Behavioural biometrics for retailers
There are numbers that don’t lie. PUNCCH, the American customer loyalty company, recently raised $40 million. The aim of the investment is to develop and accelerate bio-behavioural technology implementation within physical stores. To put it plainly: provide retailers with the same kind of consumer behaviour data that AMAZON has to optimise transformation and better personalise their offer. It’s a breakthrough that involves tools for observing and analysing the customer in-store… and that means cameras and sensors, which are increasingly accurate and fitted with new technologies.
From counting systems to emotional analysis: Behavioural biometrics’ field of possibilities
We’ve seen this recently with the barrier gestures associated with Covid-19: knowing exactly how many people are in the aisles in real time can be helpful. On the one hand to regulate flow, but also to facilitate analysis of how the point of sale is performing and to define the transformation rate. But counting is just a small part of what behavioural biometrics can offer. Thanks to facial recognition, artificial intelligence is now able to analyse our emotions, gauge our mood and react accordingly. This is what KAIROS can do.
Moods, emotions, expectations and desires… nothing escapes behavioural biometrics.
The American company founded in 2012 has developed a facial recognition API that identifies consumers as they enter the store, estimating their gender, age, and emotional state. As part of the brand’s loyalty program, this device can, for example, encourage the customer – via his smartphone – to take a few selfies at key points in-store or with his favourite products. The merchant then generates specific offers and personalised promotions according to this route or the customer’s mood. Better yet, with the customer’s face becoming the loyalty card, the sales team can even be alerted on the spot when a VIP customer makes an entrance. In the meantime, German company BOSCH also presented its video surveillance and AI solution at the latest CES in Las Vegas. A system capable of detecting facial expressions, emotions as well as heart rate and body temperature changes throughout a customer journey… early warning signs of any purchase decision!
Behavioural biometrics: What if retail was on an equal footing with e-commerce?
What may seem paradoxical is that customer knowledge was originally the preserve of small scale retailers, before gradually getting lost as sales areas grew and multiplied. It was then perfected through on-line commerce to now return to the physical world… and perhaps allow it to maintain its lead? That’s what might be in the offing. Provided that the data collection meets the legislative requirements relating to privacy and goes beyond customers’ reluctance to adopt new practices. That’s the final, not insignificant point, especially when one knows that in France only 12% of consumers use their mobile phones to pay.