I pity the fool that gets between me and my lunch – but that’s precisely what the server behind the counter did last time I was at my favorite burger joint.
As I placed my order, he asked for my phone number “to look me up in the system.” I said I’d rather just buy the burger, but he asked again. I repeated that I’d prefer not to give my number; he continued to insist. Eventually, I asked if I could just give a fake number. He rolled his eyes, but finally gave me my burger, which I tried to enjoy given the air of awkwardness.
The whole episode left a bad taste in my mouth. Such annoyances, though, are becoming increasingly common. It’s hard to buy a coffee, magazine or sweater these days without someone demanding your name, number, email or home address. Last time I rented a car, they even got me to pose for a selfie – insisting I smile for the camera – before finally handing over the keys.
I might sound like a curmudgeon, but I’m not the only person irritated by all this sleeve-tugging.
The hunger for first-party data is driving companies to demand our information more aggressively than ever. It’s easy to see why: Some studies claim brick-and-mortar retailers can boost revenues by 7% or more by monetizing first-party customer data.
But the more companies annoy their customers, the less willing they’ll be to part with that data. If retailers want lasting growth and enduring revenue gains, they need to refocus on responsible data collection – and show they can gather our information in respectful, transparent and less pushy ways.
Where marketers went wrong
Why is in-person data collection a big deal? For starters, when done wrong, it degrades the consumer experience. There’s a big difference between asking for info online and demanding it in the real world: If you don’t want to give up data online, you can simply click away. A face-to-face interaction with a fellow human being, on the other hand, is inherently more confrontational. We aren’t wired to say no to people, so we resent it when people ask for things we don’t want to give them.
With half of shoppers saying they’d stop buying in stores that track their data in ways they’re uncomfortable with, and 55% believing that retailers are selling their data to third parties, there’s a real risk that aggressive data collection will backfire. Consumers have heard about companies using creepy facial-recognition tech to track customers; if a retailer appears too eager to collect their data, they’ll assume the worst.
This also means consumers will try to wriggle out of such interactions by shopping elsewhere or providing bogus information. (It can be way easier to give a fake number than to decline to give any information at all.)
The internet is full of people joking about giving fake names for their Starbucks orders, and that’s about as innocuous as information-sharing gets.
Imagine how many of those folks are also using fake numbers, emails or addresses to sidestep pushy POS data collection. Is it really worth annoying your customers just to collect that kind of low-quality data?
Regulators, they’re just like us
Overzealous data collection can land retailers in other kinds of hot water, too. Back in the mid-2010s, companies faced a spate of lawsuits for collecting personal information when processing credit card payments. As merchants get more aggressive about collecting consumer data, we could see a new wave of consumer litigation.
When frontline customer service is responsible for soliciting data, you’re trusting them to request and handle that data responsibly. Consider the server who asked for my number “to look me up in the system.” He didn’t provide any disclosures about how my data would be stored, shared or used. So if the fast-food giant ultimately used my details for marketing to me, tracking me or training their AI models, they’d be in breach of data privacy laws.
It’s easier for regulators to scrutinize a company’s online behavior than these informal POS interactions. But we shouldn’t assume that real-world data collection will go unnoticed.
Regulators are people, too: They buy coffee and burgers and clothes, and they’re as likely as the rest of us to be irritated by uninvited data collection. Unlike you or me, though, they’re in a position to do something about it.
Approaching data collection responsibly
Today’s consumers are paying attention to how their data is collected and used, and high-profile regulatory actions are increasing consumer awareness of their data rights.
This doesn’t mean that marketers can’t collect first-party data. But it does mean they need to do so with transparency and respect – while also giving people an easy way to opt out and simply buy the stuff they want. It’s fine to ask for a phone number, but it needs to be a single, light-touch interaction: a no-pressure option on the payment touchscreen, say, with a follow-up text or email with links to the full privacy policy and a one-click option to opt out.
Personally, I’m avoiding coffee shops, burger joints and other retailers that are too eager to grab my data. Maybe I’m just a privacy wonk with a chip on my shoulder. But maybe I’m the canary in the coal mine. The reality is that, online and offline, consumers are increasingly aware of the way companies are collecting their data – and increasingly annoyed by companies that abuse their trust.
For retailers, the real ROI comes from responsible data collection. Consumers won’t hold still for pushy data collection that abuses their trust, ignores their data rights or gets in the way of their customer journey.
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