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

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."

Comments

Could be good.

[meerling]

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.

Re:Could be good.

[daem0n1x]

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.

Re:Could be good.

[Anonymous Coward]

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).

Re:Could be good.

[RabidReindeer]

"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".

Re:Could be good.

[icebike]

That works for small purchases, but the delays requesting clerk resets just because you re-positioned
a can of beans in the bagging area isn't worth the time saving for big buys.

Pick the middle aged lady as your checkout line, and ignore any minor difference in line length.

Smart shoppers learn that the semi cute checkers are new hires. The haggered looking
middle aged women are long time employees and know every price/number in the book and never
have to look up anything when the bar code sticker falls off the Mellon.

If she calls everyone in line "Hun", chances are you are in the right line.

Re:Could be good.

[icebike]

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.

Great way to lose customers

[treerex]

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.

Re:Great way to lose customers

[ColdWetDog]

You'll need a hoodie and a mask, though.

Likely not. Just wear a baseball cap with a bunch of IR emitting diodes on the brim. That will likely swamp any visual input and will look 'normal' to the unaided human eye.

Come on guys, techno up here. This is a challange. Rise to it.

OT: I'd love to see grocer cards banned

[GodfatherofSoul]

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).

Advertising Bubble

[thatkid_2002]

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...

Re:This will be annoying

[Sarten-X]

Stereotypes are a crude biologically-formed statistical analysis, stored in cultural memory and transmitted through oral and theatrical tradition.

These systems will use a highly-refined statistical analysis, stored in The Cloud and transmitted through wired and wireless networks.

Both will ultimately determine that people who have spent time in Australia are more likely to buy iocaine powder than a Sicilian. The latter system will just be able to tell you exactly how much more likely.