French retailer Carrefour has agreed to try lights from Philips with built-in technology that can track shoppers as they move through a grocery store, beaming pop-up coupons to their smartphones. One of the large Carrefour stores in Lille, northern France, will be the first to roll-out these lights.
Shoppers interested in availing the service will have to install a Carrefour mobile software app on their smartphones and opt in. Thereafter, the LED lights used in the store can then transmit data to smartphones using light pulses not detectable by the human eye, but registered by smartphone cameras.
As a shopper passes by the aisles the app could be used to display coupons or more detailed information about the products on the shelves.