fiskantes ⭐️🩸(@Fiskantes):During college I took summer job at IKEA once My task was to follow selected customers around IKEA store (without their consent or knowledge), write down their age, sex, height, physical build, estimated income class (based on how they dress) I was wearing normal clothes to be lowkey and had a tablet with electronic map of the the store I was supposed to follow them around and mark how they navigate the store, where they stop, what they look at, what they buy, what they put back etc All to optimise product placement and sales This was ~16 years ago and they told me they were doing it since the 90s...a bit creepy, yes but common practice in retail. People who are losing mind over this think we need some robots, cameras etc for this happen, while glued to their smartphones 24/7 which leak 10x more data about them and their consumer preferences to 10x more companies than them physically visiting a store could ever leak (Discl: invested in Auki)

2026.09.23 07:15

During college I took summer job at IKEA once My task was to follow selected customers around IKEA store (without their consent or knowledge), write down their age, sex, height, physical build, estimated income class (based on how they dress) I was wearing normal clothes to be lowkey and had a tablet with electronic map of the the store I was supposed to follow them around and mark how they navigate the store, where they stop, what they look at, what they buy, what they put back etc All to optimise product placement and sales This was ~16 years ago and they told me they were doing it since the 90s...a bit creepy, yes but common practice in retail. People who are losing mind over this think we need some robots, cameras etc for this happen, while glued to their smartphones 24/7 which leak 10x more data about them and their consumer preferences to 10x more companies than them physically visiting a store could ever leak (Discl: invested in Auki)

Nils@broodsugar

2026.09.23 04:01

Receiving an interesting ratio of death threats and VC outreach over this now, so should probably clarify: We at @Auki do not actually track any person. In this visualization we show how manage to derive the data we actually track: what part of the shelf receives attention. It's like tracking how many cars cross a bridge without tracking which car it was or who was driving. The reason we do this is to allow the stores to better optimize their shelf space. Space is first or second biggest cost for every retailer, so optimizing the use of space is what allows them to reduce prices for the consumer - something they're all under intense pressure to do. We do not store any data at all about the shopper, and have no plans to. Auki's tech will not be used to profile you, but it will make your groceries cheaper and your store visits faster. We have always been champions of privacy, and that's not going to change. Peace.