The Aisles Have Eyes: How Retailers Track Your Shopping, Strip Your Privacy, and Define Your Power

by Joseph Turow

A revealing and surprising look at the ways that aggressive consumer advertising and tracking, already pervasive online, are coming to a retail store near you

By one expert’s prediction, within twenty years half of Americans will have body implants that tell retailers how they feel about specific products as they browse their local stores. The notion may be outlandish, but it reflects executives’ drive to understand shoppers in the aisles with the same obsessive detail that they track us online. In fact, a hidden surveillance revolution is already taking place inside brick-and-mortar stores, where Americans still do most of their buying. Drawing on his interviews with retail executives, analysis of trade publications, and experiences at insider industry meetings, advertising and digital studies expert Joseph Turow pulls back the curtain on these trends, showing how a new hyper-competitive generation of merchants—including Macy’s, Target, and Walmart—is already using data mining, in-store tracking, and predictive analytics to change the way we buy, undermine our privacy, and define our reputations.  Eye-opening and timely, Turow’s book is essential reading to understand the future of shopping.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Science, Audiobook, Contemporary, Psychology, Food

344 pages, Hardcover

First published January 17, 2017

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 5 out of 5]

"As you walk into an upscale department store, you may or may not realize that your phone signaled your arrival. The store cares because you belong to its loyalty program and have achieved high-value-customer status. Your presence is indicated to a store representative, whose tablet calls up your photo so she can recognize and greet you. The tablet also reveals which clothes you looked at on the store’s website during the past week as well as the clothes you clicked on when you accessed the store’s ads while visiting other websites during that period.

Based on previous purchases and the information it has concerning your age, income, occupation, and family status, the store’s computer predicts which of those garments you will buy. It also suggests matching accessories, again based on your website visits, previous purchases, and the special predictive sauce that mixes these behaviors with demographic information.
When you complete your shopping and go to pay, you are pleasantly surprised to find that the computer is rewarding your loyalty in the form of a 20 percent discount on your purchases that day. "

"A marketing executive of a major retailing chain notes that his company actually lowers prices for individuals deemed less loyal while keeping the prices higher for the ones identified as more loyal."

"A similar scenario takes place in the big-box discount chain you visit often to buy household items. In addition to the information the supermarket used to send you messages and deals, this merchant has bought predictive data about your likes and dislikes based on the products you discuss on Facebook and other social media. The chain also bases its formulas for offering you discounts partly on an “influence” score it has bought from a company that evaluates the number of friends you have on social media and your degree of influence on them. "

It's hard to avoid all this. But one thing you can do is switch off wifi when you go into a store. Do your shopping and then switch it on for any coupons.

The next step apparently is persuading customers to have chips implanted.....

[Andrea Rufo (Ann) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here are some of the alternate ways I would market this book to readers:

The best horror book of 2017! This combination of Stephen King meets William Gibson elevates suspense to a level of near reality.

Did you buy this book off Amazon? Cause you are now going to feel super shitty as you read it.

A modern re-telling of Poe's classic "The Telltale Heart," with the heart being replaced by your smart phone.

Hey (specific name of person reading this), this is exactly the kind of book you would like. Seriously, we know.

In short, a well-researched and well-written book of a lot of shit you really need to know, which will make you very very paranoid for at least a week after you finish reading, but which in the end will probably not change any of your behaviors because shopping online and using your iphone for everything is just way too convenient.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overall thesis of this book was interesting. But the author repeated several points, including pointing out that he already repeated some points.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

For many, this book may be a bit of a shocking eye-opener, and even for those who know a bit about it, it may still deliver a lot of data to push into your brain! The subject? How retail stores are tracking you and your shopping activities and how your privacy and even power as a sometimes-informed consumer can be at threat if unchecked.

Of course, there can be benefits for the consumer of an intelligent, data-driven shopping experience, yet many believe that the scales of equality are presently tipped to the retailer’s favour. This is still by no means a mature subject either, so there will be plenty of change or “innovation” in the future that can, perhaps, further create concerns for the consumer if the power dynamic is not held in check.

The ability for predominantly larger businesses to track their retail customers is here today. In many ways, it is no different to the pervasive Internet advertising and usage tracking that is available today. Very few websites fail to gather intelligence and user activity information, even if it is just basic Google Analytics data. Some, however, are very enthusiastic with tracking your activities – some sites can have a dozen or more different tracking beacons installed and you just know how some advertisements follow you around and how certain items you’ve searched for appear in tailored-advertisements from certain online retailers.

You can imagine this is also happening when you physically visit a big-box store. Whether it is more innocuous activities such as measuring foot traffic to a certain department or trying to figure out how an individual customer goes around the store, it can soon ramp up to tracking each and every purchase, or possible purchase interaction, remembering it both now and in the future. You may think it is harmless, but when the computer tries to intelligently “help” and identifies your shopping activities and, for example, says you are probably pregnant and sends you coupons in the mail that get accidentally seen by a family member who doesn’t yet know, or care for, your news…

Some experts forecast that within a decade or two body implants may even be commonplace, letting retailers interact with us and learn our interests and intentions. No doubt there are many enhancements under development to aid both retailer and consumer alike. With data collection and use comes responsibility. Would you necessarily care for all your private shopping information to be common knowledge? What if a health insurer decided to cut your cover because they note higher-than-accepted consumption of alcohol or sugary products? How would they also know whether you purchased things for private consumption or a big family party? Heaven help you if you regularly collect large amounts of soft drinks and sticky buns on behalf of your office!

This is not a “sky is falling” book or some hype-filled rant about how big business is taking over our minds and bodies. It is a considered, informative and cautious look at the power of the technologies available today, as well as considering the scope for abuse and other areas of concern. It should hopefully inspire retailers to make greater, informed use of such technologies to benefit their customers and the company-at-large whilst using the information gathered in a way that does not prejudice the consumer’s interest. The consumer should also feel comforted by this usage.

It was a highly enjoyable, informative read. One hopes that the excesses can be controlled and contained without misuse otherwise spoiling a potentially beneficial relationship of consumer and corporate benefit. It is definitely a book worthy of consideration, no matter which side of the divide you stand. Do not be afraid of the future, as long as the future is well-managed.

The Aisles Have Eyes, written by Joseph Turow and published by Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300212198. YYYYY

[Noel Poler · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are into Retail, this is a book to read, certainly not for the layman. I am a Technology Consultant with many Retail clients, so a very good tool.

It is a walk through the history of Retail, and interestingly enough, how we go in circles on many trends and approaches, from knowing all your customers, to mass merchandising, to knowing more about each customer than they know themselves; from knowing your customer’s preferences, to generalization and segmentation, to knowing what they will buy before they even know it themselves.

It describes how data, technology and retail have evolved and are reshaping how we buy things, where we are in the technology spectrum and what lies ahead, with some ethical dilemmas regarding data, privacy and discrimination.

The key takeaways are:
1)All this data and technology can be used correctly (but we need many legal protections) or not, and the consequences for those that are not “preferred” customers, is a crummy experience (compared to those the “valuable customers”), so more differentiation, more have vs have nots (in the Thomas Piketty sense). Loyalty programs will become more and more customized, with retailers being able to tailor programs to fit and attract their desired customers, and push away those that are not worth their time and effort;
2)The only way for retailers to survive is by developing great Omnichannel strategies, where they can replicate the Amazon experience and even take it to a new level in the physical world; and
3)Technology is evolving very fast, we track everything and everyone, and pretty much know everything there is to know about everyone, this can create a great shopping experience, but it can be used to overcharge and exclude. In a way we are already there, but it is about to become pervasive.

[William Nist · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all must be aware by now, of the immense data collection and profile construction efforts of both online and physical commercial establishments. This book illuminates the history of this intrusion, and the techniques used, by modern businesses in search of more pertinent information about their customers.
I am not shocked that this is happening, but the depth of the effort and the multiple ways in which firms collect and organize this data is somewhat surprising. We are on the edge of using facial recognition and communication devices in our clothing as additional ways businesses will know of our presence and what interests we have. (In addition to aisle sensors, consolidating info from different websites, and ubiquitous cameras.)
It was the advent of the smart phone and its apps, btw, that catapulted us into the profile hyper drive.
Do firms really benefit; how far will this go; is there any way to step out of this circus? -- questions like these are posed by the author. A timely book, not likely to make you happy, but you really should know what is going on right under your nose.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

You'd think by the title you'd be in for a shocking exposé revealing scandalous ways companies are obtaining and using our information. If you thought that, you'd be wrong. This was a tough one to get through. Nearly the entire book takes place from the business side of things. The first few chapters are all history and the middle chapters focus on how marketing and data companies use the data they collect. Way too much time is spent on those subjects. Meanwhile, the point of view of the consumer is nearly neglected into the very end, as well as any discussion on policy or regulation.

This book also became outdated immediately because of it's subject. The cutoff for material it includes was from 2015. It's missing Google Home and Alexa entirely. It's also before the pandemic happened, which fundamentally changed the way people shop.

[James Hendrickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a nice history of retailing (mostly in America). The title is misleading because the privacy issue is really only addressed in the last chapter. The privacy elements aren't even really addressed very well. Privacy is addressed by saying essentially that there are privacy issues and most people don't know about them...conclusion...we should learn about privacy concerns...the end.

The history of retailing is actually really good and worth reading.

I almost didn't read the book because of the title but it is actually not about retailing privacy.

[Anjali · Rating 5 out of 5]

fascinating (and frightening!!!)

[Kwang Wei Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a very thorough coverage in the retail space, from the history to the future of retail and how analytics come into play for them.
Will recommend to people who are into retail business.

[J.S. Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone should read this to be informed of how we are being tracked & certain groups discriminated against based on that tracking data -- that's right, how our "wonderful" tech is allowing the low-income, and races already struggling w/ racism, and others, to be continue to be discriminated against, though now in secret, subtle ways

An easy way to avoid it: turn phones on airplane mode while in stores, pay in cash, don't download apps & don't wear "smart" devices. Use DuckDuckGo as your safari browser & only log into eBay or goodreads or whatever other apps you use from there.
Give business to stores that prioritize our privacy over their dollars, even if it means we pay an extra $2 for an item right now. Because even bigger than our vote or social media presence is OUR choices of which sites we choose to give our time (& clicks) to, and OUR choices of who we give our money to. Our $$$ and clicks speak FAR more powerfully than anything else
An even easier solution? STOP SUPPORTING BIG BUSINESS. Your small, local, family-owned businesses don't engage in these practices, won't discriminate, and will actually see & treat YOU as a customer, not just a money mine they can spy on & manipulate at will

Of course, doing so would mean that company websites don't reward the rich people for spending by giving them special low prices & raising prices on you if you're poor & can only afford to buy necessities on clearance. And it means, of course, employees will no longer be signaled to treat you specially & fawn over you; instead, you'll be given "no account" status, snub noses & no attention at all since you aren't deemed "worthy" by the elite data companies. And, of course, since you don't fall into this "special" class, employees don't even have to be nice to you. I mean, you're on welfare & live on the wrong side of the tracks so clearly you aren't worth our time. And you only have, like, 30 friends on your social media accounts so you're not an "influencer" & have no voice. So no threat to our business, clearly.
Hmm... all this is sounding so familiar.... I guess our "progress" has taken us right back to communism / socialism, class discrimination, etc. Wow, what great progress for humanity tech has brought us!

[Lance Eaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fact is that we're all involved the seeking information but some have much more power over information than others. Turow shows us the ways in which asymmetrical balances of information increasingly leave the average human much more vulnerable and controllable by large corporations that wheel and deal in data. Turow explores how companies increasingly have used digital technology to create a variety of methods to track, predict, and ultimately influence and control our lives and that while we don't necessarily see the impact of this--that is exactly the point. As companies increasingly follow us and compile direct and indirect data about us, our family, our friends, it makes it increasingly easy for them to make things look normal or manufacture choices feel like authentic choices. The result is that companies can leverage the vastness of its data to determine not just the maximum amount of money and resources (e.g. labor) it can extract out of us at the smallest cost, but also do this increasingly with other companies that are not yet deeply vested in data analytics. While free-market capitalism is already hyper-exploitative, the new data dealers can amplify that in ways that are subtle, hard to track, and dubious at best. And they get to do this while never really have to answer for their actions or sharing their own personal or company data. Turow's work is frustrating and alarming in his illustration of this creeping of data control and manipulation--it is similar and simpler in many ways to Zuboff's The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. Overall, it's an enlightening book to read and consider though his early tone can come across as being judgmental of consumers for allowing this to happen.

[Kes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never really thought about retail and data tracking practices, so this was a book that was good at pointing it out. At the same time, it felt like the author only had so many points, and the book could have easily been slimmed down.

We start with a history of retail: people used to be able to bargain for their prices, we had peddlers who offered credit and price discrimination. However, as department stores grew, there was a benefit in having fixed prices, especially in reducing the skilled labour required to negotiate.

With data collection growing, retailers are looking into collecting more data on customers. The idea is catching the big whales who would spend more - things like customer loyalty, differentiated pricing, etc. Stores can no longer rely on things like loss leaders. There are several ways to track shoppers, and the book goes into that - in physical stores, that would be bluetooth readers place, apps on smartphones, and facial recognition systems. The benefits of that are being able to offer specific discounts to entice purchasers. For online shopping, similar principles apply.

This isn't a book about data - so while the difficulties with data collection / analysis are mentioned, they aren't really explored. E.g. someone who stops at a specific good might be considering buying the item, but they might also have decided to have a domestic in aisle 3.

There's also some discussion of the privacy considerations and this is a book to read if you've never really thought about how retailers might be tracking you.

4/5 stars

[Yaaresse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm really not sure how to rate this because there is such a disparity between how I feel about the information and how I feel about the writing/presentation.

The bulk of this book is a history of modern retail and its movement from merchants tailoring price and availability to the customer (either through haggling or the merchant holding aside best product/price/options for loyal customers) to a highly democratized system of displaying set prices for wares and now back to a highly individualized scheme based on whether the customer is considered "high value" based on data points. Turow interviewed many marketing people in tech and retail, most of whom are giddy with the knowledge they are able to identify individual shoppers through thousands (yes, literally) of data points aggregated through every on-line, mobile and physical (bricks and mortar store) action or reaction. Of course they all spin the unmasking of the shopper as positive: they're selling a product that makes them a lot of money. The claim that the individual shopper's data is anonymized is a myth told to us to make us complacent.

Let's put it this way: do you use any payment aside from cash, have a photo ID card, go on-line, use email, use a phone or tablet with wi-fi, bluetooth or geolocation, download apps, use loyalty cards? Then you are a "known entity" to companies who sell, compile, or manage data for retailers. You think it's been stripped of identifying information? Ha! Don't be so naive. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out a person's identity from data points; you simply need enough data points. And some of these companies boast being able to provide upward of 7000 pieces of data, including your name, health concerns, proclivities for certain behaviors, and how you like your eggs in the morning. Have you posted tagged photos of yourself on social media? Retailers love that because they want to be able to add those photos to your "shopper profile." (And if you post pictures of other people without their permission, there is a special place in hell for you because that is some annoying, invasive, rude crap to pull.) Data aggregators also are working on facial recognition so they can follow you through brick and mortar stores and register things like micro-expressions (tiny flickers of facial expressions that happen so fast we usually don't notice them), what items you look at and for how long, what items you pick up, and how you interact with displays. Shop on-line? Notice you're starting to see ads on your phone apps that show something you looked at last week on your laptop? Not a coincidence. Tracking across platforms is the new Holy Grail of Marketing.

OK, all that is annoying enough, especially for someone like me who detests attempts to "personalize the experience" and to datamine under guise of "establishing a relationship." (I no longer shop one grocer because they can't even do a cash transaction for a bottle of juice without demanding my phone number. Not. Necessary.) So, what do we do about it? Good question, and I wish Turow had offered some advice other than "consumers need to be educated and push back" statements. Yeah, we do need to be educated and push back, but some practical steps to take would be nice, especially given our government reps are a diabolical combination of old farts who barely understand technology and old farts getting their palms greased by lobbyists in exchange for neutering consumer watchdogs agencies. Even so, how many of us are going to remember to turn off our devices' wi-fi and bluetooth when entering a store so the beacons don't track our every move? For that matter, how many people can just turn their phones off without going into electronic withdrawal? (I love telling people I don't have my phone with me just to watch them twitch.) For that matter, how many of us are now resigned to the feeling that we will all eventually be assimilated anyway, so we might as well take advantage for that $1 off coupon for Hagaan-Daz that oh-so-conveniently was texted to us as we passed the freezer case?

According to Turow's research, knowledge isn't necessarily power: stats showed that the more people understood about data mining and tracking, the more resigned they seem to be about it.

As for the writing, I felt the book got off to a very slow start. I'm glad I stuck with it, but the first 25% or so was a slog. He basically was telling me a lot of stuff I already knew, up to and including what a web browser is. I found that weird. The logical audience for the book is people with an interest in tech, and I'm sure those people will know what a browser is and does. I understand he was trying to lay a foundation for talking about tracers, beacons and adware, but that's like trying to tell someone how to make a cake by explaining what food is. I also found the author spent an inordinate amount of time talking about what he was going to cover or had already covered. Thanks, but either I'm about to read it or have already read it and would like to just get on with it. Neither my memory nor my attention span is that bad yet. I wish there had been more about the paradoxical findings of the surveys the author participated in, especially how people claim to be concerned about privacy in the abstract, but then 'sell out" their data very cheaply.

Privacy is a fundamental American right! Oh wait....I can get a Groupon for a $20 massage? Well, hell, of course I'll download your app and turn on geolocation! A free doughnut? Hell, yeah, I'll play your "free" game! Seriously, we can hardly be angry that the FCC isn't protecting our electronic virtue when we put out for every app that offers us a deal.

I can't say there is much here I didn't already know or suspect, but to see it all in one place and how all those seemingly innocuous bits of data become very identifying profiles is creepy as hell. My personal takeaway from it is that I will likely pay more for things in the future because I resist taking the bait. I like anonymity more than I like sales and coupons. I like privacy more than I want stores to "personalize" my "experience." Then again, I hate shopping, so I'm a "low value" customer anyway.

Of course the irony here is how many data points I just gave to aggregators by posting this review.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this was a great listen. Some great history about the transformation of the grocery and retail industries. Definitely a must-read. Who knew that retail stores are starting to track us just as much as online sites? With *the consequence* of price discrimination. That, and that we've de-democratized pricing was a sobering idea to encounter -- now, via data, retailers can ostensibly price discriminate between customers shopping at the same time at the same location.

The info also seemed a little outdated; it was published in 2017, after all, and technology goes at a blistering pace.


I listened, and the narrator was a little dry, and I found my mind wandering, but that's ok.

[QOH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything Phillip Zimmerman warned us about in the 90s has already happened. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

[Autumn Kearney · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Aisles Have Eyes: How Retailers Track Your Shopping, Strip Your Privacy, and Define Your Power gave me the willeys. It’s no wonder that I’m so self-conscious shopping both in stores and online.

[Tai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating and frightening, this book gives some sweeping and scary insight into how retailers monitor you on and offline and the current willingness to surrender privacy for nominal discounts (and the industries willing to take advantage).
I did find the book interesting, though not often compelling. There was a lot of industry-specific information that sometimes caused the "bogged down by details" effect.
Otherwise, this is definitely a book to think on as I make shopping and browsing decisions in the future.

[Chris Esposo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dated, but informative overview of retail as a business, and the more recent (circa 2015-16) advancements of the “science” of retailing via the integration of various data collection/analysis technologies. The book starts off with a sweeping overview of the history of retail in America, connecting the current industry’s lineage to the start of the first supermarkets a century prior. The text outlines how these first supermarkets were conceived as a cheaper-alternative to more bespoke local venues that may have not been able to get lower margins in terms of cost-of-goods because of their lack of scale. It is a story very familiar to those who have even a passing experience with the industry as there have been 2 broad waves consolidation in the past 25 years, first induced by the entrance of Wal Mart in the early 90s, and second, by the explosion of eCommerce as a cost-effective alternative channel of sale in the early 2000s, championed by Amazon.

From the vantage point of a reader in the end of 2020, the book is almost entirely historical, with some valuable “near history” in terms of the technology-solutioning firms like Macys, Sears, and other department stores and “big box” retailers piloted in the mid-aughts. Much of these initiatives were within the realm of passive/low-power bluetooth tracking solutions set up within the sales floor of the retailer to track and push content/marketing in near real-time. Hilariously, one of the main sources is a data-person from Sears, which clearly didn’t have much effect on the final outcome for that business.

Worth a read if you’re in the industry, it will give you a decently detailed background on the industry, and it’s recently current state (the industry has declined somewhat more since the original publication, though there are now some greenshoots that may be appearing). Recommend

[Marcella Wigg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Retailers are tracking you. Online, they track what you click on, your purchase history, your location, the sites that refer you to their website, and other granular data, down to the most minute details of your visit histories. Perhaps you were not aware that in the store, though, they track you as well, claiming to anonymize the data but with every capability to discover disturbing amounts about your shopping behavior. As Turow reveals in the The Aisles Have Eyes, these tracking programs are frequently tied to perks to shoppers: apps like Shopkick, Savings Catcher (from Walmart), and Cartwheel (from Target) focus on your purchase history to target relevant products to you, hoping that in exchange for savings you will provide them with your information. Shoppers are frequently all too happy to provide this information, but at the same time, many of the shoppers who consent to the tracking resign themselves to the intrusion of retailers into their personal habits.

The premise of this book is interesting, and it certainly is a thorough look into the number of retail apps that are tracking your every move, essentially a call for greater awareness about what we agree to when we allow retailers into our shopping and browsing histories. However, I found the delivery more dry and repetitive than I was expecting, especially about such a fascinating topic. Perhaps it was because a lot of the content was already familiar to me that I felt it might have been more engagingly written. In any case, Turow's recommendations at the end of the book provide a synopsis of the response that should be taken to this surveillance.

[Zee Monodee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Personally thought it was a lot of 'scare' ideas, hype and crying wolf, and clickbait title because a) the book is almost entirely about retail history & not privacy. b) Read the intro/prologue and you'd have read the gist of the whole book - there isn't much else being added on top of what's been summarized in this section, and again, very little about privacy! c) We live in a world where we consciously give away our info - with Location beacons on on our phones, geo-tagging all our photos and status updates which we post on social media, etc. So why then would it surprising that retailers are gathering much of the information we're already giving away freely to better target us as their customers?

[Hayley Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative read that opened my eyes up to the extent that personal data is used to benefit companies, often through the discriminatory categorization of the masses. With that being said, I think The Aisles Have Eyes could have been far more condensed. Certain examples were reiterated multiple times, while the amount of case studies examined led to a sense of fatigue. Although they all differed, common themes were also reiterated without much variance. Perhaps choosing the most emblematic one or two for each chapter would have been more straightforward. Aside from that, it was an enjoyable and educational read that I think, given how much surveillance and data tracking has increased since 2015, would lend itself well to a revised and expanded new edition.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book should be required reading for anyone who uses technology. The author discusses how retailers use our technology to track our every move whether we shop online or in store. The ramifications of this tracking are discussed in detail. If you aren't creeped out by how much information retailers have on you now, you will be by the end of the book. The author also discusses what should be done to curtail consumer data collection. This book is enlightening!

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

They seem so beneficent and welcoming. "Want a free sample?" asks the perky disembodied voice inside the freeosk at a Sam's Club? "Insert your membership card ... " If you actually do that and take the sample, that's one more data point the store now has about you and your life. From the second you walk into the store, your indispensable iPhone screams out to the silent trackers that you're in the building. Eyeing that new laptop or tablet for more than a few seconds, are you? No problem. Someone in a shadowy office somewhere knows that, because your phone's Bluetooth capability alerted employees as to where you were and how long you stood there. Need to send a picture of something as part of a text to someone? Great! Just jump onto the store's wireless network--the one it so generously provides you--and zap that picture of whatever it is you're thinking about buying. The fact that the next time you go into that store, items a lot like the ones you looked longer than usual at are discounted is no coincidence, and the discount is connected to your membership card.

This is a fascinating book that I devoured in one sitting, and I found myself promising over and over that I'd never take my phone inside those creepy stores again--but, of course, I will. Some organizations even make note of your wearable fitness device and can track your location in the store to some small degree by that. If you think it's creepy that you get tweets about some product whose ad you saw moments earlier on TV, wait until the brick-and-mortar folks get done messing with your head.

Worse still, you're going to agree to it because you just have to have that free Friday download, that discount, that little perk. And won't the Federal Trade Commission protect you from these stores if things get too personal? Short answer is, it won't. Oh, and when you signed up for that membership card or that download coupon, I bet you blew off the silly privacy policy thing, too, right? Most of us do, including me all too often.

It's highly doubtful that you'd do a blast email to everyone in the office about the new yeast infection cream you bought over the counter, but that doesn't mean the pharmacist won't sell information about your purchase to a third party. they can, and many of them do. Pardon my observation, but it's enough to make you itch all over!

This book is not some kind of anti-brick-and-mortar store screed. Instead, it's a thoughtfully written well-researched look at what information retailers gather about you, usually with your permission, and what they do with that information.

Many retailers insist that the day is coming when you will willingly wear an implant so that when you check out of a store, you can breeze through without flashing that pesky plastic. I hope that day never comes, but I suspect it's already at the door, and we who are besotted by the insatiable appetite for convenience will likely as not willingly agree to it.

And what of those who don't fit the profile of a customer who should be treated well? Airlines already openly admit they give better seats to those who fly more frequently with them, and we accept that as a matter of course. Since we can't peek at the membership card of the person ahead of us in line, how can we know they got a deeper discount on a product than we did? We can't.

The author points out that, just as salesmen in ancient times cut deals for their favorite customers, so in our highly digital era, stores can now create special discounts. Ironically, those who are most loyal to the store may not be the ones getting the discount; those go instead to someone whose loyalty the store is trying to win.

If you plan to visit a store any time soon, you should perhaps read this first; not that it will change whether you go in, but at least you'll be more aware of what the company is learning about you while you're there. It's all Big-Brother creepy, and it's happening at a store near you.

Bottom line: This is not some dry academic horror you'll barely slog through. Nor is it intended as an alarmist rant. The author offers the information in the hope that we will all take a more proactive part in trimming some of the more invasive rough edges off things. This is not some kind of anti-capitalist anti-competition book. It's intended to give you and me things to think about and help us be more in charge of the information we give others.

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Further, in 2013 the New York Times reported that the website Axiom had created to make this information available, aboutthedata.com, wasn't releasing all the personal information it had collected."

This book was around 3.5 stars for me.

On the one hand it was informative and terrifying.

On the other it wasn't super invigorating listening to the audiobook and I found myself having to go back and make sure I was listening. This book covers a span of history about the rise of tracking consumers. From anecdotes such as a parent finding out their daughter is pregnant based on the discounts being marketed to her to people being willing to trade some personal data for a good deal this book focuses on how shopping is no longer a private matter. Fitting that Amazon's human-free grocery store opens today.

This book talks about the ways we trade our privacy for coupons and perceived customer service. There's a few repetitive points throughout the book but it's an eye opening look at how companies big and small gather data to market to us.

[Patrick Pilz · Rating 3 out of 5]

We all understand that retail is in trouble, but the solutions in this book will not help much. Retailers are getting eating by companies how leverage technology to understand their customers better, and fighting high-tech companies with in-store-tech will at best slow their demise, but certainly not stop it.

The book ends in the typical rant about how big data misuse can lead to discrimination and privacy obstructions.

If you are heading to Anuga right now, it may be worth to kill the 4 hours in the plane by reading this, but I would not think that this has been written for professionals in the field. It has some interesting background on the history of retail, but than again lacks some of the most famous quotes of leaders in the field. All in all an average read, but short enough to get into the retailers mind.

[Roz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ringing in the new year with a cheery book about how retailers are always watching!

I appreciated the history of marketing, beginning with the age of people haggling for the best price with salesmen going door to door, through 2016 and how gathering information on customers in search of maximizing profit built from remembering personal details gleaned in conversation to tracking where you are and your facial expressions when in the store.

It's only been a couple of years since the book was released, but it would be interesting to receive an update, especially as governments, at least in the EU and California, are implementing regulations on data collection and how data companies collect is communicated to customers.

[Robert S · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Aisles Have Ears submits the premise that brick and mortar stores will double down on tracking your physical shopping in order to survive against online retailers like Amazon.

Will it work? Probably not.

I definitely don't see people clamoring to have chips inserted into themselves, never mind for the eventual purpose of tracking your purchases from the local Walmart.

The book has a fascinating premise with an extensive history of retail shopping in America but it often gets in its own way by repeating the point or by being way too dry.

[Jade BookNerd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must read for everyone interested in privacy and retailing. It reveals an extremely sick world where companies track you across the web AND physical stores. The information is then sold to other companies that want to manipulate you into buying more products. Hyper focused ads are crammed into your brain. In many ways, companies know more about you than you do yourself.

These companies make me sick.

[Marcus Goncalves · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a critical topic, especially in the US, where almost no legislation exists to protect consumers against such invasive technologies. Yet, o d cannot deny the importance of it to marketers, even in best understanding the consumer needs. It’s a delicate and ethical line to walk. The book, however, presents lots of marketing data before it gets to topics called for by its title; it was a bit frustrating.