Simple Data Visualization for Retail

Recall I mentioned this effort here before.  Now a reminder from the HBR:

' ... “Retailers are all using scanner data to track what happened at the point of sale,” says Sam Hui, an associate professor of marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business. “But they have no idea what’s really happening at a point-of-purchase decision.”

This is changing with the emergence of location analytics. Take Alex and Ani, which designs and retails jewelry, and Belk, a department store chain. Both have signed on with Prism Skylabs, a software company, to map in-store customer behavior.

By using a store’s existing security cameras, or installing new ones, Prism (no relation to the NSA program) is able to track the movement of a store’s customers and identify patterns.  “We’re not really looking at any individual; we’re looking at what a group of people over a period of time do,” says senior vice president of managed services Cliff Crosbie. “That’s the really big thing: Identifying what a volume of people do over a period of time, and how you read that information.” ... ' 

Numbers Behind Prism

Numbers Guy spins some ideas and the implications of the false positive .... as more of us are being watched, a concern for everyone. ...

Consequence of EU Tightening Data Privacy Further

A good Adage Article on how the revelations of massive private data leaks could make the EU further tighten data privacy. What does this mean and and what are the consequences.  Will this sequestering of the data end the domination of Silicon Valley in data hungry applications?  An extreme thought I think, but there will be consequences.

EU and Prism

Was expecting an issue here.  The EU is known for its strong data privacy laws.  Now word that EU companies or those doing work with the EU, may be subject to lawsuits if they cooperated with  NSA's PRISM data gathering.

Does Prism Kill the Cloud?

In CWorld:  Not sure I agree with the premise, but it is worth thinking about.  Do concepts like the Cloud concentrate information and thus make it easier for governments to skim?  Enabling methods like Prism?  Strong automatic encryption may be the answer.

Multiple Prisms with Similar Purposes

The Prism system has been much in the news today, apparently a multiple dimension-ed data gathering and predictive analytics system,  recently exposed as a government 'spying' system.  The name sounded familiar to me and I found I had written about a Nielsen system written in 2008, that had some similar characteristics.  Is this the same thing?  Probably not, but focusing such a system on multiple channels of retail data is not unexpected.  And now we have much more available data than in 2008.

Turning Shoppers into Heat Maps

A piece in Bloomberg about tracking shoppers in retail.  A subject we did much with in retail laboratory environments, and much has been written about here.  More readily available data visualization capabilities will make this more common and effective.   Startup mentioned is Prism Skylabs. Brought to my attention by Walter Riker.

Nielsen Suspends In-Store Metric

Missed the press release on Friday: Nielsen Suspends PRISM Data System, apparently indefinitely, although they blame it on the economy, has to be in part because of Wal-Mart's pullout from participation. Previously in this blog on Prism.

Wal-Mart and Prism

Ad Age reports on Wal-Mart's pulling out of Prism. They " ... decided not to participate in the national syndicated service "consistent with their internal data-sharing policies." ... . Other major retailers and manufacturers in the test are continuing to participate. Good article which includes concerns about how this data could change the retail industry. Previously about Prism.

Measuring Marketing in Retail

I hear from a colleague that Wal-Mart has decided not to participate in Nielsen's in-store metric program (PRISM). Have not found the specific press release as yet, will post here when I do. (Update: See here) Wal-Mart was an early participant in this effort. Many large retailers and manufacturers are still engaged. Could be another example of Wal-Mart not willing to share store data.

Another competitive effort is that being developed by POPAI, which to my knowledge Wal-Mart is also not participating in. Are they going it alone on these kinds of key analyses? Previously about PRISM. P&G's Lafley talks about PRISM transforming.

UK Retailer Tests Cell Phone Tracking

From StoreFronBacktTalk: A UK retailer is using cell phones to track consumers. Or at least their statistical movements. The vendor says that they are not tracking individuals, but they are using cell phone specific IMEI numbers. Which could lead to misuse. The vendor is Path Intelligence. Some similar goals to the Prism idea, but Prism is not gathering personally identifiable data.

Unilever's Use of Prism, TNS Sorensen

An interesting case study of Unilever's use of Prism in Ad Age, and a comparison to work by TNS Sorensen. They say it implies that coupons and signs beat in-store tech. I would agree only in this very limited case, and for these particular executions. Execution is a very big part of any such comparisons.

"... Unilever thought it had a great idea: Put ads for its Sunsilk hair-care products on supermarket freezer doors, because focus groups showed its target consumers like ice cream.

Trouble is, data from Nielsen Co.'s new shopper-marketing measurement system, Prism (for Pioneering Research for an In-Store Metric) show fewer than 10% of Sunsilk's young women aged 18 to 24 actually go down the ice-cream aisle on a shopping trip. End-aisle and hair-care shelf ads reach far more of them ...

The in-store programs found "most influential" by consumers in the study were, in order, in-store samples, package ads, coupon dispensers, in-store fliers and end-aisle displays. Those deemed least influential were ceiling ads, in-store audio and floor ads. Most of the newer media -- including cart ads, in-store TVs, video displays, checkout-lane ads and entryway ads -- ranked in the lower half of the 19 media considered ... "