Waitrose CrowdSources With its Shoppers

From IdeaConnection:   The UK retailer Waitrose is using crowd sourcing techniques with its customers to develop new products.  We will continue to see more of these techniques used:

  " ... In May 2011 a new product hit the shelves of upmarket UK supermarket chain Waitrose. What made this particular item so special was that it was the company’s first customer-created product and followed an eight month crowdsourcing contest that saw hundreds of customers send in their ideas....  A crowdsourcing competition is not only a cost-effective and rapid way to acquire a solution to a specific problem that a company may be facing, but it can also be used to generate new product ideas, promote a brand through free marketing (competitions can attract media attention), as well as helping to forge a deeper relationship with customers ..."