Jessica Cantrall and her husband Brian like to make life easy -- especially grocery shopping. So the couple developed Empty Aisle, a web-based grocery shopping platform that makes wandering the aisles unnecessary.

“We are constantly looking at the world and thinking of ways to make it better,” says Cantrall. “People need a way to find food quickly and easily. They want to find what they want and get out the door.”

Empty Aisle allows shoppers to create a food profile with their preferences and allergies. “You can filter things out you don’t want,” explains Cantrall. Using Empty Aisle, customers select exactly what they want, pay for it, then go to their local grocery store to pick up their order.

Cantrall envisions a day that in-store grocery shopping is a thing of the past. The Empty Aisle system automatically archives order histories, saves grocers’ rewards cards and tracks buying preferences.

The Cantralls are currently trying to get the word out to consumers, sell the concept to grocers, and raise money through Indiegogo. “We’re focusing on the consumers more heavily at this point,” says Cantrall. “And we have to prove to grocers there is a demand for it. We really want to position ourselves as a middle man between grocers and shoppers.”

Source: Jessica Cantrall
Writer: Karin Connelly