A Little Note for Target
It's not a new thing for retailers to track data about customers. This I know because waaaaay back in the stone ages when I worked retail, some customer data and purchase information was already being collected and used to adjust marketing efforts. It's hard to imagine, but there were even computers way back then!
What has changed is that companies have figured out how to use that data at an individual level, instead of just aggregating it all. That's to say, back in the stone ages TV ads were purchased on HGTV because their viewers had the same demographics as the customers at the store where I worked. Now companies skip right over aggregating the data and market directly to you.
Don't believe me? It's been written about elsewhere. (Target isn't the only company doing this, by the way. They just managed to be the first to make headlines with it.)
Every time you use a debit card or credit card or write a check, your purchases can be cross-referenced with your demographic information and blah, blah, blah. Big companies are now able to act like little mom-and-pop stores. They know what you've bought in the past and are able to greet you with a, "Hey! So do you need more soft tofu today?" Not all do it, but they can.
I'll be honest--the practice of using past behavior to attempt to change my future shopping sprees doesn't bother me at all. Want to send me coupons for products I buy? OK! I really like the ones for Morningstar and Boca, by the way.
Do you hear me, Target? I LIKE MORNINGSTAR AND BOCA COUPONS.
Oh, and Target, while we're chatting, there is a little something I want to tell you. I know that you know that I bought pre-natal vitamins in January. I know you know because I keep getting coupons for diapers and maternity clothes texted to me with my other weekly mobile coupons. The list of coupons usually goes: thing I buy, thing I buy, thing the kid tries to convince me to buy, thing I buy, thing I buy, thing Target thinks I need to buy.
But Target, I don't need to buy maternity clothes or diapers. Not now, anyway. SO KNOCK IT OFF. Or, at least tell me how to screw up your data so that you don't know what to think. I'd go buy a few cases of booze if alcohol were available at Targets in Pennsylvania, but whatever. Maybe feminine hygiene products would do the trick? Perhaps I shall try that before I drive to West Virginia and have fun with their slightly more sane liquor control laws.
Anybody want to trade a few diaper coupons for some Morningstar coupons?
P.S. Target, we have a new puppy! I'm telling you so you can start sending treat and toy coupons. KTHXBAI!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Reader Comments (11)
oof, that's just a crappy thing right there. If I come across any Morningstar Coupons, I will let you know! bah.
worst thing they do with the info: I use a "buy 1 get $.50 off" coupon, the one that prints at the end of that shopping trip "buy 2 of same item get $.50 off" - not cool Target, not cool. I'm on to you.
That is one of the big ugly things about current marketing. Ugh.
Someone, somewhere, sent me one of those complimentary subscriptions to American Baby magazine because of something I foolishly bought when I was barely pregnant in the fall. I now have "personalized" issues arriving at my house each month, reminding me of the pregnancy that should be 4...5...etc. months along, but isn't. Yeah. Thanks for nothing.
I still get those damn coupons...diapers, etc. and emails. Over a year later. A stab to the heart every time.
Michelle - I missed the Other Post last month, but my heart broke for you when I read it just now. I've been there times three... I even received sample-size formula cans a few months after the first time, which I wanted to throw out the window (but kept and later used with a big mental middle finger to Mother Nature). And perhaps my experience should give me some sort of wise words to help ease the hurt, but honestly, it only makes it harder... I'm just so sorry that you went through this. I'm sure your family and friends are taking good care of you and there are lots of us out here if you ever need an ear, too.
I don't have any Morningstar or puppy treat coupons, but I'm sending lots of hope and hugs.
Our son passed away shortly after birth. For months after that I would come home to a mailbox full of baby magazines, formula samples and coupons for baby stuff. It was like a punch in the stomach every time something like that would arrive in the mail. The worst was since he was born alive he received a birth certificate but when it arrived it said DECEASED in all caps on it. Thanks but I didn't really need to be reminded of the reality that I live with daily. It was really awful.
i won't get a grocery store advantage card because they don't need to know when i buy toilet paper or anything else. big brother can suck it. especially for how they hurt you. fuckers.
Bwahahaha! Big Brother, the store!
I'm just trying to figure out why Kroger keeps printing out & sending me formula coupons. The only thing even remotely baby-related that we've bought for the past year are large size pull ups. And I'm guessing kids wearing those have probably weaned off of formula by now...
I got one of those mailings from Target last week with diaper coupons and the "Congratulations! your expecting". However, I'm not pregnant and never have been!
When I read that article, it became my mission to screw up their data and mess up their system. so far, in my passive aggressiveness, I just don't shop at target. I have a friend who works at target and claims (swears, actually) that target doesn't do that but whatevs.