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RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Shop ‘til you drop in the future: Even your

most suppressed desires will be uncovered

IEEE experts present their vision on how technology "Changing heart rates in a retail setting can usually be
will play a crucial role in the future development and linked to changes in emotion, with an increased heart
innovation of the retail industry, giving you in the follow- rate being indicative of excitement," stated Christopher
ing an impression on how you might shop in the future. James, IEEE Senior Member and professor of biomedi-
cal engineering and a director of Warwick Engineering
Eye-tracking and heart rate monitoring: Identify in Biomedicine at the School of Engineering, University
what customers want and desire of Warwick, United Kingdom. "In order to monitor
changes in heart rate properly, the customer would re-
Expert members within IEEE, the world's largest profes- ally have to 'connect' with the merchandise to show
sional organization dedicated to advancing technology changes that are discernible beyond normally physio-
for humanity, believe that a shoppers' eyes and heart logic fluctuations associated with day-to-day life."
will be a window to their wallet. Retailers will begin to
harness eye-tracking technology and heart rate moni- 3-D Printing: Reinventing the way we shop
tors for brick and mortar stores in order to gain a better
understanding of their customers' shopping prefer- IEEE experts also believe there are vast opportunities
ences. for 3-D printing. As this technology becomes more ad-
vanced, customers will no longer need to go to physical
Eye-tracking technology will allow retailers to identify stores to buy an item. Customers will be able to buy an
where their customers' eyes go in certain aisles or de- item directly on a company's website, as usual, but
partments within the store, which will better inform them once the transaction is confirmed, the company will
on where to merchandise certain products. In addition, send a file or barcode allowing the customer to print the
heart rate monitors could help retailers recognize the product directly from their personal 3-D printer. Prod-
level of customer excitement towards a product. Retail- ucts could include clothing accessories, automotive
ers can monitor which products are causing the most parts or musical instruments, just to name a few.
excitement, and, if leading to sales, can have a better
understanding of which products they should more- "3-D printing is becoming more applicable for a range
heavily promote. of products and will continue to push the boundaries for
4 Asian eMarketing - November 2015 eCommerce & Customer Lifetime
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