Amazon have filed a patent to spy on you while you’re shopping. The proposition is that if you are in a physical store and the retailer provides free WiFi to you, that they can then examine the content you attempt to access and if you’re doing a price comparison they can block the URL and trigger an action.
The mechanism described in the patent could simply block the information you requested, or it could be much more complex and, whilst interesting, scary! Imagine having a sales assistant tap you on the shoulder and say “I see you want to check prices, can I help you?” and then try to convince you to buy on the spot. Slightly less sinister might be to pop a voucher with a discount for the product you were researching but either way it’s highly intrusive, although you can see why a retailer might find it attractive. It’s also possible that they’d redirect you to their own website showing their own product rather than allow you to see a competitor site.
Price comparisons have been made incredibly easy with technology, just about every product has a bar code which represents a GTIN. A quick scan into your favourite marketplace, shopping comparison site or retailer website and you’ll instantly see if the price in the shop is as keen as if you made an online purchase and waited for the product to be delivered. It’s so common that the practice even has a name – ‘showrooming’. (…) 