In-Store Tracking: Personalization Innovation or Privacy Invasion?

"This kind of in-store tracking data is really just a set of geolocation coordinates tied to a mobile device ID," says Abhi Beniwal, Interactions’ senior vice president of global IT. "It's not truly sensitive information like credit card data and personal information might be."

Anonymous as it may be, retailers can still use the data collected about where shoppers spend their time inside the store to better the consumer experience through improvements in layout and efficiencies. For example, if a tracking system picks up on the fact that a large number of devices have been waiting at the checkout area for more than the usual amount of time, the retailer could respond by opening more registers to expedite the checkout process.