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receipts by email

2009-11-04 17:01:32.345566+00 by Dan Lyke 2 comments

Dear every store I shop at,

I will happily give you my email address, read email you send to me, and use a "loyalty card" or other such program that allows you to tie individual store trips together into a customer profile, if you'll email me my receipts in an easy to import into a spreadsheet format. Say, comma delimited ASCII.

I'd love it if this process can be fully automated, so that I can sort and search all purchases later without having to save individual receipts from email, but however we work it out: I want my receipts in machine readable form. You want customer loyalty information, and more of my eyeball time for marketing.

Let's make a deal.

[ related topics: Interactive Drama Software Engineering Consumerism and advertising Work, productivity and environment Marketing ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2009-11-04 18:13:14.615773+00 by: flushy

I want the technical implementation of this receipt sharing protocol public as well. Keep my receipts private! Or at least disassociate them from me (except when I'm collecting them for myself).

#Comment Re: made: 2009-11-04 18:30:29.82823+00 by: Dan Lyke

I'm totally willing to give information linking my separate purchases from a retailer together (ie: a loyalty program) in exchange for getting this information. I don't necessarily want this data completely public, but I believe that there's a strong incentive for retailers to not freely share this around...

...and, on the other hand, as I've said a number of times, I'll happily give out my medical records if I can keep the credit card companies from deluging me with more bad credit card offers 'til after I've had a lobotomy. Companies building databases is part of them serving me better a s a customer.