High-tech software for retailers discreetly tracks customers

ESTE ARTICULO ES DE GLADYS AGUIRRE. PUBLICADO DESDE ESTE USUARIO POR PROBLEMAS DEL SISTEMA
By Sumi Das, Cnet Business Tech News 07.03.2013

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57573116-92/high-tech-software-for-retailers-discreetly-tracks-customers/

Prism Skylab, a startup from San Francisco, has developed a software that helps shop owners to analyze their customer’s behavior. Based on video material captured by security cameras, it can track the customers’ path through the shop and, by aggregating this information from various customers, create “heatmaps”. These heatmaps allows to localize spots and also items that interest customers most.
This information helps to make decisions about product placement and shop layout, which can increase the shop’s revenue. Hereby, all collected data is anonymous since people are essentially erased from the video material. According to Prism Skylab, its customers range between boutiques to cafes to a large electronics retailer.A more comprehensive software is offered by RetailNext. It provides heatmapping next to other detailed metrics, like number of store visitors per day, top yielding stores, sales per shopping visit and dollar amounts spent per customer.
However, necessary to that end are investments like RFID tags on items and sensors on shelves that detect product movement. Further developments will involve multi-camera heatmaps and demographic detection. Cameras will use facial recognition and algorithms to determine customers’ gender.