Gadgetory

retailers can't read customers minds but a new technology can help them better guess what they're thinking this is a heat map of sunny moon a San Francisco boutique named after its owner the image was generated by prism sky lab software using video from security cameras we can build what we call heat maps showing you perhaps maybe the areas that customers are standing or we can try to understand product lift which products are being touched or moved by learning where customers linger businesses can strategically place key products in hot spots it's definitely colorful on this side of store and that's a result of this heat map feature exactly so we try to keep the customers engaged by color by items by prints and increased engagement leads to sales moon isn't sure how much revenue as a result of the service but she says it's worth the fifty dollar monthly fee I could be in Asia and you know look into my store and see how customers are moving through the store see if the mannequins are working see if the displays look good the software has other features timeline shows activity levels helping owners make smart staffing decisions while path maps reveal how customers navigate the store prism skylabs launched last November and like most startups it isn't divulging much about its customers it has said that dozens of companies are using its product from small businesses to a large electronics retailer the company isn't breaking completely new ground retail next also provides heat maps as well as figures like store visitors per day and average sales per customer though prism skylabs sets itself apart in a unique way which may reassure anyone who finds the thought of being analyzed while shopping creepy so we never track we never identify any people we can actually cleanly and completely remove people altogether and of course if the technology can read customers minds retailers would welcome that too in San Francisco I'm Sumi das cnet.com for CBS News you