Researchers are designing ways for RFID-enabled carts to improve the shopping experience

Lines at the supermarket are always longest when you have the least time, or that's the way shopping seems for many people.

This is one reason why stores want to improve the check-out and shopping experience for consumers. With shorter lines, customers have more time to select the items they want, and employees can more readily advise customers on their purchases.

With RFID-enabled shopping carts, shorter check-out times may soon be reality for busy consumers.

A European group working on the MyGrocer project is developing so-called intelligent shopping carts that use RFID to keep track of what is in a cart and allow shoppers to wheel their carts right through the check-out line. The amount a shopper spends is then deducted from a shopper's bank account electronically.

In addition, by using RFID tags and readers placed throughout the store and on the carts, the carts can help shoppers locate the items they want on the shelves.

In giant hypermarkets, with dozens of aisles of food and non-food items and just as many checkout lanes, consumers will surely welcome both of these RFID-based innovations.