Boots is to start using tracking technology to identify when a customer enters its shops to send them special offers to their mobile phone.
The retailer will know when a certain shopper walks through its doors and push out personalised promotional text messages based on their previous purchases.
It is thought to be the first time a major UK high street retailer has used the location technology on our smart phones in this way.
The retailer will know when a certain shopper walks through its doors and push out personalised promotional text messages based on their previous purchases
The scheme is likely to be launched before Christmas and target shoppers who have downloaded the Boots phone app.
Boots knows exactly what you have been buying because previous purchases are recorded via its loyalty Advantage Card. This will allow the store to send you relevant offers as you step through the door.
The beauty and pharmacy retailer insisted it would launch the scheme ‘gently’ and would not bombard customers with unwanted offers.
But the move could raise privacy fears, especially if people find their phones pinging with deals which could hint at what they have previously bought from the shop.
It could also raise concerns that – if other retailers follow suit – shoppers will find themselves hit with a blizzard of advertisements as they wander in and out of stores.
Speaking at an event hosted by payments provider Worldpay, Vicky Dring, a senior product manager at Boots, said: ‘We are releasing a new version of the app imminently, in the next few months, which will recognise people so we know they are in store.
The scheme is likely to be launched before Christmas and target shoppers who have downloaded the Boots phone app
‘We have a huge volume of data from the Advantage Cards about their purchase history so we can point them towards the things they are most likely to be interested in.
‘We will be starting gently – it will be close to Christmas – we will be careful.
‘We will not be bombarding people or frightening people so they think, “woah, they know we are in store”.’
Boots said it could not reveal further details of how the service will work because it has yet to carry out tests in store. It is thought customers would have to opt in to receive alerts to their phone.
Martyn James, of customer complaints service Resolver, said: ‘Boots will need to work hard to provide shoppers with assurances that this will be done sensitively.
‘I would have concerns about any service which tracks when you are in store and send out messages based on your shopping habits.
‘People’s previous purchases are deeply personal and if these are somehow exposed via the deals you are sent to your phone, it could be embarrassing.
‘How close do people have to be to the entrance for the store to recognise you are there? Could you find yourself receiving offers as you stand at a bus stop just outside the doors?.
‘The technology is already there for retailers to do this – it is coming – so as consumers we have to make a decision about whether we want it.’
It comes as Worldpay’s annual consumer behaviour report revealed that retailers can now ‘use location technology in smart phones to know when shoppers are visiting their stores’.
It said: ‘This can trigger a text message containing offers tailored to customers’ preferences, aimed at encouraging sales.’
But it warned: ‘Businesses should be wary of bombarding their customers – too many texts would be a turn-off for most’.
A survey of 2,500 shoppers found 43 per cent of us would be happy to receive one text message but only 10 per cent would be happy with four or more messages as they wandered around the store.
The report also revealed that many customers are still unsure about self-service checkouts.
It found three-quarters of baby boomers, aged 51 to 69, prefer paying a member of staff to using do-it-yourself tills.
But over half of under 21s preferred self-service payment.