Ever feel like you're being watched in the grocery store? I mean other than loss prevention. I'm talking about purchases - what, when and how much your buying.
USA TODAY F
e watching and how they may be watching you to maximize profits.
Here's an excerpt:
From the time shoppers walk into stores, their footsteps, eye movements, choices and reactions to discounts are often closely monitored. With this analysis, stores can determine with startling accuracy whether changes such as remodeled stores, specific deals and more salespeople will make people spend more.
Just as some lab rats get only a placebo, retailers typically test new strategies by giving shoppers in certain areas a promotion — or fixed-up store — while others are the control group. Growing pressure to improve profit margins means retailers' decisions must get results. People can't just buy something they wouldn't have otherwise, they need to spend more.
Author Charles Duhigg's revelation that Target had developed a model to predict whether female customers were pregnant ignited a firestorm after an excerpt from his book, The Power of Habit: Why We do What We Do in Life and Business, was published in TheNew York Times. According to Duhigg, Target sent baby-related promotions to a teenage girl before her father even knew she was pregnant.
While people may expect retailers to track their online shopping, "They don't expect that same science to be used to peer into their bedroom," says Duhigg, a New York Times business reporter. People wonder, "If they know what's going on in my bedroom, what else do they know about me?"
But retail consultant Kevin Sterneckert says that's "exactly what so many retailers are doing today" so they can market to people in the different "life stages."
Target said in a statement that it analyzes customers' preferences so it provides promotions that are relevant. And it says customers can opt out of the marketing programs.
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