HID Global e-Book Makes Case for Retail Facial Recognition

HID Global is making the case for facial recognition in the retail industry. To that end, the company has published a new e-book that details the benefits of facial recognition, and provides some tips for organizations that want to deploy the technology in a secure and ethical fashion.

According to HID Global, facial recognition is appealing because it can deliver a better customer experience for individual shoppers. Those who link their faces to their payment information (through a kiosk or a mobile app) can pick up and pay for their goods at a self-checkout terminal without ever needing to press a button or take out a physical card. Facial recognition can also be used as part of a loyalty program to ensure that people receive credit for their purchases.

In that regard, HID Global notes that shoppers are more likely to do business if they feel like they are getting a more personalized shopping experience. Facial recognition gives stores a way to identify customers and notify them about products (and deals) that fit their own particular interest. That, in turn, helps create that feeling of a bespoke engagement.

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—Download HID’s latest e-Book: ‘The Ultimate Retail Experience Starts with Facial Recognition’—

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Facial recognition has similar benefits from the store’s perspective. The technology can streamline internal timekeeping practices, and limit the internal fraud that occurs when employees give unauthorized discounts or punch in for their friends. Facial recognition can similarly automate age verification checks when selling restricted goods like alcohol.

Those operational efficiencies can have a significant effect on a company’s bottom line. HID Global’s e-book indicates that US retailers miss out on $100 billion every year because people are unwilling to wait in too long a line.

Finally, HID Global goes on to stress that companies that want to adopt facial recognition need to make sure that they do so in a secure and ethical manner. Businesses need to be able to guarantee that personal information will remain secure to comply with privacy regulations like GDPR and BIPA, and they also need to make sure they gain the customer’s consent before gathering and processing their biometric data. However, HID Global noted that a well-designed system should be compliant with regulatory frameworks across regions.

HID Global proceeds to advise companies to store facial templates (rather than full images) to limit the amount of personal information that could be exposed in a breach. The company has made Paravision’s top-rated facial recognition solution the foundation of its own retail offering. HID Global has advocated for biometrics in the banking industry in a prior e-book.

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June 15, 2022 – by Eric Weiss