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Grocery Store "Smart Shelves" Will Identify Customers, Show Targeted Ads

Posted by samzenpus on from the watching-you dept.

cagraham writes "Snack company Mondelez International (maker of Oreos, Trident, Cadbury eggs) will introduce so-called 'smart shelves' into store checkout aisles beginning 2015. The shelves will use Microsoft's Kinect software, in addition to other tech, to identify shoppers age and sex, and will then use that info to deliver demographically tailored advertisements. The shelves will be able to track engagement, monitor how long customer's watch each ad, and offer discounts if a customer is considering a purchase (weight sensors will tell the machine if you pick up a product). Mondelez says the software will only use and collect aggregate data, and will not record any video or photos."

14 of 274 comments (clear)

  1. Could be good. by meerling · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Especially once we figure out how to 'convince' it to give us the best discount on everything.

    Humans are lousy at reading humans, machines programmed by humans and used on the cheap will be relatively easy to fool.

    1. Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Especially once we figure out how to 'convince' it to give us the best discount on everything.

      What exactly do you think the idea of the discount is?
      In this case it isn't to get rid of vegetables before they get old. Nor is it to make you buy what you need in bulk to cut down handling costs.

      In this particular case the discount isn't actually a discount but rather the correct value of something that has been intentionally overpriced to make you believe that you are getting a better deal than you actually do.
      If you find a way to trick it into giving you the discount and this makes you feel clever and like you are cheating the system then they have succeeded as far as they possibly could with a system like that. You might even end up buying more than you can actually use just to spite them.

    2. Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Unless advertising somehow decreases the cost of bringing products to market, it actually increases prices in the aggregate. You may pay less for a particular product on a particular day, just like you may occasionally win at roulette. Overall though, advertising increases expenditures by the companies, just like the odds favor the house. That cost is passed on to you, even though it's probably not that large. The house edge isn't that large either; but you still lose.

      They keep telling us that if they target us, they can increase efficiency. In theory, if they could deliver just the right number of tomatoes to the store, none of them would spoil. In practice, they don't actually know when anybody is going to make tomato sauce. If they did, they'd really be reading our minds.

      I'm skeptical that any store has actually increased overall efficiency with their club cards, targeted ads, etc; but I'm open to the idea and would be interested in seeing some links to real studies that weren't conducted by people selling targeting technology.

    3. Re:Could be good. by daem0n1x · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What's more likely to happen is that this will annoy the fuck out of me so much that I'll never return to that retailer again. And let the "smart shelf" figure out the reason why.

    4. Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I have yet to use a self-checkout.

      You see, I used to be a grocery checker, and I used to get a paycheck for doing that work. (I quit when I got a "real" job, but it got me through college.) When the stores decide to pay me (a 2% discount on everything I purchase through self-checkout would be nice), then I'll use the self-checkout. Until then, I'll wait in a long line, not buying their stale candy bars, and make their for-pay employees earn their paychecks (and keep their jobs).

    5. Re:Could be good. by MitchDev · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This.
      I am so so SICK of being advertised at... I pretty much take unsolicited ads as a "Do Not buy from" list, unless people I actually know and/or trust tell me about a useful product and I decide to actively look into it...

    6. Re:Could be good. by RabidReindeer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Fat person detected. Would you be interested in a 20 cents off coupon for Special K?"

      More like "Fat person detected. Have a coupon for 50 cents off 5-gallon Hagen-Daas, 2-for-1 Mega-Bag chips and 3-liter Diet Dr. Pepper".

    7. Re:Could be good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, lets destroy a use of technology that will make everyone's life easier.

      Easier?? From TFS:

      The shelves will be able to track engagement, monitor how long customer's watch each ad, and offer discounts if a customer is considering a purchase (weight sensors will tell the machine if you pick up a product).

      Yeah, that will totally make my life easier in the "don't over-pay" department. It's bad enough with club cards, and waiting week to week until that one item I want is on sale, and stocking up enough to hopefully last me until the next time. But now I have to do a little song and dance in the aisle, without even knowing if I'll get a coupon out of it? No, sorry, but fuck that shit.

    8. Re:Could be good. by sjames · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It is an incremental step. One of hundreds. That's how we're approaching the point where there is nowhere you can glance and not be exposed to an ad.

    9. Re:Could be good. by icebike · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There is nothing about this proposed technology designed to make your life easier.
      Its not there for you. Its there for the stores.
      It won't reduce your prices.
      It will not save you money.

      Frankly, I'd rather remain an ass then become a koolaid drinking idiot like you.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
  2. Great way to lose customers by treerex · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I for one have no interest in such targeted advertising, and until they become ubiquitous I'll avoid any store that has these.

    Can you imagine where this will go? Shelf notices that you're overweight and you picked up a candy bar? Screen says, "Are you sure you want to buy that?" This will work great until someone puts a sticker over the sensor bar.

  3. OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It'll never happen, but I'm sure they've been used as an end-around credit card privacy laws. I remember when my local grocer first introduced them. The prices of everything went up overnight, then you needed their card to get the same old prices. The thought that they might make advertising to me even more interactive isn't at all appealing.

    And, as for just switching grocery stores, I don't know where most of you live but here in KC I only have 2 practical choices (without a long drive).

    --
    I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
  4. Re:I wonder... by Sarten-X · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It would assist in a vandalism charge, just like it would if you used it on the cash registers, in-store speaker system, or vending machines. With the closed-circuit surveillance the stores already have for shoplifting, the trial would be speedy, and you'd likely be found liable for the replacement cost of the device, plus penalties.

    But hey, at least you'd have given a clear message to the store manager: You're a psychopath who carries a taser to intentionally damage someone else's property at the slightest provocation. That was the message you wanted to send, right?

    --
    You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
  5. Advertising Bubble by thatkid_2002 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If the advertising becomes really bubbled I can see an issue where attractive people are shown healthy products and ugly people are shown unhealthy products because that's what their respective profiles are probably going to indicate that they want... It's like the Search Engine Bubble (http://dontbubble.us/) - except for advertising.

    This trend is obviously unhealthy...