Retail video data for physical AI
Scope retail recordings for shelf organization, product handling and sorting, with clear context and protection for shoppers and transactions.
Retail work combines visually similar products, structured destinations and frequent changes in shelf arrangement. A useful recording explains a particular decision: which item was selected, where it was placed or how a display was restored. General footage of a store may show the environment while missing the action that a model needs to learn.
Plan capture in an approved area and time window that protects shoppers and transaction information. Product identity, intended shelf position and business rules should be supplied as authorized context when needed. They should not be reconstructed from private systems accidentally visible in the background.
Tasks to include in the brief
Replenishing a shelf
Show a product moving from an approved source container to its destination. Keep enough surrounding shelf context to interpret the choice while avoiding confidential price or stock information outside the scope.
Facing and arranging products
Capture aligning a defined group of items and checking the result. Specify whether the research concerns orientation, spacing or the sequence of small adjustments.
Sorting a delivery
Use approved goods or demonstration items with documented destinations. A natural reselection can show correction behavior, but the recording alone does not establish the underlying stock-management rule.
Preparing a customer-free handoff
Record packaging or arranging items for an authorized handoff without including a real transaction. Define the visible end state rather than assuming a purchase was completed.
Capture requirements
- Frame the selected product, working hands and destination together when practical. Similar packaging makes object identity difficult if the item disappears behind a shelf edge.
- Record product class, packaging form and intended destination separately where disclosure is allowed. A model may not read small text reliably from sampled frames.
- Vary shelf density, product dimensions, packaging appearance and ordinary lighting. Preserve session and location references so an evaluation can distinguish new settings from repeated clips.
- Capture the visible completion or interruption of the task. An item placed in a shelf bay is an observation; whether that bay is commercially correct requires the approved reference.
Useful annotation layers
- Useful actions include select, lift, rotate, align, place, sort and check. Agree on object identifiers when the same product appears several times in one sequence.
- Separate visible arrangement from planogram or inventory judgments. Business correctness depends on context that may not be available in the image.
- Ordinary video does not provide verified inventory counts, product authenticity, sales outcomes or calibrated shelf geometry. Barcode recognition and exact spatial annotations need explicit evaluation.
Permissions, boundaries and exclusions
- Keep shoppers, payment terminals, loyalty accounts, receipts, delivery addresses and transaction screens outside the recording. Avoid intelligible customer conversations and incidental reflections.
- Do not obstruct aisles, climb fixtures or move goods beyond the participant’s authorized role. Camera placement must fit the store’s existing operational arrangements.
- Never stage theft, a transaction dispute or deliberate product damage to generate an unusual example. Use approved, non-sensitive demonstrations when the research needs a controlled scenario.