A Hotel Is Taking The Pulse Of Consumers, Literally. Can Retail Do The Same?

In the quest for emotional engagement, merchants have long sought to learn what’s in the shopper’s heart. Now they’re finding out, in a heartbeat. Make that many heartbeats. The international hospitality group AccorHotels is monitoring its guests’ heart rates in an effort to more accurately match them to the types of destinations and adventures that excite them most. Retailers, hopefully, are watching with held breath. Accor, operator of the Fairmont, Swissôtel and Ibis brands, is tapping into emotional triggers by correlating aspirational images with heart rates. Specifically, it asks members to respond “yes” or “no” to various photos and tracks the results. It’s not the first brand to use biometrics — combining statistical analysis and biological data. Delta Air Lines, for example, used heart rate monitors on volunteers to track their beats at various high-stress moments during the traveler journey. But how long before retailers do the same? Turns out, some already are, kind of. Read more at Forbes.