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Companies Planning In-Car Shopping Experiences

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Cargo in-car shopping

Photo: iOS Genius

If what the car manufacturers are telling us is true, we’re getting closer to the day when our cars will drive themselves. Even though that day isn’t here yet, more people than ever are riding in cars as passengers in taxis or rideshare vehicles from Uber or Lyft. All of these people open to distraction means that the inside of a car is now open for business and ready to sell you stuff.


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What’s available now

Earlier this summer, we talked about Cargo. The startup company gives Uber and Lyft drivers a chance to earn even more money off of their passengers by installing mini convenience stores in their vehicles that carry goods like charging cords, energy drinks, snacks, and headache meds. Customers can pay with their phone so drivers don’t have to carry change on them. Besides Cargo, similar concepts have sprung up with companies like Vendy, although Cargo has an exclusive partnership with Uber.

It might be easy to miss the small Cargo unit on a center console, but if you’re on social media several of the brands stocked in the box are advertising with social media to rope you in. For example, Cargo partnered with Snapchat this year offer special Snapchat Lenses for brands in the box to make you crave (and buy) them.


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What’s coming

The shopping service that seems to be the most pending is the ability to shop with Amazon while behind the wheel. While Apple CarPlay and Android Auto have had virtual assistants in cars for years now, Amazon wants a slice of that pie and has plans to bring Alexa to more car infortainment systems. This means that passengers and drivers alike can theoretically shop while driving (and without looking at a screen). Advertisements on streaming services like Spotify will be more important than ever since drivers will be able to hear an ad and immediately take action.

When cars can finally drive themselves, advertising companies hope to be ready to capitalize on the new audience looking to focus on other tasks. According to Mashable, companies are already working on ways to advertise to autonomous car passengers when the time comes. Experts are looking at the way airlines use ads for inspiration because if ads are too frequent or obvious, passengers will push back instead of making a purchase.

No matter what the future holds, there will always be innovators looking to make extra money from the situation. We might all be excited about cars that drive themselves, but we need to be ready for what that means for our extra attention.

News Source: Mashable