But it is certainly a possible future: for profits flow to those with the rare item in any chain.

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Developed by Hannes Harms, a design engineering student at the Royal College of Art in London, these little markers would allow consumers to trace the entire supply chain behind every item in their cupboard, while feeding valuable nutritional information to dieters or people with particularly dangerous food allergies.

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Until recently, bonus rewards where limited to just one item per purchase, but the chain recently lifted the cap as gas prices started climbing.

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There are no supermarket or chain store luxuries on sale, with chocolate being the most indulgent item on the shelves.

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The allure of owning the entire e-commerce interaction chain, from search to ads to SKUs identifying each product or item is, to say the least, an incredibly enticing way to enhance the value of the core advertising business.

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