<p>Funny thing about Nordstroms, I used to think that one day I’d be able to afford to shop there. Thirty years later, I still can’t afford to shop there! Maybe I’ll hit the Nordstroms Rack, unless they stalk you there too.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed that the salespeople in Nordstrom always ask if I’d like my receipt emailed or on my phone. Now I know why! They make it seem like it’s for my convenience.
I’ll stick to paper, thanks.</p>
<p>The nordstrom anniversary sale is in July.
My mil & sils used to prepare for that like they were going on a pilgrimage.
But they get cut rate stuff specially made for the anniversary sale & much of it isnt worth it, IMO.</p>
<p>I have lived in Seattle so long I remember when they only sold shoes, or at least that was all we bought there, we bought everything else at Frederick & Nelson, so we could use grandmas employee discount. ( but I wanted to go to Jay Jacobs)
I used to spend summers in the downtown store. Which of course now houses Nordstroms.
Id spend time reading in the bookstore in the basement, then up to the 7th floor to get Grandma & we would go across the street to the Copper Kitchen for lunch or to the employee dining room. But my favorite was the Paul Bunyan room on " the budget floor" ( basement). Not only did they have a mural of Paul & Babe, but they had handdipped shakes & they gave you the whole container to pour in your glass.:)</p>
<p>… but I’m a major skeptic when it comes to business acting in my best interest. Nordstrom is in business to make money, and if they see a way to profit from personally identifying you in the store, they’ll do it sooner or later.</p>
<p>From the same link, there’s also this, which I find a little creepy:</p>
<p>EWWWW! Guess I won’t be going to Nordstrom’s. Can’t imagine what they do with all that data, especially for those of us who may walk through their stores but NOT purchase anything.</p>
<p>The retailers are <em>supposed</em> to use that data to send you personalized marketing messages … like if you shopped for maternity clothes, in a few months they send you baby clothes specials, or age-appropriate toy deals etc.</p>
<p>A while ago there was an article about Target being able to look at someone’s purchase history and conclude that the woman was pregnant, and then send her targeted offers based on her assumed pregnancy.</p>
<p>I’m a retailer and to me it seems creepy. We do have a rewards program and we do track our customers’ purchases. We use it to call them if there’s a recall on something they purchased, or if they leave their credit card on the counter. I suppose I could use the data if I noticed that certain customers hadn’t been shopping in a while to make a personal phone call – but I have a relationship with my customers. I would not be a faceless, nameless robot calling to tell you something.</p>
<p>Basically this sounds like they’re using your phone as a device to track where people move in the store and how long they linger at specific places. They won’t know your phone number since they’re working off the MAC address. They could do similar tracking if you had only a wifi enabled tablet or laptop and walked around the store with that.</p>
<p>If you’re so paranoid about it, just turn off wifi on your phone when you go shopping. Apparently pretty much all of those stores that say, “Free Wifi Inside!” are doing it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Starbucks, Lowes, Home Depot, and all the other major places I know I’ve seen wifi offered use this system.</p>
<p>I’ve actually started to like having receipts emailed to my account. It’s way better for returns on things with a long warranty than using the thermal paper stuff that fades after a few months.</p>
<p>If I recall it correctly, in that particular case the woman in question was a teenager using her dad’s target card. Guess, who did Target send the offers to? Yes … to her very shocked dad. It was probably not how that teenager wanted to inform her parents.</p>
<p>I think it makes perfect sense and is probably a smart thing for dept stores to do and ultimately will probably benefit the consumer. </p>
<p>With this info they can infer how many repeat customers vs (potentially) new customers they have which can help them in their advertising targets and let them know how dynamic they are in attracting new shoppers.</p>
<p>I doubt they’d have any way to know ‘who’ the individual is since they’d need the cell phone company records for that info, but they could do the analysis of repeat customers.</p>
<p>I admit I opt for email receipts & I like that Apple, REI & Costco track my purchases so I don’t have to hang onto hard copies.</p>
<p>I also think that targeted consumers can be misidentified.
My daughter recieved formula, & baby diapers ( not from target), when she was a high school senior. She wasn’t pg, although I wonder if she maybe filled out a survey as her name was misspelled in a way I hadn’t seen before.</p>
<p>It doesn’t surprise me that stores would track which parts of the store you visit. Stores are already designed to funnel traffic in certain directions, but this helps the store plan which items to put on sale and how to remodel the store.</p>
<p>Companies keep track of all sorts of data. While it’s harder for them to track individual customers paying with cash, there is still a lot of analysis that can be done. The trend is for stores to move away from requiring a club card to get any of the available discounts and instead require the use of a club card to get personalized rewards and discounts.</p>
<p>I often have cashiers ask for my phone number, and it often happens before they wen know my method of payment. I have only a cell phone now and I have no desire to be called by businesses trying to sell me something. I think it’s particularly intrusive because I have my cell phone with me 24/7, unlike the old landline. So, when they ask, I politely tell them I prefer not to give out my number. I’ve never had anyone respond negatively.</p>