Hey Costco
You know what each customer spends per year , on what.

You know what they buy , with or with out special pricing.

you know when they shop and how often.

and you know what they have returned ( what they do not like)

And you know what actually gets them in too the store.

I suggest that you use all the data that you have on people to everyone's advantage.

If you know that John and Marsha just purchased laundry equipment from you ,
do not offer them a special values book with laundry equipment in it for a while.

instead replace that portion of the special value's ad with something that will get them in the store.

you know for a fact that John and Marsha never leave w/o spending $75.00 , so offer them
a special value , and wait for them to buy four other items.

you should never send special value ads to people who can't find at least three things to
pick up.

that's right , personalize your special value ad's to sell more stuff.

you can thank me later
-bendable

That would be astronomically expensive. Far beyond any sales gained. Whoever did that would be sacked, if the company didn't go broke first.

quote:

Originally posted by rusbro:
That would be astronomically expensive. Far beyond any sales gained. Whoever did that would be sacked, if the company didn't go broke first.

Not if it's digital and they're using machine learning for the custom, digital ads.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by rusbro:
That would be astronomically expensive. Far beyond any sales gained. Whoever did that would be sacked, if the company didn't go broke first.

Not if it's digital and they're using machine learning for the custom, digital ads.

He seems to be talking about print ads. Companies are already doing customized digital.

the on line ads will be one size fits all , but the mailer's that they send every month could be personalized .

there has got to be an algorithm for this application.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
the on line ads will be one size fits all , but the mailer's that they send every month could be personalized .

there has got to be an algorithm for this application.

Ads on an app could be personalized easier and cheaper than their monthly mailer.

For you, they could get you in the door with buy 270 socks get 90 free and then strategically placed so you have to wander the entire store have "deals" on:

laundry detergent specially for socks

storage bins for socks.

---

Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

quote:

Originally posted by rusbro:
That would be astronomically expensive. Far beyond any sales gained. Whoever did that would be sacked, if the company didn't go broke first.

High speed printing has come a very long way, if it were all done with machine learning I can't see why it wouldn't be that difficult, maybe spec out a few deals, and have them be one common size and print them in whichever combination would be best for that customer.

Do the ads feature special pricing, or just regular prices?

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:

you know for a fact that John and Marsha never leave w/o spending $75.00 , so offer them
a special value

Why? That's bad business. Why get less than the $75.00 I know they will always spend?

quote:

Originally posted by FenderBender:

quote:

Originally posted by rusbro:
That would be astronomically expensive. Far beyond any sales gained. Whoever did that would be sacked, if the company didn't go broke first.

High speed printing has come a very long way, if it were all done with machine learning I can't see why it wouldn't be that difficult, maybe spec out a few deals, and have them be one common size and print them in whichever combination would be best for that customer.

Admittedly, my initial reply may have been hyperbolic. I believe in the past printers would have considered such a task basically hundreds of thousands of unique print jobs and charged accordingly, but I doubt that would be an issue now, as far as being able to automate the printing the vast number of unique documents.

A probably bigger issue is if the ads feature discount prices targeted to each customer. It seems like everything in the store would have to be on sale.

Bottom line, bendable, you can rest assured the Costco folks have looked deeply into this possibility. You're not telling them anything they haven't already considered.

quote:

never leave w/o spending $75.00

Could have potential But wouldn't you focus on the top 25% not the bottom?

I don't get out much and don't shop at Costco but spending $75 there seems like a piker.

I'm still waiting for Kirkland Signature value-pak ammos.

The coupon books are planned long in advance.

If Kroger can send my wife printed coupons for the stuff she buys frequently, I agree there’s no reason Costco can’t do something similar.

The monthly promotion periods are planned long in advance. The mark-downs are provided by Costco's vendors, Costco is retaining the same margin as if they purchased at regular wholesale. Costco continues to grow their purchases, vendor shrinks their wholesale cost but, with Costco's captive audience they increase their overall market share; good partners get larger incentives.

kroger had been doing that for a good many years,

it's been 3 -1/2 yrs since I worked for them, ,
when I was there, DunHumby (IIRC, may have spelled that wrong) was working on the info from the loyalty card purchases,

sales, (register info) would be filtered, and if Marsha bought a lot of organics, she may get some Organic stuff in her mailer,

if her avg spend was $75, she may get a $5 off or $10 off any purchase of $100 or more,

and a CC offer,

and or bonus points towards gas,


some of that was already in place when I left, and more was in the works,

lyman,

+1 to Kroger and their personalized marketing coupons if that is what they are called. Well targeted to the products we use and to introduce us to similar products from different manufacturers.

Meijer, for those who are not familiar is a large regional chain in the upper Midwest. Their targeted coupons previously did but currently totally miss the mark.

My local grocery chain (Hannaford's) does that electronically.

I have an app on my phone and I can sort through the offered coupons and "clip" those that I use. When I check out, I enter my phone number (or have them scan a barcode on my phone) and all clipped coupons that I actually bought matching stuff for are automatically deducted from my bill.

There are two other benefits:

1. I get 2% off anything store brand.
2. I get targeted electronic coupons based on my shopping history.

Easy-peasy.

quote:

Originally posted by rusbro:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by rusbro:
That would be astronomically expensive. Far beyond any sales gained. Whoever did that would be sacked, if the company didn't go broke first.

Not if it's digital and they're using machine learning for the custom, digital ads.

He seems to be talking about print ads. Companies are already doing customized digital.

Yeah, this is essentially what the "you might be interested in" section on the homepage and the "you might also be interested in" section on product pages on Amazon and the like are - products that their machine learning models predict you might be interested in based on what people with similar buying habits have bought.

It's been going on for a while.

Their print ads seem to rotate the same 75 products repeatedly. What bothers me more is the DirectTV salesperson I have to dodge every time I shop there. On a positive note, they have ceased the constant pleas to upgrade my membership in the checkout lines.