How can face recognition be used in retail?

Face recognition is a biometric technology that can identify and verify people by analyzing their facial features. It has many applications in various domains, such as security, banking, healthcare, and education. But one of the most promising and innovative uses of face recognition is in the retail industry, where it can enhance the customer experience, improve the retailer operations, and prevent shoplifting.

Enhancing the customer experience

One of the main benefits of face recognition in retail is that it can provide a personalized and convenient shopping experience for customers. By enrolling in a loyalty program that uses face recognition, customers can be greeted by name, receive tailored product recommendations, access exclusive offers, and pay with their face at checkout. This can increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention.

For example, fast-fashion retailers such as Amazon Fresh and 7-Eleven use face recognition to power contactless payments and deliver personalized shopping suggestions1. Supermarkets use it to verify age-restricted purchases and accelerate self-checkout2.

Improving the retailer operations

Another advantage of face recognition in retail is that it can help retailers optimize their operations and increase their revenue. By analyzing the facial expressions, emotions, demographics, and dwell time of customers, retailers can gain valuable insights into their preferences, behavior, and feedback. This can help them improve their store layout, merchandising, marketing, and customer service.

For instance, retailers can use face recognition to measure the effectiveness of their window displays, product placements, and promotions. They can also use it to segment their customers based on their age, gender, or mood, and target them with relevant messages or offers3.

Preventing shoplifting

A third benefit of face recognition in retail is that it can reduce the losses caused by shoplifting, which is a major problem for the retail industry. According to a report by the National Retail Federation (NRF), theft cost the retail industry approximately $16.7 billion in 20171. Face recognition can help retailers identify and deter shoplifters by matching them with a database of previous offenders and alerting the security team when a match is found45.

For example, some convenience stores in Japan use face recognition to scan customers’ faces and compare them with a blacklist of known thieves. If a match is detected, the system triggers an alarm or sends a warning message to the staff.

Conclusion

Face recognition is a powerful technology that can transform the retail experience for both customers and retailers. It can offer customers a personalized, convenient, and secure shopping journey. It can also help retailers improve their operations, increase their sales, and prevent shoplifting. As face recognition becomes more widespread and accepted in the retail sector, it will create new opportunities and challenges for both parties.