OREANDA-NEWS. January 15, 2013.  Fujitsu today announced the U-ShopTM mobile application, which is designed to enhance the in-store shopping experience by allowing consumers to scan each item using their smartphone, remove items from their purchase list, and pay for their items without delay at the register. The U-Shop application is powered by the Fujitsu U-Scan® software solution, which enables a personalized shopping experience for the consumer via a simple mobile application.

 Today's consumers are more comfortable than ever using their smartphone to make purchases, redeem coupons and take advantage of customer loyalty benefits. The U-Shop application enables consumers to scan products for themselves using their smartphone camera to check the price of an item with the option to add it to or remove it from the total purchase. When the order is complete, the consumer can skip the long checkout lines by using the U-Shop application's easy payment functionality at the self-checkout or a cashier station.

 "The wide adoption of self-checkout proves that consumers are empowered by do-it-yourself (DIY) options in-store, the launch of the U-Shop application caters to the evolving needs of today's consumers," said Brian Yates, Director of Retail Product Marketing at Fujitsu America. "The U-Shop mobile application is moving the needle forward by helping customers shop for items on the mobile devices they use every day. Retailers are constantly looking to enhance the shopping experience among their technology savvy customers, and the U-Shop application is the perfect answer."

 To remain a major player in the next decade, retailers must react to this shopping revolution now, and not tomorrow. For example, according to findings from a recent Forrester report, the European mobile buying population will rise from 7.6 million in 2011 to more than 79 million in 2017, with just over 45 percent of all mobile users buying via their phones (EU Mobile Commerce Forecast, 2012 To 2017 by Martin Gill, Forrester Research, Inc., July 2012).

 The U-Shop mobile application can be integrated with customer loyalty programs the retailer already has in place.