Targeting You!
The Power of Emails
I
went to a clothing store the other day and got a great deal. I bought a pair of
pants and a shirt for only 13.99 dollars each. I found these items in the sale
section, and lucky me, that day they reduced those items an extra 30 percent as
part of an additional sale. I went home, felt great about my purchase and went
on about my day.
The
next day, I came across an article in the New York Times titled "How Companies Learn yourSecrets," by Charles Duhigg. Initially, I was not interested in reading
it, because I know companies collect data about your shopping habits and target
you for them, for that reason I have become what I consider a mindful shopper.
As such, I try not to volunteer information about myself to companies, and if I
do, I try to ensure that I truly benefit from it. Here is what mindful shopping
means for me, I almost never pass on my email address, since I abhor receiving
ads and offers on a daily basis. In addition, I treat my email the same way I
treat my phone number – I do not give it to companies as a customer. However,
when I went to that clothing store and purchased my deal, I was asked the
following, "Would you like your receipt emailed to you, or printed?"
As the cashier explained, "If you need to make a return, all you have to
do is tell us your email address and we can look you up." "OK great,”
I replied, giving in to the mindful shopping principles I had set for myself,
thinking I would not have to look for any receipts at home anymore, and I make
a contribution to the environment – less paper and more trees, as well as more
convenience for me.
Whatever made me read
the article after all, I am not sure, but I found myself actually finishing all
of the 21 well-researched pages. The article was focusing on market research
and explained via specific examples how companies use your data efficiently.
And those data, I had learnt, come more than just having your email address or
phone number. Marketing strategies are far advanced and determined by habits
that no non-market expert could even dream to think of. Anyway, I am not here
to rephrase the article for you, but after reading how companies use any
information they get from me to send me coupons, emails, and other rewards really
struck me. I realized how much the marketing strategy of that particular store
I had visited the day prior had actually worked on me.
What initially drew me
into the store, when I woke up in the morning, was an email by that store in my
inbox, stating that their 30 percent off sale was going to be over after that
day. Their last chance reminder made me consider visiting the store. But
initially laying out in my head what I really did and did not need, I decided I
was not going to go to the store. But that is not where the story ended.
Later that night, I
was supposed to meet a friend for dinner. In order to kill time, when I got to
the area of the restaurant, I remembered that it was dangerously close to that
particular store’s location. Knowing of the sale, I decided to give it a go.
After all, I had thrown my first decision over board, reconsidered it, and even
ended up buying things! By giving in this one time, which surely was not the
first time, I had volunteered all kinds of information about myself 1. They
know that I opened their email about the ending sale, meaning I will find more
of those in my inbox. 2. It lured me into the store the same day in courtesy of
their last minute reminder. 3. With me agreeing to getting my receipt emailed
instead of printed, they now have an electronic copy of exactly what I bought
that day.
All that is valuable
information these kinds of stores definitely can and will use in the future. At
the time of my purchase, I had asked the cashier if this volunteering of giving
her my email address was for the mere purpose of sending the receipt was, she
replied, "Of course." Now, I know so much better…
A version of this post appeared in Unleash'd Magazine: Eternal Summer Issue (05/2012).
The New York Times:
