Peapod Adds Scan-able Billboard in Chicago Subway

CHICAGO — Online grocer Peapod here on Thursday unveiled a display in a pedestrian subway tunnel here that allows shoppers to scan products, download the Peapod app and other functions.

The company, a division of Ahold USA, first tested the service at commuter rail stations in Philadelphia earlier this year. It is still available in nine locations there.

“This whole thing is built around customer awareness and acquisition,” Thomas Parkinson, Peapod’s co-founder and chief technology officer, was quoted as saying in an article Friday on Forbes.com.

From the 60-foot display in Chicago, shoppers can download the Peapod app and begin shopping by scanning the product QR codes. They can also get $20 off of their first order by using the promo code on the display, Elana Margolis, a Peapod spokeswoman, told SN on Friday.

“There are lots of customers out there who already have our app, so they can just start scanning and add to an order they may already have started at home,” she added.