Imagine walking past a shirt shop with two friends and glancing at the garments in the window. Suddenly your mobile phone pings with a message. Buy two shirts from the shop, runs the text, and you will receive a 20 per cent discount; buy three and the discount will be 30 per cent.

This kind of personalised promotion is the bread and butter of a consumer initiative called LiveLab, now hitting the streets in Singapore and the brainchild of professors at Singapore Management University. The country’s consumers are invited to opt into the service using their mobile phones in three locations – Orchard Road, Singapore’s most famous shopping street, Changi airport and on Sentosa island, home to visitor attractions such as Universal Studios.

Combining personal data with location is key, says Steven Miller, dean of the school of information systems and vice-provost for research at SMU.