Im new to this web site, but here I go. google mall- while some people go to the mall to walk around, most plan on buying something in particular. I think that there should be a way to search an index of all the products in all the stores in the mall you are in. say you want coco beans, you just walk up to the head counter type in the name and it will give you a store name and an isle number and how to get there. maybe make a map or something.
it would probably be updated by the stores them selves, which would lead to some problems. like real google searches, there are junksites that come up in every search but are just adversiments. the stores in the mall would probably start generating results that lead you to their store for every thing. so there would have to be some one keeping track of the inventory at all times. those problems aside, it would very useful, especialy if you could access it from the internet. then you could know if the mall has what you where looking for in the first place.-- madfishsam, Mar 23 2006 Supermarket Mapper Supermarket_20Mapper [DrCurry, Mar 23 2006] Shopping List Optimizer Shopping_20List_20Optimizer [DrCurry, Mar 23 2006] Instant Locator Instant_20Locator [DrCurry, Mar 23 2006] Your first Bun Great idea. Now if I can do this on my GPS PDA and it directs me to item when I am in the mall I would be in total heaven.-- Braindead, Mar 23 2006 that was a fast reply...-- madfishsam, Mar 23 2006 Or you could do your shopping on-line (using google to search for things), and not have to bother going to the horrible mall at all.-- zen_tom, Mar 23 2006 Good idea. We've tackled store searches before, but not malls, as far as I can tell.-- DrCurry, Mar 23 2006 Hello! [bun] but I think someone's baked/baking it - For mobile phones - I think I heard that one (future?) application is for users to type-in what they want to find, and the phones location is detected, and a text message is sent to you to say where you can find the nearest/cheapest place that sells it.
Google SMS does something sorta similar (in the UK) at the mo - You type BOOTS and your postcode, and it tells you where your local branch of BOOTS the chemists is.-- Dub, Mar 23 2006 Personally I often feel the 'command-space' reflex (the keystroke to search on my computer) when I am in some store looking for something. Just a search function, should not be so difficult. Hooked to the inventory please. Actually, in many stores everything is in place already, there is just this 'customer service' human being that stands in between me and the information I am looking for. Just step back and give me your terminal for a second please...-- rrr, Mar 27 2006 I think that the stores may not go for this. They put a LOT of time and money into arranging things so that you have to walk all through a store and past the flashy and expensive things to get to what you want.
To avoid what you said about stores listing stuff that wasn't there, the system could offer feedback options. "Was this link helpful? Did you find what you were looking for?" Then tell stores that get a disproportionate amount of "no" that they'll be kicked from the system if they don't fly right.-- wittyhoosier, Mar 27 2006 Brilliant. I want something like Personalised Homepage, that allows me to "window-shop" easily. Instead of information panels, have slowly scrolling shop panels which, of course, are customisable, movable and deletable. You can search by category, by product or by shop. It could easily be linked to Froogle (perhaps as simply as another was of using it).
This is one of those "I can't believe that Google hasn't made this yet but they haven't mentioned it so bun" ideas.-- dbmag9, Mar 27 2006 OK, but must we use google as a verb? And give them more ideas? Those guys are good, but we don't need to give them any more power than they've got. Let's find the next neat little smart guys and promote them.-- sophocles, Mar 28 2006 I agree- Why have they not thought of this yet? On one hand I can see this being very useful for the customers, however bad for the retailers. I have had many instances myself where I went to 10 different stores inside of the mall to find something in particular only to buy other things during the course of my hunt.-- Jscotty, Mar 28 2006 welcome!-- pashute, Mar 29 2006 random, halfbakery