Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Biometrics in retailing

Biometrics in retailing Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a preliminary assessment of the potential role for biometrics within the retail sector of the economy. Design/methodology/approach – The paper begins with an outline of the origin and characteristics of biometrics and this is followed by a review of the possible retail applications and an outline of the current barriers to widespread adoption. The paper draws its empirical material from trade sources available on the internet. Findings – The findings reveal that biometrics has a number of potential applications within retailing including combating identity theft, increasing transaction speed at the point of sale, reducing transaction processing costs for retailers and the development of more individually tailored marketing and customer loyalty systems. However, a number of major barriers need to be overcome if biometrics are to become an integral part of the retail scene. These include acquisition and installation costs, doubts about the accuracy and performance of biometric technologies and public concerns about personal privacy and civil liberties. Originality/value – The paper offers an accessible review of the potential application of biometrics within retailing, which will interest academics working in retail, business and management and information technology departments in universities and colleges and students studying in these disciplines. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management Emerald Publishing

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/biometrics-in-retailing-0YzEe60Txx

References (12)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0959-0552
DOI
10.1108/09590550710735077
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a preliminary assessment of the potential role for biometrics within the retail sector of the economy. Design/methodology/approach – The paper begins with an outline of the origin and characteristics of biometrics and this is followed by a review of the possible retail applications and an outline of the current barriers to widespread adoption. The paper draws its empirical material from trade sources available on the internet. Findings – The findings reveal that biometrics has a number of potential applications within retailing including combating identity theft, increasing transaction speed at the point of sale, reducing transaction processing costs for retailers and the development of more individually tailored marketing and customer loyalty systems. However, a number of major barriers need to be overcome if biometrics are to become an integral part of the retail scene. These include acquisition and installation costs, doubts about the accuracy and performance of biometric technologies and public concerns about personal privacy and civil liberties. Originality/value – The paper offers an accessible review of the potential application of biometrics within retailing, which will interest academics working in retail, business and management and information technology departments in universities and colleges and students studying in these disciplines.

Journal

International Journal of Retail & Distribution ManagementEmerald Publishing

Published: Mar 20, 2007

Keywords: Biometrics; Retailing; Privacy

There are no references for this article.