What is the proper role of in-store technology in this omnichannel world of retailing? Is it typically “cool” or “creepy”?

As reported by eMarketer:

According to April 2015 polling by RichRelevance, creepy is more common than cool. Retailers have a wide array of toys to play with when implementing digital technologies in stores, but figuring out something that makes sense to customers—and fits with the brand — can be a challenge. When RichRelevance asked U.S. Internet users about certain use cases for in-store technologies, they were relatively enthusiastic about more ‘traditional’ tactics. More than three-quarters thought it was cool if they could use their phone to scan a product and find more info, like reviews and recommendations, on the web. And nearly seven in 10 liked the idea of interactive maps to help them get around stores efficiently and find the items they were looking for.”

“But when the location-relevant concept of a map was converted to location-based push messages promoting products or distributing coupons, the cool factor went down. Just 44% of respondents were into this idea, while 39% thought it was getting a little creepy. The creepiness factor went up as RichRelevance examined more sophisticated implementations of in-store technologies. While some high-end brands like Burberry may have success with facial recognition systems that alert sales associates when a high-value customer walks in the door, three-quarters of internet users thought it would be creepy for an employee to greet them by name when they walked in. They were equally put off by facial recognition that would identify demographic characteristics like age and gender and market to them appropriately.

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