Why does nobody admit that store loyalty cards track way more than they let on
I signed up for a grocery card at the Kroger on High Street in Columbus about 4 months ago and started getting coupons for things I only mentioned out loud near my phone, like a specific brand of dog treats I never searched for. When I asked the cashier if the app listens, she just laughed and said the card has my address tied to 7 years of receipts. I pulled my data request and saw 412 pages of purchase history, way more than I remembered buying. Has anyone else actually read their own loyalty card data, and did it change how you shop?
Coupons for dog treats you only talked about is a weird coincidence, but the card itself can't hear you. It has no mic. It's a piece of plastic with a barcode. What probably happened is you used a debit or credit card at some point, or the store's app was on your phone, and that's what got tied back to your name. 412 pages sounds like a lot until you remember every banana and pack of gum counts as a line item for 4 months, and they keep that stuff for years. The part that bugs me is people act like the card is the spy when the phone in your pocket is doing way more work than a loyalty tag ever could.