More than Security Cameras: Sensing Consumers Wirelessly

Probably like many consumers, I have often felt the presence of security cameras and in-store corner mirrors hiding behind alleys and in black domes overhead quite unsettling. Not implying that I steal in stores, or have the intention to, but even so, the sense of being watched and recorded is ever-present. What if those security cameras were not the only devices following and noting the movements of each consumer? What if on every aisle, shelf and even every single product, there were devices that record every precise move of a customer, and every item he touches, picks up, or puts back down? Originally developed for military applications as battlefield surveillance, Wireless Sensor Networking is now applied to many civilian industries such as healthcare, traffic control, home automation, and habitat monitoring. Using spatially distributed autonomous divides equipped with various sensors, the ability to cooperatively monitor physical and environmental variables (temperature, lighting, sound, motion, etc) can provide advantages in the business sector as well.
These wireless sensor networks can make it reality for business to monitor consumer behaviours and interactions within any specific store depending on the in-store advertisement, aisle layout, and product showcasing. It can records which section of items consumers tend to go first, which areas to consumers pass by frequently, or at which showcases to shoppers stop longest, drawn by advertisements. This data can be collected simultaneously from the web of devices, and transmitted to a central database for recording and analysis. Combined with understanding in consumer psychology, business can further deeply assess the buyer decision making process with physical responses of consumers in shops to create a more smart way of displaying products in the most effective purchasing order for customers.
In a more advanced application of wireless sensor networks, consumer location and identity can be distinguished and matched with the individual profiles to created and personalized advertising scheme that follows the consumer within the store. The highly customized advertisements can lure each consumer’s interest more efficiently and maximize effectiveness.
With these consumer-tracking and identifying technologies however face strict regulations regarding consumer privacy in our society and business ethic codes. Especially with privacy laws effective in most countries, gaining the trust and confidence of the consumers over these commercial surveillance and customization technologies can become a hard hurdle to leap over. Even when approved, maintaining the personal data collected confidential and secure should be of the highest priority, as any leak of this information will generate long-term consumer distrust in the firm and maybe be disastrous to the business image.
Implementing and maintaining these sensor systems can also be costly for the business, along with maintaining vast data storage space and developing analyzing methods of the data. The cost of watching over consumers closely could dangerously overweight the benefits of data collected, but overcoming these barriers could prove to be the key to success for business.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensor_networks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_behaviour

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_privacy