With only a few days remaining until the holidays, more shoppers will be stepping away from the keyboard and heading to physical stores to make their final purchases. And whether we shop online, or in store, smartphones have revolutionized the experience. Mobile devices can bring all sorts of good tidings: recommendations, discounts, and new abilities to find precisely the item we are looking for, even down to the aisle. It is safe to say that most major retailers have a mobile strategy these days--not to mention the proliferation of general retail shopping apps that offer discounts and deals at a range of partnered stores.
As you shop, you should understand that many of these services, in order to deliver on their promises, rely on location technology. Location tracking allows apps to provide helpful services (like finding an item in a store) and also for marketing, advertising, and business analytics. There are many ways that your location can be assessed using the sensors on your phone. Understanding how and why can help shoppers make smart privacy choices as they wait on lines and navigate the aisles of their favorite retailer.
Mobile operating systems use a variety of positioning systems within your phone and combine it together under an umbrella called Location Services. Shopping apps might use this data to help you locate a nearby store, or send you a location-based advertisement. Location privacy settings on your phone can help you decide which app deserves to access your location.
Some retailers use special devices that can count the unique identifiers broadcast by wifi or Bluetooth transmitters on your phone, helping them understand the traffic patterns of people in their stores. This information can provide useful insights, such as how long customers stand in line, and how they generally move around within an area. You can opt-out of this by visiting the service we run at www.smart-places.org or by turning off the wifi and Bluetooth settings on your phone.
Major retailers are likely to have installed beacons in their physical stores, allowing shopping apps you have downloaded to pick up their signals as you walk in the aisles or browse for items. Beacon-detecting apps can use this information to send you location-specific notifications. Some apps even request access to your phone microphone in order to "listen" for special subsonic audio beacons that can help determine your position in a store.
It is clear that there are a range of benefits to location-based services. The blessings of saving time, price discounts, and overall convenience give the often weary world of last-minute holiday shoppers a reason to rejoice. Retailers using technology to speed checkouts and minimize wait times online deserve a cheer. But is an app requesting your location planning on being naughty with your data? As we increasingly turn to our smartphones to shop online or make our decisions in the physical world, the smart holiday shopper should decide who is naughty and who is nice ... and they'll be sure to check apps' privacy policies twice.