ASSET · Project

Mobile Product Rating Platform Turning Shopper Sustainability Preferences Into Retail Intelligence

digitalTestedTRL 6

Imagine you're in a supermarket and you care about buying sustainable products, but the labels are confusing and you feel like your choices don't matter anyway. ASSET built a mobile system that lets shoppers rate products based on what they actually care about — fair trade, carbon footprint, animal welfare — and then pools all those individual preferences together. When thousands of shoppers signal the same thing, suddenly retailers and producers can't ignore it. Think of it like a Yelp for product sustainability, where your personal values become collective market pressure.

By the numbers

consortium partners

countries represented

EUR 1,917,625

EU funding received

SME partners in the consortium

50%

industry partner ratio

total project deliverables

The business problem

What needed solving

Retailers and consumer goods producers face growing pressure to stock and sell sustainable products, but they lack reliable data on which sustainability criteria actually drive purchase decisions. Traditional market research is expensive and slow, while existing eco-labels are one-size-fits-all and don't reflect individual shopper priorities. The disconnect between what consumers say they want and what stores actually offer leads to lost sales and missed positioning opportunities.

The solution

What was built

A mobile product rating platform that lets individual shoppers rate products based on their personal sustainability priorities, then aggregates those preferences into collective consumer signals. The system was demonstrated in an operational supermarket field test, producing real usage data. The project delivered 9 deliverables in total, including the supermarket pilot demonstration.

Audience

Who needs this

Supermarket chains wanting data-driven sustainability assortment strategiesFMCG producers needing to understand which green attributes drive real purchase behaviorRetail technology companies building mobile shopping or loyalty appsConsumer advocacy organizations seeking digital tools for collective actionSustainability certification bodies looking to make labels more consumer-responsive

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Grocery Retail

enterprise

Target: Supermarket chains and grocery retailers looking to respond to sustainability-conscious consumers

If you are a supermarket chain dealing with growing customer demand for sustainable product assortments but lacking data on what sustainability criteria actually matter to your shoppers — this project developed a product rating platform tested in an operational supermarket setup that captures individual shopper preferences and aggregates them into actionable purchasing signals. The system was field-tested with real communities of shoppers across a consortium of 8 partners in 5 countries.

Consumer Goods Manufacturing

mid-size

Target: FMCG producers seeking to align product lines with consumer sustainability expectations

If you are a consumer goods manufacturer struggling to understand which sustainability attributes drive actual purchase decisions — this project built a crowd-sourced rating system that distills individual consumer preferences into collective demand signals. Rather than relying on expensive market research, you get real-time data from shoppers rating your products during their actual shopping routines. The pilot was developed with 4 industry partners including retail sector participants.

Retail Technology

SME

Target: Software providers building in-store or mobile shopping solutions

If you are a retail tech company looking for a differentiated feature to add to your mobile shopping or loyalty platform — this project created an open-source product rating engine that integrates seamlessly into existing shopping routines via mobile devices. Built on open data, open source, and distributed social networking principles, the technology can be integrated into existing retail apps. The system was validated through supermarket field tests with usage data collected.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to license or adopt this platform?

The ASSET platform was built on open data, open source, and open hardware principles, which suggests the core technology may be freely available for adaptation. However, integration costs into existing retail IT systems, customization, and deployment would require engagement with the consortium. Contact the coordinator at Linz Center of Mechatronics for licensing details.

Can this scale to a nationwide retail chain with hundreds of stores?

The pilot was tested in an operational supermarket setup as a field demonstration. Scaling to a full retail chain would require infrastructure upgrades and integration work. The system leverages existing mobile communication technology, which supports scalability, but large-scale deployment was not demonstrated within this project.

Who owns the intellectual property?

The project was funded as a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) under Horizon 2020 with EUR 1,917,625 in EU contribution. IP is typically shared among the 8 consortium partners. The project's emphasis on open source and open data suggests at least some components may be openly licensed. Specific IP terms should be discussed with the coordinator.

Was this actually tested with real shoppers?

Yes. The project produced a demo deliverable titled 'First ASSET Field Test' which documented the demonstration of an operational supermarket setup and collected usage data to improve the pilot platform. The objective states field studies were conducted with existing communities of people.

How does this differ from existing sustainability labels and certifications?

Unlike static eco-labels, ASSET lets each shopper define their own sustainability priorities and then aggregates those into collective market signals. It's bottom-up rather than top-down — consumers drive the ratings rather than certification bodies. The system also integrates network effects and online collaboration to amplify individual preferences.

What data does it use for product ratings?

The platform builds on open data sources and crowd-sourced input from shoppers. It combines individual product ratings with collective awareness mechanisms through distributed social networking. Based on available project data, the specific data sources and rating criteria were designed to be individually customizable by each user.

Consortium

Who built it

The ASSET consortium brings together 8 partners from 5 countries (Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Estonia, Spain) with a balanced 50% industry ratio — 4 industry partners including 3 SMEs alongside 1 university and 2 research organizations. This mix signals genuine market orientation: the retail industry and consumer organizations were directly involved in building and testing the solution. The coordinator, Linz Center of Mechatronics (Austria), is a research center, which means the technical backbone is solid. The presence of 3 SMEs suggests agility and commercial intent, though the project has been closed since November 2018, so continued development would need to be verified.

LINZ CENTER OF MECHATRONICS GMBHCoordinator · AT
EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICHparticipant · CH
AINIAparticipant · ES

How to reach the team

Linz Center of Mechatronics GmbH, Austria — reach out to their project management or business development team for licensing and collaboration inquiries.

Order a report on this consortium See LINZ CENTER OF MECHATRONICS GMBH profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how ASSET's consumer preference platform could fit your retail or FMCG operations? SciTransfer can arrange an introduction to the research team and help assess integration feasibility.

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