The idea that this data might be sold to others troubles us, but not enough to keep us offline. But we use so many different stores that most of the personalized data most merchants get from us is worthless. I got two free shirts and a tie, but I m not going to be spending more there because they gave me the free merchandise. CRM told them to give me the certificate, but they wasted their money. For a merchant a discount is only worthwhile at what football coaches call the point of attack, when a consumer wants to buy and only has to decide where to buy it.
Consumers feel the same way.
We want the best price when we go to market, not before and not after. When sites demand data of casual users we click away. When CRM systems tell checkout clerks to demand our phone number we bristle, and they get no benefit from it because we ve already bought. The key is for an intermediary to wait until I raise my hand to buy, then give me the merchants best deal and let me make my own decision. For this to work the intermediary must first earn my trust, and preferably provide some up-front benefit.