Copyright Ian Pearson, BT Futurologist

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Future catalogue shopping

February 1999

Elsewhere, I have discussed how future shopping will use sophisticated computer technology to allow virtual shopping malls with digital reconstructions of how we would look wearing a prospective outfit. While this will happen, it is a while off. Digital TV will allow us to shop by pointing and clicking, just as we can do so on the Internet, but we will still have paper media with lots of adverts and sometimes we will want to buy them. Not everyone who wants to do so will have either Internet of digital TV access. However, paper catalogue shopping is time consuming and boring. You have to phone up a call centre and spend ages reading out product codes to an equally bored operator. It is a classic example of something that can and should be automated. In due course, this sort of task will use computers equipped with natural language processing. It would be like talking to a human. However, making such processes fully speaker independent and tolerant is some years away. However, with advanced database technology, automatic credit cards transaction authorisation, calling line identity, and simple voice recognition, we have all the components already to make catalogue shopping fairly painless.

Most catalogues already contain products codes, listed under each item. Automation of the buying process would require the buyer simply to pick up their phone and dial the number under the product. The first part of the number dialled would be the supplier's phone number. The second part would be the product code. Calling Line Identity would then allow the company computer to identify the caller. Their name, address and any other relevant details could be called up from their database record. The caller would then have to type a PIN or customer number to confirm their identity, which would also solve the problem when there are several customers using the same phone. All the other details can be found from the various product and customer databases, such as product availability, price, range of options and so on. The computer could create a standard response, such as "you have ordered a blue shirt, size 15, is this correct?" Simple voice recognition would allow the user to just say yes or no, with further simple responses if necessary. "Thank you for your order, it will arrive in two weeks.” The order would have been fast and painless. And of course, with no people needed to process the order, it should reduce costs too.