The Post Office is using biometrics to improve customer experience

The Post Office has been conducting biometric experiments at its Oxford branch in a bid to better understand trigger points in the customer journey.

The company has been strapping heart monitors and cameras to customers as they move around the store, as the brand attempts to revolutionise the way it gathers and uses data from the 17 million customers it serves each week.

The experiment is designed to highlight points where the body reacts badly to things such as poor signage.

Chief marketing officer Pete Markey explained: “If I fill a survey in I might not tell you or even realise I was stressed in that moment. We want to really find out what the customer experience is really like and to find out areas where customers – consciously or unconsciously – are feeling negative or stressed. We’re able to see any points of stress or delight and target those areas. It’s really interesting.”

The company’s Oxford branch has been selected as a transformation hub as the brand moves forward with its digital overhaul.

A concept branch in Kennington featuring screens which can track age, gender and how you move through the store is planned for 2015.