In the digital age, it has become easy for companies to track the behaviors and preferences of their customers. Every swipe of the debit or credit card leaves a record of the purchase, and every keystroke of online shopping leaves your digital fingerprint on the visit.
Learning to mine that information for actionable data is one of the motives behind a new retail “store” being launched by Mastercard, according to this recent story from the New York Times.
Implications: This story was worth the read, not just to gain a better understanding of the kind of data that might be available through your various retail partners, but also because it provokes thought about the degree of monitoring consumers might tolerate… or not.
If sharing my information will help a company serve me better, I’m generally open to it. But if that information is not held securely, or if it is abused by the very company I’ve shared it with, or if it results in my being disqualified from purchase opportunities I would feel entitled to… my opinion could change in a big hurry.
What kinds of consumer intelligence might be available to you through various business alliances? Have you asked those allies? Are they protecting your customers’ information and interests adequately? (You know who will suffer if the customer is angered.) How could you gain more insights from the customers you serve… with their consent, and in the hopes of serving them better?
Mike Anderson
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