As you may or may not know, there are apps for iPhone and the Google Android phones that allow you to take a picture of a bar code in a store and get an instant price comparison with the store’s competitors. Someone shopping in Target the other day was told by a clerk that scanning was against store policy. When the app company and ReadWriteWeb investigated, it turns out the store didn’t have a policy — in fact, it didn’t even know these applications existed. So now the question is, how should retailers respond as these features become popular? Some are suggesting a ban on in-store scanning, even going as far as jamming cell phones. “That doesn’t seem to be a very proactive way of dealing with the technology. In fact, it reminds us of how both the music and movie industry attempted to quash the pirating of songs and films,” writes Sarah Perez in ReadWriteWeb. Absolutely. The sooner retailers embrace the technology, the better, or they’ll bask in the inevitable backlash that’s coming.
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