At 09:49 AM 12/31/2002 -0800, Kevin Elliott wrote:
Interesting point on grocery cards... Why do they have your name at all?
Remember when people used checks and had check cashing cards at grocery stores? Some grocery store chains used courtesy cards to replace that function. More importantly, early in the game, they collected as much information as they could, hoping they could use it somehow for marketing reasons, though in practice they can do almost as well without it, so they don't care too much; they'd rather give you a card with fake information than not give you a card, even if it means that when their clerks are trying to present the image of friendliness and personal relationships by saying "Thanks, Mr. Myxpklkqws" they can't pronounce it.
Some of the stores do try to build more brand loyalty by giving you things if your spending totals are high enough, though the store I used to go to would reward you with a ham at Christmas; perhaps that sort of thing appeals to carnivorous goyim.... Meanwhile, the most important uses are correlating purchases of different types of items, so they know whether advertising chicken will bring in customers who also buy barbecue sauce or chardonnay or tortilla chips.
