Most Glamorous Cab Ride Ever

During Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, some cabs will be equipped with technology that lets passengers shop.

Image: Felix Mizioznikov/Shutterstock

Busy Fashion Week attendees desperate to buy new lipstick while en route to the next runway show may be in luck.

Later this week, 50 New York City taxicabs that travel through neighborhoods that host events for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, which begins Thursday, will be equipped with technology that lets passengers buy luxury beauty products with their smartphones, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The mobile taxi-shop concept was developed by Glamour magazine in partnership with its biggest advertiser, L'Oréal SA. Glamour will run beauty spots featuring various products on the miniature TV screens in the cabs. SnapTags from technology company SpyderLynk will be hung inside the taxis.

Passengers who want to purchase something they see on the screen must download an app and then hold their phone over the tags. They will get a free ride for participating in the experiment, which runs over five days and will include taxis in the Lincoln Center and Meatpacking District neighborhoods.

Glamour, which will subsidize the cost of the cabs, was inspired by the virtual stores that the supermarket chain Tesco launched in the subway system in Seoul.

It's another sign that as mobile commerce gains more consumers who want to shop anywhere—including during a wild New York cab ride—brands and the media are lining up to take advantage.

But as the Journal article points out, even the TVs installed in cabs are controversial, as some passengers prefer to ride quietly, and mobile commerce might push some New Yorkers over the edge.

"The last thing I want to do in a cab is buy something else," a 25-year-old woman told the publication.