Predicting your customers.

Being one step in front of your customers - knowing what they want before they know it themselves has to be the holy grail of retailing.

Systems have been developed which gather the information which when used correctly can second guess your customer and make the most out of  a shopping opportunity.

Store cards build comprehensive picture of shopping habit. When coupled with face recognition software customers can be targeted with tailored adverts and promotions in harmony with past purchases. For some time now online adverts have been using this technique - bespoke adverts based on sites previously visited.

Although there is an obvious Big-Brother-Is-Watching issue with techniques like this, most people don't particularly like advertising. If they must be advertised at then making the adds relevant is surely a good thing for both the customer and retailer.

To make the most out of a retail display, eye tracking software has been developed to actually monitor where a customer fixes their gaze and how they visually interact with display stands and adverts.