Assistive Technologies for In-Store Shopping: A Comprehensive Review of Solutions for Visually Impaired Persons

Visually impaired persons (VIPs), including blind people, face persistent barriers when shopping in conventional retail environments, such as store navigation, product identification, price verification, and checkout. Although the number of assistive technologies addressing these challenges is increasing, their usability and their ability to support the entire shopping experience remain limited. This review analyses peer-reviewed literature published between 2003 and 2025 on assistive solutions for in-store shopping by VIPs. The systems reviewed are classified according to their dominant technological approach, including tag-based solutions such as RFID and NFC; computer vision marker-based systems using barcodes, QR codes, or AR markers; computer vision non-marker-based systems; and hybrid solutions. Beyond technical functionality, the review examines supported shopping tasks, interaction demands, infrastructural dependence, usability, and validation with end users. The analysis shows that current solutions often support only isolated parts of the shopping journey, depend on modified store infrastructure or reliable product databases, and are insufficiently evaluated with VIP users in real retail environments. Human–computer interaction factors, including cognitive load, trust, discretion, feedback modality, and compatibility with familiar devices, emerge as critical for adoption and practical usefulness. Future research should therefore prioritise scalable, user-centred, discreet, and low-burden solutions that require minimal environmental modification while supporting the shopping process more holistically. Such approaches are essential for improving autonomy, dignity, and equitable access to everyday retail services for VIPs.