the product was shown off at the recent CES event, there’s a chance that the price will drop as it starts hitting the market in earnest.

Even though the Samsung Family Hub is set to throw in several home automation tools, including music and entertainment options, it’s still likely to prove out of the price range of most users. The idea, however, is good enough that more companies should look into it.

Grocery stores in particular could take a cue for this, offering up the option to buy remotely for in-store pickup, or even for, again, drone delivery. It’s the start of a potentially exciting new concept, and mobile payments will be a big part of this.