Getting lost down the aisle hunting for a tin of beans in the local supermarket could soon be a thing of the past as Tesco launched a new sat nav app for shoppers.

The Android only software allows customers to input their shopping list directly from which the app will compute a map showing the shortest route to each item.

This sees users presented with a store map on their smartphone as they enter, complete with a list of their chosen products layered on top of it and an optimal route for the trolley to take.

New items can be added to the list in real time and lists can also be sent to friends and family shopping on your behalf.
Currently the app is being released solely to a testing group in the chains Romford store but there are as yet no plans to roll the system out nationally.

Nick lansley, Tesco’s head of research and development, said: “We won't be rolling this out to customers in general for a while because we have to think about how useful it's going to be. The system involves a lot of infrastructure installation in the stores so we need to get all kinds of people involved in thinking about the customer experience. It would be awful if we did all this work but few customers really used it.”