Think about it. They, any one of the stores listed above, have all my personal information reagrding where I live and how to contact me, and in return they give me a membership number. Each and every time I purchase something, or rent, I hand them my membership card and I make my purchase. They should know exactly how much I spend in any particular month, and on what products I purchase. This information must be more useful than just for inventory control. Wouldn't this information be vital to other companies such as Johnson & Johnson, GE, Penguin Books, Warner Bros., 3M, Del Monte, Tyson Foods, Dow Chemical, Coke, McKesson...and many, many others. Wouldn't this be good information for these companies individual marketing and sales departments to know such information?
With today's technology, and the importance of customer retention, let alone loyalty, why don't those companies know about me? Why doesn't Johnson & Johnson know what kind of hand cram my wife uses? Why doesn't Del Monte know just how many cans of whole kernel corn my family consumes in any given month? Why deosn't GE know when the bulbs I bought two years ago need replacing? Why isn't Johnson & Johnson using my wife in any of their product testing, or marketing research? I'm tired of companies touting how smart they are, or how they've gone "green", or "organic", only to have them repackage the same old product in a smaller form while charging me almost double.
What I'm proposing is the allowance of information to be used for the benefit of everyone. Some might cry invasion of privacy, and I can see where they might feel some uneasiness regarding companies having that kind of information, but what if these companies offered discounts, coupons, or free offerings to the most common items you purchased. And what if, seeing that you're such a big user of Dove body soap that Dove asked for you opinion on product, price, or packaging, and in return you receive some kind of compensation, either by product or recognition. Wouldn't that be something?
Wouldn't it be great that the information that you provide to these convenience stores actually do more than offer seasonal discounts...to everyone.
Okay, here's the kicker...this exchange of information is valuable. The various manufacturers of said products pay big money for this information. Big money. These grocery stores now have a new revenue stream that's ever growing. Everyone wins. The consumers get to interact with manufacturers, manufacturers improve or create new products, and the grocery stores see renewed growth. But, alas no one is communicating as they should.
1 comment:
It's been pointed out to me that some neighborhood grocery stores do, in fact, send out coupons based upon what you've purchased in the past.
Here are the latest coupons I've received since Ralph's changed over to the "membership":
-Save $1.00 when you spend $4 or more on fresh vegetables from our Produce Department.
-Save $1.00 when you spend $4 or more on fresh fruit from our Produce Department
-Save .75 when you spend $4 or more on over the counter medication excludes over the counter pharmacy
-Save $1.00 when you spend $3 or more on household cleaners
-Save .75 when you spend $2 or more on ready to eat cereal
-Save .50 when you spend $2 or more on cheese from our Dairy Department (excludes cheese from the Deli)
-Save .50 when you spend $2 or more on canned soup
-Save .50 when you spend $2 or more on canned vegetables
-Save .25 when you spend $2 or more on bread, buns or rolls from our grocery department
So, to sum it all up...this is not a reward system. Comparing to the Sunday coupon section in the LA Times they offer the same to EVERYONE. And yet, what they sent me was "exclusive store coupons"
Based upon what my family purchased in the last 3 months from Ralphs, the only coupon I would be utilizing would be that for bread.
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