I am through signing up with stores. I am done opting into programs that make a retailer feel they can be in frequent contact with me. Sorry, stores, I'm just not that into you.
A while back a gentleman at the department store replaced batteries in a couple of my watches. He asked if I would like to join their shopping program, a very beneficial one in his estimation, and he should know, because he was a member. I agreed and gave the minimum information required to participate.
I am through signing up with stores. I am done opting into programs that make a retailer feel they can be in frequent contact with me. Sorry, stores, I'm just not that into you.
A while back a gentleman at the department store replaced batteries in a couple of my watches. He asked if I would like to join their shopping program, a very beneficial one in his estimation, and he should know, because he was a member. I agreed and gave the minimum information required to participate.
Ever since, my inbox is stuffed every other day with come-ons trumpeting the latest superlative savings and outlining the myriad ways in which I could increase my earned “points” so as to save even more. Of course, all this saving would involve parting with my money. Rather than embrace the concept of “the more I spend, the more I save,” I have chosen a different motto: I keep all the money I don't squander.
Frankly, the urgency and frequency with which I receive messages from different sellers makes them seem more than a little desperate. And do I not believe they are entirely welcome to tell me how I should commemorate every occasion on the calendar by shopping in their establishments or on their websites. My strong sentiment is that I can honor Presidents or Valentines in a noncommercial manner.
What is more, if I make the slightest search on a website for an item I might be considering somewhere down the road, views on my browser are littered with advertisements for items related to my search. This somewhat creepy phenomenon occurs courtesy of the brilliant minds that mine Big Data.
This is the practice of accumulating oodles of information on as many people as possible in order to predict what the masses will do. Savvy political campaigns now employ Big Data to identify those most likely to vote their way as well as how to get them to the polls.
In the business world, a major Big Data initiative is on so retailers can target you with, in the words of Time magazine, “hyper personalized advertising…” in order to “…stimulate consumer spending.” In other words, by getting to know you, sellers will be able to identify your wants and needs more easily and, thus, get you to shell out more shekels more often.
Quite honestly, I've never had trouble spending money, and recommending other possible needs and wants will do little good. I’ve pretty much run out of cash with the things I already thought of; no other funds available for the many marketing suggestions generated by those clever algorithms.
Nor have I any lack of e-mail correspondence, thanks very much. So, my shopping membership pals, consider your messages ignored.
Eventually, I’ll I be exasperated enough to unsubscribe from your mailings and dis-enroll from your programs. It is in that sort of investment of time one can find real value.
Pat Grimes, a former South Bay resident, writes from Ypsilanti, Mich. He can be reached at pgwriter@inbox.com.
