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Shopping Centers Today -> May 2003
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NEWS IN BRIEF
Benetton and microchips
After receiving a barrage of inquiries from privacy advocates, Italian apparel retailer Benetton Group says it is rethinking its plans to put microchip transmitters in clothing to ease inventory control and combat theft. Philips Semiconductors, a division of the Dutch electronics giant, had said it would provide Benetton with 15 million chips embedded in so-called smart labels. Privacy advocates say they were concerned that the technology, known as radio frequency identification, or RFID, could be used to track shoppers after they leave stores for sharing personal information without their consent. The technology is new and experimental, and Benetton is looking into it, said a company spokeswoman. “There are no microchips in our clothing as of now.”Office Depot
Office Depot, Delray Beach, Fla., is using a new Web-based management system called Retail Development Manager to streamline the process of remodeling and opening its stores. The system, developed by e-Builder, allows the office supply chain to select sites and negotiate leases, as well as design, construct and operate stores and facilities. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based e-Builder designs software to help property owners, designers and other professionals with the real estate development process.Consumer research
Nextrend, a Los Angeles-based consumer markets consulting and research firm, has established a psychology-based consumer research division called Iceology. The division develops and studies emotional profiles in the context of shopper behavior. The “ice” in the name stands for Interpreting Consumers’ Emotions. Iceology’s developers assert that their method yields a more reliable forecast about virtually all the important questions in consumer marketing, including preferences and lifestyle tastes. They say it can also predict how loyal a consumer will be to a brand as well as measure the degree of influence brand image has on the decision-making process.
Shopping Centers Today
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