Retailers have for a long time used data analytics to better understand who their customers are and what their purchasing behavior is like, with many companies at the leading edge of the technology. A boutique retailer, for example, has recently started using very expensive and beautiful mannequins designed and built in Italy. These mannequins are stationed throughout the boutique, one to the far left, one in the middle facing the door, and another off to the right facing the checkout area. These mannequins do their standard job of showing off the attractive clothes available in the boutique, but they also have an added function. Equipped with high-definition cameras behind their eyes, the mannequins collect data throughout the retail environment, and that information is then analyzed and used to improve business at the store.

Take, for example, the mannequin that faces the door. That mannequin keeps track of people as they walk back and forth in front...