Web Coupons Tell Stores More Than You Realize 125
Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times reports that a new breed of coupon, printed from the Internet or sent to mobile phones, look standard, but their bar codes can be loaded with a startling amount of data, including identification about the customer, Internet address, Facebook page information, and even the search terms the customer used to find the coupon in the first place. The coupons can, in some cases, be tracked not just to an anonymous shopper but to an identifiable person: a retailer could know that Amy Smith printed a 15-percent-off coupon after searching for appliance discounts at Ebates.com on Friday at 1:30 pm and redeemed it later that afternoon at the store. Using coupons also lets the retailers get around Google hurdles. Google allows its search advertisers to see reports on which keywords are working well as a whole but not on how each person is responding to each slogan. That alarms some privacy advocates. Companies can 'offer you, perhaps, less desirable products than they offer me, or offer you the same product as they offer me but at a higher price,' said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the United States Public Interest Research Group, which has asked the Federal Trade Commission for tighter rules on online advertising. 'There really have been no rules set up for this ecosystem.'"
Ruin it (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Diff story? (Score:1, Interesting)
In theory such a system as this could be tweaked so that everyone ends up paying the maximum amount the store's algorithm thinks they're willing to pay.
Could you please elaborate on this? They way I see it is, if any retailer tried to discriminate on a web coupon, they would get raked over the coals if they were caught.
I.e. If an African American received a smaller coupon for fried chicken, a Caucasian American received a smaller coupon for mayonnaise, or an Asian American received a smaller coupon for rice (or any other offensive group::product combination) it would be
a. quick to verify
b. hard evidence against said company
c. an instant weeknight news story
Even if it was against less subtle groups, like smaller discounts based on age or gender, it would be easy to find.
Barcode Anonymizer (Score:3, Interesting)
I can a niche for a new website, a barcode anonymizer.
Feed it in the barcode, it decodes it, strips any identifying information and spits out a new valid barcode.
Of course your mileage may vary if the existence of whatever is used to track is part of the validation....
Re:Just like the "real world" (Score:5, Interesting)
We do this with our customer loyalty program at our hardware store. Different customers get different offers. If you spend often but only with coupons and are generating lower profit then we'll send you a $5 of $30 offer. Someone who is very profitable when they come in will get a $5 off $25 or maybe $10 off $40 if they are a very good customer (profit wise). If someone is very low profit and a PITA (pain in the arm) then we will flag them and not mail them any coupons. The coupons have bar codes so we track redemptions, basket size, lifetime customer value, and other metrics.
Re:Diff story? (Score:5, Interesting)
In most areas of the world people barter all the time. No two people pay the same amount automatically. Why should a store offer everyone the same price? If you don't like, go someplace else. People will share information online, thus it isn't a secret that you got a better deal than I did, I still fail to see a problem here.
And who cares what terms I was searching for when I found this coupon? Stores have a valid reason for wanting that information. Sometimes picking the best terms for ads and such is really hard. If you find out your customers typically find it by looking for terms you didn't think were all that useful, then it means you were wrong and you should redirect your advertising efforts. In some cases I suppose some embarrassing information might leak through (for some items) but come on, it has to be an edge case most of the time.
not a big deal (Score:2, Interesting)
Companies can 'offer you, perhaps, less desirable products than they offer me, or offer you the same product as they offer me but at a higher price,'
I have a friend who I've had many contract jobs with (we bring each other along when we get a new job). He gets more money every time because he negotiates better. He also gets MUCH better deals than me on TVs, washing machines, couches, and on and on.
I can be pissed off about it, or learn to do what he does, or be happy with my life. The fact is that different people get different deals.
I work at an Internet Advertising Company (Score:2, Interesting)
I work as a sysadmin for an Internet Advertising Company, and let me just tell you quite simply and without elaborating that what this article is getting all up in arms about? It's not the half of it.
But I just keep the servers working and don't make tactical decisions, so I sleep OK at night.
RIP "ecosystem" (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Diff story? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Just like the "real world" (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Just like the "real world" (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes, it's definitely something we are careful about. We added the loyalty program in 2004 but we always had certain customers that we thought were PITA's based on their habits (in with sale flyers, complaining about prices, seemed to return items more frequently). Once we actually were tracking our customers then I was able to look at their shopping pattern over a two or three year period. Some were actually very good customers and just "high maintenance". They shopped with coupons, but they also shopped without and generated decent gross margin (35% is OK, 40% or higher is quite good). I made a point of alerting my staff about some of these customers that we assumed were "bad customers".
But others were regular abusers of the program. They would buy the $25 minimum to redeem a coupon, then return most of the items a week or two later. Over a two year period they averaged less than 20% margin, some even approaching negative margin (and gross margin is only calculated on the goods and not the cost of labor, lights, rent, etc.). So these customers were truly costing me money with every trip.
I'd say we have only about thirty of these customers in a database of 25,000 so it's a tiny percentage. They are just highly noticeable since they are high maintenance.
Also, it's pretty difficult for them to tell that they are "low value" since they don't know about the offer they never received. They still get the basic reward ($10 for every $250 spent) but they just don't get some of the special offers.
Re:Diff story? (Score:3, Interesting)
I would also include that the stores don't check the validity of the personal information anyone provides them or not upon filling out the form
That's not true in every case, some grocery stores do ask to see a driver's license - some also only mail the card out rather than give it to you in the store, so they at least get an address. Plus even when they don't do any of that, just as soon as you use the card in conjunction with a credit card, they've got your name. Use it conjunction with a check and they've got name and address.
Re:Wrong, how barcodes really work. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Diff story? (Score:3, Interesting)
> And who cares what terms I was searching for when I found this coupon? Stores have a valid reason for wanting that information.
Oh really? And that valid reason is?? What it comes down to is stores want to stock more of what they know people will buy and adjust their pricepoint based on an individual basis. Also, if the store can track your purchase habits, then they can track your return habits as well. In the end, you may just end up paying a premium for items in a store because you are more likely to bring that item back if you have trouble with it. You may even end up with a custom-tailored warranty on things you buy as well. As far as groceries go, imagine you buy the same 10 items every week. With a per-person tracking system, the store can raise the price of those things when you buy them, but offer the same item to a lesser price to the rest of the public. Bartering? are you seriously going to stand in a grocery checkout line and haggle the price of your potatoes with the clerk?