Retail Should Serve, Not Stalk

Yesterday we explored brick-and-mortar retail’s use of location analytics and its creepiness factor/privacy concerns. Today’s counterpoint suggests retailers employ a butler mentality (a la Ask Jeeves) instead of a stalker approach when working with sensitive consumer data. That means staying in the background and recommending products of interest in a helpful, non-intrusive manner, according to a recent piece in The Atlantic. And the host of benefits to consumers most importantly includes a seamless checkout process that will “feel like stealing,” they say. Sensors around a store will recognize you through your devices, and your on-file preferred payment method will be billed the second you waltz out of the store with that new pair of shoes. (And you can tell your friends you stole it and they'll think you're cool and you can all go smoke cigarettes behind the school cafeteria.)

The implications are stark for retail employees, and if you dig a little deeper it could make for a completely new approach to the real estate. Brick-and-mortar has already been shrinking since the advent of e-commerce, but these increased efficiencies in checkout imply continued space contraction. We’ve already seen it with compact self-checkout kiosks at grocery stores and drug stores. Perhaps for a glimpse of the future, just look at Apple stores (above), where customers have been able to purchase in-store items through an app on their smartphone for years, the article says. What are other ways brick-and-mortar retail can embrace its inner Jeeves (or Carson, if you’re into Downtown Abbey) and gain market share? Send marissa.oberlander@bisnow.com your thoughts!