Shoppers have allegedly been secretly filmed by leading retailers as part of moves to make them spend more. An investigation by Daily Mail suggests that the likes of Tesco, Boots, Sainsbury’s, Co-op, and B&Q have in recent years worked with behavioural analysis agency SBXL which records customers in shopping aisles.
SBXL is said to use the footage to ‘manipulate’ the emotions and behaviour of shoppers, and so boost sales. The firm, which has also worked with leading FMCG manufacturers, said adequate signage was in place when filming and consent was sought from customers.
However, the Information Commissioner’s Office has stated that will it now examine the Daily Mail’s findings to check for any breaches of data protection laws.
Read the full report on the Daily Mail website
NAM Implications:
- ‘Manipulation’ could be applied to many aspects of marketing…
- The real issue here is secret filming, but again this is a surely a continuous process in the case of security-camera usage.
- So the ‘crime’ is probably the act of scanning footage to identify shopper behaviour in the vicinity of key fixtures…
- …and the ‘sale’ of relevant clips to interested parties.
- Retailers and brand owners will have to decide on cost/value vs the hassle of ‘exposure’…
