Unilever has teamed up with Mesh Experience and Emotion Research Lab to trial in-store facial recognition technology in a bid to discover the efficacy of its POS marketing, according to a report published by Marketing Week.

The Anglo-Dutch FMCG giant conducted its assessments in the US and Brazil, placing discreet cameras on shelf, enabling it to capture and analyze shoppers’ facial expressions as they browsed the product displays. Unilever noted the demographic profile of each customer and their level of engagement with the display.

“When you look at the in-store environment, there are people coming there very clearly in a mindset to buy certain product categories, buy certain brands. They are more open to receiving messages and they are more open to engage with communication and the impact it can create. However, we don’t seem to be focusing on developing any metrics,” said Unilever Vice President of Consumer and Market Insight BV Pradeep.

The company is hoping to conduct further research in the UK – with the Brazilian study discovering that noticeability rose 3.5 times when a hanging shelf stopper was used.