Inescapable Data: Mining Retail Video

We (the author’s of Inescapable Data) believe that Video will change everything in the new world. We’re are just at the very beginning stages of deploying video in our world…just the beginning…and video will drive our networking technologies and data storage technologies to new levels. But that’s the un-interesting part.

The truly interesting part of video-everywhere is the value in mining the data. Retail stores have been “video’d” for decades, strictly as surveillance/theft/deterrent systems. The new vision in Inescapable Data is that there is far more information available in those streams than just a pack of gum tucked into a pocket. In the retail world, store owners are in desperate need of more information regarding “how” people shop and “who” they are.

Product placement (shelf location, end-isle location, etc) is critical to a product’s success or a particular promotion. Yet, the only data owners have is the end-of-day receipts. What they desire to know is:

How many paused in front of the display
For how long
Who were they? Lone shopper or mother with 2.5 children?
Did they touch the product and then put it back?
What path thru the store did they take?
How much total time did they spend in the store?
Any clue about race or sex or age?

Retailers are still in the dark ages regarding such information. Sure, with electronic check out systems they are getting more information today than a decade ago (such as what products are co-purchased together, what time of day do certain products sell best, average total bill when a certain product is purchased, etc), but they are gravely missing ALL of the information that leads up to (or skipping of) a purchase. This is a HUGE difference and this is what the new world of Inescapable Data is all about…finding better data/information sources that cover more of the total picture.

There are some companies making products heading in this direction. We interviewed Jan Davis, CEO of ShopperTrak for our book. They make an ingenious video device that is able to very accurately “count” people; count people near a display, count people as they enter an area/doorway, etc, and it’s our guess they’ll (over time) reach for the wider values we extol in our writings. Cognex is another premier video company whose products are routinely used for manufacturing but could morph some of their technology “video print” (fingerprint) shoppers in a passive unnoticed manner for better shopping analysis.

Buy the "Inescapable Data" book

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rfid retail surveillance

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Inescapable Data

Data-everywhere plus wireless-everywhere changes everything. Explore with us the premise of our book, "Inescapable Data", and what it means to you.
Chris Stakutis
John Webster
http://www.inescapabledata.com

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Mining Retail Video

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Inescapable Data

Data-everywhere plus wireless-everywhere changes *everything*. Explore with us the premise of our book, "Inescapable Data", and what it means to you. Chris Stakutis John Webster http://www.inescapabledata.com

About

Recent Posts

Mining Retail Video

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Data-everywhere plus wireless-everywhere changes everything. Explore with us the premise of our book, "Inescapable Data", and what it means to you.
Chris Stakutis
John Webster
http://www.inescapabledata.com