Analyst(s): Steven Dickens, Keith Kirkpatrick
Publication Date: August 26, 2024
The News: Scandit announced on August 21 the acquisition of MarketLab, a Polish image recognition and AI software company specializing in the retail industry. The acquisition is designed to bolster Scandit’s retail shelf intelligence capabilities by combining MarketLab’s fixed camera-based data capture expertise with Scandit’s existing ShelfView mobile capture approach.
Will Scandit’s Acquisition of MarketLab Introduce Privacy Concerns?
Analyst Take: Scandit announced the asset acquisition of shelf audit automation technology from MarketLab, a Polish image recognition and AI software company specializing in the retail industry. As part of the transaction, MarketLab’s expert team will join Scandit to build and expand the new offering.
The new offering will be a hybrid data capture solution that is designed to enable retailers to gain insights into on-shelf availability, planogram compliance, pricing issues, and more to maintain optimal store conditions, maximize sales, and reduce lost revenues due to stockouts, particularly in high-SKU volume environments like grocery stores. It will also provide AI-enabled notifications to improve store key performance indicators and flag issues in near-real time to store associates and management.
According to Scandit, adding fixed-camera shelf scanning provides continuous high-frequency data capture for near-real-time shelf monitoring while freeing store associates to devote their time to higher-value tasks such as customer engagement. A powerful argument can be made that any technology enabling human workers to focus on higher-value tasks is a win, particularly in an era of labor challenges, both in attracting and retaining quality workers.
Moreover, combining fixed-camera and mobile scanning technology provides redundancy, ensuring that some scanning technology is continuously deployed. This ensures a constant, real-time flow of data and insights that can drive better performance, regardless of staffing issues.
What to Watch:
Scandit’s challenge with deploying a fixed-camera shelf scanning system will largely revolve around managing the perception of what the technology does while dispelling any misconstrued customer concerns. Customers are rightly paranoid about surveillance systems in general, and this move could be seen in that context unless managed well.
For many years, customers have been rightly concerned about their personal privacy and tracking technologies deployed in retail stores and online. From third-party tracking cookies at retailers’ sites to hidden cameras within retail stores (that may or may not incorporate facial recognition technology), there is a fear that retailers will stop at nothing to capture more data about their customers.
At first glance, Scandit’s proposed fixed-camera, shelf audit system does not appear to introduce any customer privacy concerns. Its purpose, according to the company, is to help retailers “gain insights into on-shelf availability, planogram compliance, pricing issues, and more to maintain optimal store conditions, maximize sales, and reduce lost revenues due to stockouts, particularly in high-SKU volume environments like grocery stores. It will also provide AI-enabled notifications to improve store key performance indicators and flag issues in near-real time to store associates and management.”
However, the mere presence of on-shelf camera technology may give birth to wild customer theories focused on enhanced store surveillance of customers and their behavior without obtaining explicit consent. While many stores have signs detailing the presence of cameras and state that entrance is an acceptance of that policy, that is not necessarily a customer-first approach to managing customer privacy or security. We will need to track customer adoption after the acquisition closes and in the coming quarters to see whether this concern is playing out.
Retailers who deploy this shelf-scanning technology should ensure a clear policy around the collection or non collection of customer data and/or information that may potentially identify a customer is available to its end retail customers. The policy should also clearly denote what technologies are being used so that any wild rumors or theories can quickly be dispelled and prevent false hysteria from derailing the use of new technology.
In summary, Scandit’s acquisition of MarketLab on the surface appears to align seamlessly with its strategic focus on enhancing retail efficiency through smart data capture technologies. This tuck-in acquisition strengthens Scandit’s ShelfView capabilities by integrating MarketLab’s fixed-camera expertise, offering a hybrid solution that ensures continuous data capture and real-time insights. By expanding into fixed-camera shelf scanning, Scandit is positioning itself as a leader in retail shelf intelligence, addressing critical needs like stockout prevention and planogram compliance. This acquisition reinforces Scandit’s commitment to innovation in the shelf edge and smart data capture market, enabling retailers to optimize store operations effectively.
You can read the full press release on Scandit’s website.
Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
Other insights from The Futurum Group:
Scandit Express 3.0: The Future of Barcode Scanning and Smart Data Capture
The Rising Importance of Authentication in a Digitally Insecure World
Providing Employees and Businesses with Unmatched Power with Smart Data Capture
Author Information
Steven engages with the world’s largest technology brands to explore new operating models and how they drive innovation and competitive edge.
Keith Kirkpatrick is VP & Research Director, Enterprise Software & Digital Workflows for The Futurum Group. Keith has over 25 years of experience in research, marketing, and consulting-based fields.
He has authored in-depth reports and market forecast studies covering artificial intelligence, biometrics, data analytics, robotics, high performance computing, and quantum computing, with a specific focus on the use of these technologies within large enterprise organizations and SMBs. He has also established strong working relationships with the international technology vendor community and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events.
In his career as a financial and technology journalist he has written for national and trade publications, including BusinessWeek, CNBC.com, Investment Dealers’ Digest, The Red Herring, The Communications of the ACM, and Mobile Computing & Communications, among others.
He is a member of the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP).
Keith holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Magazine Journalism and Sociology from Syracuse University.
