July 06, 2004

The customer is always right? Not anymore

Article (San Francisco Chronicle): "Filene's banned two sisters from all 21 of its stores last year after the clothing chain's corporate parent decided they had returned too many items"

The trend in retail the last 15-20 years seems to have been: Cater to the customer whatever the cost. Whether it's no questions asked return policies (which I took advantage of in college with my innovative College Student Rental Plan, or CSRP) or razor thin margins on top of sales or even Talbot's Don't Confront A Shoplifter policy, it's gotten to the point where I wonder how stores can make a profit.

Well, with the advent of data mining technologies and processes, the tide seems to be turning. Companies are now actively identifying customers that are "not profitable" and turning them away. Sometimes subtly, sometimes overtly.

We return a heck of a lot of stuff at places like Marshall's and Linens 'n Things. We're also aggressive sales shoppers and coupon users. A lot of people are. To us, it's just smart shopping.

But might we one day be turned away from Linen 'n Things for using one competitor coupon too many?

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