Shoppers tracked with infrared beams

Shoppers tracked with infrared beams
Tags: Shopper Marketing, Supermarkets & Grocery Stores, Technology
May 28, 2008

Telegraph (U.K.): Supermarket shoppers may soon find their movements tracked by infrared beams as stores try to influence their buying choices.

Under the surveillance scheme sensors similar to those used on automatic garage doors are placed in aisles around the perimeter of a store in what is known a "racetrack" formation. They emit infrared light and record the number of times the beam is broken by a shopper, the direction the person is heading and the exact time. Results can be used by supermarkets to establish the "closure rate" of products — how many people bought a product as a percentage of those who passed by.