In Brian’s article this week, he shares some uncharted data from our latest research on location analytics. In particular: how voraciously retailers (even more so for those who sell replenishable goods) want to start using these technologies to know everything they can about consumer shopping behaviors right now. Yesterday, even.

But what about some of the things standing in their way?

In many ways, retailers tell us they are even more challenged to take advantage of location-enabled opportunities today than they were even just a year ago. How can that be?

The answer is simple: with this level of detail being siphoned off of shopper’s mobile devices, privacy and security are poised to become top-of-mind topics in the news once more.

Figure: Time And Understanding Haven’t Made This Any Easier

Source: RSR Research, February 2019

While it’s true that fewer retailers report being constrained by their profitability model, which is based on standardized layouts, the sheer number of increases in the other options we put forth suggests that was but a knee-jerk reaction last year. Retailers are further down the rabbit hole now. As we’ll see in the Technology Enablers section, they’re experimenting with location-based solutions much more than they were just last year, and that means that privacy concerns have bubbled up to top of mind as obstacles: as well they should.

A dissertation about the importance of customer privacy is well beyond the scope of our report, but suffice it to say, the more retailers become enamored with using consumers’ location information, the more that issue will present itself. Indeed: its rise in importance to retailers is a signal that they are not only doing more with location information, but that they want to get ahead of potential problems before they turn ugly.

We invite everyone to read the full report – it’s full of all kinds of fascinating information about this next, game-changing tech set.