Caltex eyes up customers

Caltex customers have been the unsuspecting stars of a closely watched production over the past fortnight.

The company and nine of its suppliers, including Bluebird, Cadbury and Coca-Cola, have been running a sophisticated research programme that films Star Mart customers.

Their aim is to track how they move around the store and to see what they buy.

Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff warns that companies need to be aware of the privacy issues raised by video surveillance and use of video footage.

"Companies which don't inform people might find there's a consumer backlash, as happened recently when NZ Post used posties to gather information about the paintwork on people's houses," she said.

Filming took place on four days of last week at Caltex stores in Balmoral, Highland Park (Manukau City) and Fanshawe St in central Auckland. It continued this week at Caltex Mangere and at Caltex Cavendish in Great South Rd, Manukau City, and will finish today.

Research company Shopper Answers will analyse the footage to make deductions about customer behaviour, using software developed in Palmerston North to monitor the on-field performance of the All Blacks, NPC, and Super 12 players.

Customer movements will be fed into three-dimensional computer models of the stores, allowing participating companies to map the way shoppers walk around them, find out what products are in their baskets and test new marketing or product concepts on them.

Bryce Taylor, lead category manager for Caltex New Zealand, said the project would be used to boost profits at sites.

More than half of Caltex customers walk out of its convenience stores having bought only fuel, and Mr Taylor wants to change that.

Caltex will also use the data to see the effect of changes it has already begun to introduce, such as putting gaps in aisles to allow shoppers more room. "Consumers will see the results in stores from June onwards," Mr Taylor said.

Suppliers had been eager to participate and helped pay for the research. "We can pick out different kinds of people that fit a certain type of demographic, and see what they bought."

Mr Taylor said the footage, gathered through security cameras, would be kept. He played down privacy concerns.

While customers were not aware they were being filmed for research, existing notices in the stores alerted them to the presence of cameras and fresh signs were posted to tell people they might be approached by researchers.

Ms Shroff would not comment on the Caltex project, but said companies that wanted to use their security cameras for other purposes should first check whether those additional uses would breach privacy. "Usually it's not hard to let people know what is going on.

"For example, tell them what the video footage will be used for and who will get to see it."

Chris Morriss, managing director of Shopper Answers, said personal details were not recorded.

It was the first time Shopper Answers had combined computer models, behavioural software and on-the-ground researchers in one major project.

"We can code behaviour. Every bit of data we have links directly to a video clip; every statistic we have can be backed with video.

"We can run scenarios through the model and show the client what customers see.

"The footage exists anyway. Security cameras are there up and down shops, malls and buildings. We just thought, 'How can we utilise that?' "

Caltex plans to continue the research with twice-yearly filming to allow further tweaking of its store layouts and product placement.

Big brother is watching

What Caltex and its suppliers look for in the video footage:

* How customers move around a store.
* What people buy.
* What shoppers do when a product is out of stock - do they buy something else or leave?
* How effective the promotions are.