Jul 6

Demon Customers

Apparently Best Buy and a number of other retail outlets are using all the data they collect on you to determine how profitable you are for them. It’s pretty fascinating how data mining is changing the way businesses interact with you.

Every store has customers it doesn’t like, he said.

“The question is, how public do you go with it, and how big a deal do you make out of it? There are ways of discouraging people from shopping in your store without point-blank telling them you don’t want them in your store.”

They define ‘bad’ customers as those they aren’t getting good profits from, like folks who only shop big sales, or those who talk up the sales rep, and then don’t buy anything.

I suppose I’m a demon customer since I have made the frightening realization that USB cables aren’t made from diamonds!

Via SlashDot.

by Joe   July 6, 2004 12:32 PM   |

Comments

by Rob,   July 6, 2004 1:32 PM  

Have you noticed that Best Buy now asks for your phone number when you check out. They caught me off guard the first time and I gave it. No more though. The line I got had to do with determining where people were shopping from and it helped them determine where to expand their stores. Not really buying that. Radio Shack finally changed their similar policy after enough complaints. I see a bit of a backlash coming the blue shirts' way pretty soon.

by dave,   July 6, 2004 2:57 PM  

Even funnier is that I clicked the "made from diamonds" link in your post and got the "cookies not enabled" page (even though I do have it enabled.) Apparently they don't even want to do business with me on the net if they can't track what I do.

by Joe,   July 6, 2004 3:17 PM  

Weird. Anyway, the point I was making with those two links is that Best Buy has a 6' USB cable for about $20, and NewEgg has it for about $2.

by Deane,   July 6, 2004 3:40 PM  

I got that same error page, but I double-checked and my cookie handling is normal [insert appetite jokes here].

by robert,   July 13, 2004 4:07 PM  

Just buy what you need and don't give your phone number or address. If a retailers cost is too high definitely buy online, lower over head = lower cost i.e. new egg. Problem solved.

by LJW,   December 25, 2004 2:45 PM  

It didn't start with USB... Did you know the Monster Cable connectors they sell for $39.95 only cost them around $8 or so? If that isn't highway robbery I don't know what is.

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