Saturday, March 21, 2015

'Big brother' technology comes to Australia's shops...

For years, online retailers have been learning about their consumers by analysing their internet traffic but it's been impossible for bricks-and-mortar retailers to track shopping patterns in the same way.

Until now that is. New technology is giving retailers a clearer picture of what consumers are doing in the physical world by turning mobile phones into virtual tracking devices.

Retailers and other businesses with high foot traffic - such as pubs, cafes and restaurants - are increasingly offering free access to wi-fi networks and asking consumers to grant access to their digital data in return.

Retailers are then collecting, collating and analysing data about shoppers' gender, age and browsing habits.

It's an exciting development for retailers but one that some experts say consumers should think twice about.

Many shoppers might not be aware that logging on to free wi-fi is giving the corporate world access to their data, says Australian retail and consumer behaviour expert Brian Walker. Full story...

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