Briefs

BusinessWeek reports (Oct 29, 2002) that grocery retailer Safeway is testing new in-store shopping cart technology that traces shoppers' steps through its stores and flashes personalized ads at them while they're shopping. The test sites for the system, which incorporates data on shoppers' spending habits, are two stores in northern California--one in Moraga and the other in Cameron Park.

The data gathered by stores such as Safeway represents a treasure trove of consumer buying habits, which may ultimately allow retailers to boost profits by better tailoring their inventories to customers' desires. The data can also help retailers squeeze more efficiency out of their supply chain by ensuring that they are stocking up on inventory that consumers want to buy.

Marketing tools like "smart" shopping carts could backfire, however, if people aren't given the choice not to use them, said Chris Boone, retail technology analyst at IDC. Customers could get annoyed, for instance, if the cart beeped at them until they swiped their card.

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