Amazon designs a patent to stop you checking online prices while shopping in a store
Amazon has been granted a patent to stop you trying to find cheaper prices online while shopping in a physical store. It would try and intercept you if you made a price comparison using the shops WiFi.
If the retailer works out you are looking at a competitors site, it can try and persuade you to use its product with a discount or a store coupon.
The Amazon patent says: "A negative scenario may exist for a physical store retailer when a consumer evaluates items at the physical store, leverages physical store sales representatives, and then reviews pricing information online in order to purchase the same item from an online retailer. The physical store retailer pays for floor space, sales representative time, product inventory management, and other costs while not being able to complete a sales transaction."
Although this seems like a strange move for Amazon, seeing as they have no physical stores so people buying online would directly benefit them, it is likely that it is a defensive move against retailers as now retailers can’t take measures to stop you from logging into their WiFi and looking for their products more cheaply online on Amazon.
