Bionic Mannequins Spy on Shoppers to Boost Sales

Inching another step closer to Orwell’s Big Brother, retailers are now deploying the EyeSee mannequins, sold by Italian manufacturer Almax S.P.A. to record shoppers and log their demographic data in order to better cater future displays and promotions. The technology—also used by airports to identify criminals—consists of a camera that feeds data into facial-recognition software that can log age, gender and race of those passing by the mannequin. As the camera is hidden in the mannequin’s eye, shoppers have no idea they are being recorded.

The mannequin went on sale for just more than $5,000 last December and has already led one retailer to adjust its window displays after the EyeSee revealed men spent more during a sale than women, according to Almax. Another store found a large portion of shoppers entering a certain door after 4 p.m. were Asian, so it placed Chinese-speaking greeters at the entrance. Likewise, an Eyesee client actually introduced a children’s line to its store after the mannequin’s data revealed more than half the store’s mid-afternoon traffic was made up of children.

“The retail community is starting to get wise to the opportunity around personalization,” Lorna Hall, retail editor at fashion forecaster WGSN, told Bloomberg. “The golden ticket is getting to the point where they’ve got my details, they know what I bought last time I came in.”

Almax is now testing technology that would allow the Eyesee to recognize what shoppers are saying about the mannequin’s attire in hopes the company can add screens next to the figures to prompt customers about relevant products. For example, if a customer mentions “shoes,” the nearby screen could display an advertisement for a new shoe line or a special shoe sale.

[Image via Shutterstock]