New Device Tracks Online Shopping Habits

Ever feel like someone is watching or following you? Well, if you’re surfing the Web someone just might be - if you have been hired by one of two research companies. Their Web surfers use a device to track where they go on the Internet and it relays that information back to manufacturers.

The device, called e-SCAN, was developed by Information Resources Inc. [NASDAQ: IRIC] and Media Metrix [NASDAQ: MMXI] to help their clients better understand the buying habits of Web surfers and to measure how effective their advertising is.

"We track what sites they go to and then we monitor the sales figures at the stores," IRI spokesman Bob Bregenzer said. "That way we know just how effective the ads were."

The device is installed into the computer of the households of IRI shoppers, monitoring their every click. The data is then transferred to the companies, and in turn is given to their clients, such as Proctor & Gamble.

IRI then tracks purchases made from grocery and convenient stores, asking shoppers to scan the products they buy with mini scanning devices.

So far, e-SCAN has been deployed in about 3,000 households since July, but that figure may increase, according to Bregenzer.

Among information found so far is that heavy dog food buyers often visit sites such as weather.com and drkoop.com, the health site named after former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop.

Also, travel site travelocity.com appeals to cola drinkers, while non-cola drinkers prefer mtv.com, ty.com, makers of the popular Beanie Babies, and nick.com, cable channel Nickelodeon’s site.

"A lot of companies have been tracking where people go on the Internet, but this is the first to tie it back in with what we know," Bregenzer said.