Most UK consumers would trade personal data for better shopping experience

Like it or not, the way we shop is changing. Be it online or in store, consumers shopping experience has been given a 21st century technology makeover. From contactless payments to in-store chatbots, the way consumers search and purchase goods has been transformed.

But what do consumers like and what is considered a step too far? That is exactly what RichRelevance set out to find out during their ‘Creepy or Cool’ survey of UK, French, German and US consumers.

The Brits were generally receptive to the change, with 80 per cent of domestic consumers saying they were happy to exchange their personal data for a better shopping experience. Only the French were more receptive with 85 per cent of those surveyed to happy part with their personal data.

And it is a trend that RichRelevance’s chief marketing officer Diane Kegley said she is seeing across the board. She said: “We are seeing shoppers across the board become more comfortable with technologies that personalise shopping on a one-to-one basis, such as voice recognition, digital product recommendations in changing rooms, and fingerprint scanning for payments. The one area where consumers still seem to have real concerns is AI. Companies’ communication around their consumer facing AI initiatives, such as customer service chatbots, clearly needs addressing from a shopper standpoint.”

Fingerprint-enabled payments and voice-enabled ordering were ranked as the top two cool retail technologies by UK shoppers, with 56 per cent of consumers happy to use their fingers and voice to make payments. Smart mirrors also ranked highly UK consumers, with 45 per cent of shoppers giving the in-store technology a cool vote. Meanwhile facial recognition and AI-powered products turned off UK shoppers with 55 and 54 per cent respectively disapproving of the new tech. Surprisingly, contactless payments were not as popular as their presence would imply. Only 40 per cent said they enjoyed the technology with 31 per cent saying they were against is, while the remaining 29 per cent couldn’t make their mind up.

Creepy or cool, in-store technology is the future and lets be honest it does make shopping a lot quicker and easier.