How Do Retailers Get Our Purchase Information?
Retailers are constantly seeking information about their customers to understand their preferences and motivations.
When shopping, customers unknowingly provide data through technological devices such as sensors placed in stores that gather information like age, gender, and more.
Fingerprint Data
One example of this is RetailNext, the creator of the Aurora sensor, a device specifically designed for the needs of today’s retailers. It collects data using computer vision, functioning similarly to human eyes, but automating algorithms in the process.
RetailNext cameras allow retailers to identify the type of customers entering their stores, helping salespeople recognize their best customers and focus their attention on them. Meanwhile, other analytics companies have taken facial recognition to the next level, with systems that can detect micro-expressions while customers are shopping.
This technology helps identify which products or services are most accepted by consumers and which are rejected. Although cameras are useful tools for retailers, the most important tool of all is the smartphone that every shopper carries in their pocket.
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For stores, our cell phone is like a fingerprint. It tells them whether we’ve visited the store before and when we were last there. This device is transforming how companies view us, enabling them to track our location, what we’re reading, where we’re spending money, who we’re talking to, and which websites we visit.
The data gathered by RetailNext’s sensors is completely anonymous unless the buyer opts in and allows the company to know exactly who they are, enabling real-time tracking and targeting.
