Interesting retail trend - especially in China, where data protection laws are lax and customers relaxed about their data: combine ubiquitous CCTV cameras with AI-driven face recognition to enhance the retail experience for customers. Here are two examples:

• Walmart (in the US) is identifying unhappy shoppers by monitoring customers’ facial expressions and movements at check out lines in order to identify varying levels of dissatisfaction.

• Burberry’s brick and mortar stores are improving the in-store experience: once an identified customer walks in a store, sales representatives can access his entire online purchasing history as well as the social media activity. For example, if Burberry knows that a customer has recently bought a particular coat, assistants may be encouraged to show them a handbag which is popular with other buyers of the coat.

Jing Daily: Retailers in China Understand the Potential of CCTV and Facial Recognition.