Toys “R” Us Pivots From Teddy Bears to Surveillance
Summary
After accumulating more than $5 billion in debt and struggling to compete with online competitors like Amazon, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017, then shuttered more than 800 retail locations last year. Last month the company re-emerged as a faint echo of its former self, backed by new private equity partners intent on making customer surveillance a cornerstone of their new business model. Often aided by phone location data, such firms track and monetize consumer behavior, monitoring everything from the path you walk through a mall, to the amount of time you spend looking at any one particular product. “All traffic data is anonymous and the cameras do not register kids.” All told, RetailNext claims it analyzes the shopping habits of 800 million consumers in more than 80 countries worldwide. The company insists its technology is programmed to avoid recording any humans less than four feet tall in a bid to comply with COPPA, even though CDC data suggests many young boys can easily exceed such height limitations.
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