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Tesco could use AI to monitor customers’ baskets and scold them if their shop is unhealthy
Tesco now makes hundreds of millions selling on customer data gathered through Clubcard
TESCO could start monitoring peoples’ shopping baskets and scold them if they try to buy too many unhealthy salty items.
The boss of Britain’s biggest supermarket said that it could use artificial intelligence to monitor data gathered when shoppers’ use its Clubcard.
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Tesco recently said its Clubcard is now used in 80 per cent of all transactions at the supermarket - largely because it has tempted more shoppers to use it with heavily discounted prices.
Around 22 million people are currently signed up for its Clubcard.
Ken Murphy, chief executive of Tesco, said that it could use AI to “nudge” shoppers into making healthier choices.
He said: “I can see it nudging you, saying: ‘look, I’ve noticed over time that in your shopping basket your sodium salt content is 250pc of your daily recommended allowance.
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"I would recommend you substitute this, this and this for lower sodium products to improve your heart health’.”
Mr Murphy said at the FT Future of Retail Conference that artificial intelligence could also be used to tell customers which discounts are available, to help them save money.
“It will completely revolutionise how customers interact with retailers. It can help to bring your shopping bill down, reduce waste and improve the outcome and power of that Clubcard.”
Privacy campaigners have already raised concerns about how big companies use loyalty schemes to mine customer data.
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Tesco now makes hundreds of millions selling on customer data gathered through Clubcard to advertisers and big food companies.
Mr Murphy said that while some customers had concerns about data sharing “for me as a consumer, I don’t mind giving up that data if I get the right kind of experience back.”
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