Posted on 10/21/2018 12:47:45 AM PDT by vannrox
Walmart has plenty of haters. But for many consumers, Walmart's prices just can't be beat. You can't afford to be choosy when you're on a tight budget.
If price is not so much of a concern for you, what if you discovered that Walmart wants your personal data? And not just data about your shopping behavior, which we already give hand over fist to Amazon in the name of fast shipping.
Walmart is interested in what's going on in your body while you shop.
The company wants to collect this data is a particularly creepy way: through the handles of its shopping carts. Walmart recently submitted a patent to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office called "System and Method for a Biometric Feedback Cart Handle," CBInsights reports.
These innovative shopping cart handles would collect your biometric data, meaning your stress level, your body temperature, and heart rate -- all while you're strolling through the aisles of your local store, filling your cart with Walmart's everyday low-priced items. Putting a positive spin on data collection
Walmart is wisely putting a positive spin on why it wants to collect shoppers' biometric data.
Say someone was unwell while shopping in one of the Walmart stores. Their pulse becomes erratic or their temperature drastically changes. The shopping cart handle would transmit this info in real time to a server, which would then notify a Walmart associate to go check on the person.
That sounds awfully altruistic for Walmart. It's probably not the only reason America's largest retailer wants to collect information about what's happening inside the minds and bodies of consumers while they shop. How Walmart could spin this to its benefit
Internet retailers already excel at targeting us for products they know we want to buy because of our online shopping behavior. It's not so easy to gather data about your preferences while you shop in brick-and-mortar stores.
But what if Walmart could see if your heart rate increases when you pass a new display? What if the company could see it drop when you walk by another? This technology would essentially monitor how customers are feeling while they shop. Walmart could then use that data to optimize the design of its stores for ultimate feel-good vibes. Or to entice people to stay in its stores for a few minutes longer, which is the tried-and-true way to get people to spend more.
Though the creepy shopping cart handle doesn't exist yet, it's not hard to imagine it quickly coming to fruition if the patent is approved. Similar technology already exists on treadmills, which have sensors in handles that can gather your heart rate.
The technology itself isn't inherently bad. Intent matters. Even when the purpose of certain technologies is good, bad actors can still use them for not-so-good purposes. Is Walmart a good actor or bad actor? Up to you to decide.
See post #60
Sketchy shoplifters usually don’t push carts around. They stuff stolen items in the baggy clothing or big purses.
Diversity and illegals flooding Walmart can cause high bp in taxpaying customers..
That don’t account for moving items to a different part of the store every few months. That makes no sense unless the objective is to reduce sales.
Might have potential to identify perverts who pass by the children’s undergarments section.
If that happens there is a reason for them to do that.
Grocery stores have marketing application programs based on foot traffic, sales, shelf position and dozens of other algorithms that predict dollar sales, volume, item profitability when an item is placed anywhere in the store.
That makes no sense unless the objective is to reduce sales.
The objective is to always increase sales..
It's always about profitability...
Just rest your hands near/around the corners of the top handle, instead of wrapping them around the handle. It’s not awkward at all to push and steer a cart around like that. I do it, when the handle looks dirty.
That’s why the milk is always at the back of the store so you have to walk past a hundred items and you might pick up something else to purchase.
Moving items from one side of the store to the other does the same thing. You wander around looking for what you came in for, can’t find it in it’s old place, so in the hunt you might see something else to purchase.
That works on some people but I shop with a list. It also ticks me off when I have to go on a hunt so I’m likely to leave the half filled cart and leave.
Our local, one and only, grocery would scramble items so you’d have to double your time. Tomato juice would be on aisle one but grape juice would be on aisle 3 or snack nuts would be on aisle 2 but chips would be on aisle 4. Of course, coffee and creamer would be on different aisles. That, along with their rotten produce, lost this customer for a year. I drove 3 towns over and wasted gas but felt it was justified even on a super tight budget.
So long as the shopping cart does not scan the 666 #markofthebeast id chip which is embedded in my neck, I am fine with it.
Last winter I was sick all winter long. We have to take our own bags here so I got into the habit of throwing one of my bags over the handle so I wouldn’t have to touch it. I do it everywhere I go now. So Walmart would be out of luck with me. I don’t shop there anyway so.......lol
This is good.
We will finally find out what percent of WalMartians are alien vs human.
Sale on welder’s gloves on isle 13.
Ikea has those. They can be a bit awkward to drive.
There are less intrusive and cheaper ways to make a trip to Wally World less stressful. Any store that needs biometric data to ease shopper’s stress should just close its doors forever.
Most of these kind of patents are preemptive. Now that you no longer need to make a working model and can patent a “wouldn’t it be cool if”. It doesn’t mean WalMart wants to use these carts, they just want to get paid if somebody else does.
If they do it you won’t know you are. It’ll look like a regular cart. It’s a big data world, privacy is dead, you are nothing but data points, get over it. Railing against this is like being angry at the sun rising in the East: 100% pointless.
I was wondering about that as well.
True - I often have to check a few carts before doing the shopping.
I can always tow the cart from the front......
I’d be glad if they disinfect the handles
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