May 09 2008
This is the one where someone is spying on me.
I was shopping at the supermarket earlier this week and I did the self-checkout. I was only purchasing some fruit, gelatin, and a pie crust (see my post from yesterday to figure out why). And you know how the register sometimes spits out coupons that it believes you will find useful? Well it spit out a coupon for food replacement bars and shakes for diabetics.
I looked at my purchase. Then at the coupon. Then at the overhead cameras. Then at my purchase again.
I had always guessed that the computer prints those coupons based on the current purchase, but I’m assuming they use data from my past purchases…I did, after all use my Club Savings Card.
It’s kind of creepy to know that the Kroger Corp. is collecting data on my purchasing habits. And I was reminded of an article I read in The Nation back in 2005 called “Wal-Mart To The Rescue!”
The most interesting part of the article:
Learning from its database that during hurricanes people eat more strawberry Pop-Tarts, Wal-Mart has in the past responded to dire weather predictions in Florida by making sure stores in that region were stocked accordingly. To its credit, during Katrina the company operated on higher ground. But Wal-Mart’s many vocal critics deserve some credit, too; by putting the company on the defensive about its social commitments, they may have pushed Wal-Mart to help many more Gulf Coast victims.
Read the entire Nation article here.
Pizza and beer at NiMarcos in Flagstaff.
I find it amusing that you found an image of a reciept from Canada. :)
They absolutely use your past purchases. But, is that a bad thing? Would you rather they gave you coupons for bags of sugar?