Facial Recognition in Retail Stores
Image by Hernard Hermant
Facial Recognition in Retail Stores
Last spring of 2020, we released an article exploring the potential of facial recognition technology to change the retail landscape as we know it. At the time, this technology was primarily hypothetical or in its early stages of implementation, as most department stores were just planning to begin their reopening following the pandemic. Now, a year out, let’s take a look at the definite changes we have seen this year in facial recognition.
The main reason retailers are seeking out facial recognition technology is to prevent shoplifting and promote security. These stores create a sort of customer profile that tracks movements and facial expressions. For example, Target is known to heavily surveillance shoppers using face ID, creating an ongoing profile of shoplifters until they have stolen $500 worth of merchandise; once they have stolen this amount, they can be arrested and receive a felony charge rather than petty theft.
Advanced Retail Innovation: The Role of Facial Recognition in China
China is already leaps and bounds ahead of most US retailers, with Alibaba and JD creating grocery stores with robotic shopping carts that follow you as you shop and where payment is done using facial recognition technology. Companies in the US who have been public about their use of facial recognition include Albertson;s, Apple, and Macy’s, which cite their use of the technology as security measures.
After COVID-19 changed the way we navigate public spaces and human interaction, a big issue is maintaining cleanliness and minimizing contact with people or surfaces that may contain pathogens. As a result, facial recognition technology has been supporting hands-free transactions in retail stores and distancing within crowded stores to promote safety as well as efficiency. Rather than wasting time pulling out your credit card or cash and having a transaction with a cashier, facial recognition offers a quicker, easier way to pay for retail goods.
Tailoring the Shopping Experience: Loyalty Clubs and Facial Recognition
On the horizon of facial recognition technology, retail companies hope to use new intel to separate loyalty club members from regular customers to tailor their shopping experience to their interests and shopping habits. The technology could also track the amount of time spent in the store as well as which sections they tend to seek more often, which could provide companies with information to better promote certain products.
However, with all of this promising new technology that seems to make retail stores safer from shoplifting and the spread of germs as well as more convenient, there are a few notable pitfalls. Due to biometric protection laws in many states, information like fingerprints and facial images are considered protected personal data. Many cities have started banning facial recognition, like Portland, which was the first to do so. According to Reuters, there has been a push for large companies like Amazon and Alibaba to pledge to use facial recognition ethically. Apple, a very prominent and public user of facial recognition, was recently sued after facial recognition tech in one of their stores wrongfully identified a black man as a shoplifter. This error is not a singular fluke, but rather a more consistent issue facial recognition software has come under scrutiny for; it seems that the accuracy of this technology is decreased when identifying people of color, particularly black people. With the chance that a black person could be falsely accused of a crime because of technological failure, many people are asking for a nationwide ban of facial recognition in stores.
Balancing Customer Experience and Privacy
Retail stores are currently working on biometric technology that analyzes heart rate, stress, sweat levels, and facial expressions in order to promote products depending on the customer’s stress and emotions. There seems to be a fine line between streamlining the retail experience for customers and invading their privacy, which is a pressing issue that needs to be navigated before any widespread implementation of biometric technology in retail. Perhaps if customers were given the opportunity to consent to or deny the use of facial recognition, it could solve this issue. For example, say a rewards member or frequent shopper consents to facial recognition—the store could then promote frequently bought items or suggest items they would want to purchase based on their shopping history. While facial recognition has definitely become more of a reality since the onset of COVID-19, there are still some legal and ethical issues that may delay or prevent this technology from becoming ubiquitous.
