Tesco could use Clubcard data to warn shoppers when they are buying too many unhealthy items, its chief executive has said. The boss of Britain’s biggest supermarket said he expected to use artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor how customers were shopping to help “nudge” people into making healthier choices.Some people might welcome a little friendly advice along these lines, but many others will regard it as a somewhat sinister, Big Brother-like intrusion into their privacy. There is also the issue of needing to see each trolley-load in context. It’s entirely possible, for example, that someone might buy fresh food at a market, and only use the supermarket for packaged items, which could lead the algorithm to conclude they had an unhealthy lifestyle. And that slab of Madri might not be all for your own consumption. I doubt whether the shopper depicted in this cartoon strip would find favour…Tesco’s Ken Murphy said: “I can see it nudging you, saying: ‘look, I’ve noticed over time that in your shopping basket your sodium salt content is 250pc of your daily recommended allowance. I would recommend you substitute this, this and this for lower sodium products to improve your heart health’.” He said this was “very simple stuff” which could “really improve people’s daily lives”.
I regularly shop at Tesco, and have had a Clubcard for many years. I recognise that it involves some sacrifice of privacy, but as long as the data is anonymised and it doesn’t trigger third-party advertising it’s a compromise I’m prepared to make. I get a voucher for a few quid every three months, and sometimes they send me coupons for money off things I actually buy.
However, they don’t really have a proper handle on my shopping habits. From time to time, they send me vouchers offering £6 off if I spend £40, but the big catch is that this excludes alcoholic drinks. Not that I buy nothing else, but my regular bill is nothing like that, and if I’m splashing out a bit at Christmas the odds are that I’ll want to include a nice bottle of wine or malt, possibly as a present for someone else.
More recently, they have started offering in-store discounts to Clubcard holders, including the multibuy offers such as four bottles of beer for £7. This comes across as a slightly unethical tactic to encourage people to sign up for Clubcards, but as long as I actually have one it works to my benefit.
However, I’ve thought in the past that if they started sending me discount coupons for vegetables, I would cut it up. What I choose to buy is none of their business, and delivering patronising lectures on my shopping habits would be completely unacceptable. If they introduce this system, and there isn’t the ability to opt out, then I would have to accept that my weekly shopping might cost me a bit more. Although I would probably then be motivated to regularly use Aldi or Lidl, who don’t bother with loyalty cards at all.
As the gap between CEO and staff pay widens, the disconnect between people understanding each others lives widen.
ReplyDeleteJust as politicians don't know how the people live, neither do CEOs. Look at the number of corporate mistakes that seem to occur as companies decide to adopt causes unrelated to their core purpose of enhancing shareholder value and end up with consumer boycotts.
This is clearly going to be met with an "f*** off" from customers, who have only agreed to trade their privacy for bargains. They've clearly not read their Tom Peters and understood "stick to the knitting"
Tesco became big because Jack Cohen understood pile it high, sell it cheap, people love a bargain. It's still that simple, That's why Aldi is eating their breakfast.
"Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught..."
ReplyDelete~ Winston Churchill
"see each trolley-load in context"
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I do a monthly shop online from Tesco, then we get meat and other pershables each week.
AI, being not very "I" at the moment, might find my Tesco shop quite concerning
Better stock up on sodium and beer before Free-Gear-Keir bans them.
ReplyDeleteNo beer Keir.
DeleteIf the government nationalise these loyalty cards they can be turned into ration cards and part of the ration can be CAMRA approved real ale in pubs and not supermarket beer.
ReplyDeleteSmall point, but Lidl do have a loyalty app rather than a card.
ReplyDeleteWhy does the government even let us buy unhealthy things?
ReplyDeleteIt should not be up to Tesco to make us healthy. It's the government's job.
You also have to ask the question why Tesco are selling items that they believe to be unhealthy.
DeleteIt really isn't the Government's job. The less the Government does, the better.
DeleteThen the state would be too small. Argentina had this. Their state wasn't well developed enough so they suffered dictatorship.
DeleteBeyond a point we need government to regulate.
Find the Lidel app annoying have to get phone out at self service when trying to do bags as quickly as possible at Lidel. Same when you get to a gravel car park don't want to download the app want to pay car park fee and not get fined 60 pounds or more as have paid wrong money
ReplyDelete“Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.” George Orwell
ReplyDeleteAny concerns Tesco show for customer health are entirely false. Anything along the lines of promoting healthy food will be driven by profit, and very likely supplier-backed promotions on 'more healthy' alternatives.
ReplyDeleteIt could also be seen as a way of currying favour with the government.
DeleteShared cards. How will they know which cardholder to notify if more than one person hold cards with same identification number, as my wife and I do?
ReplyDeleteGet it wrong and they have breached personal privacy, Shirley?
Can they be sued ?
Nothing like using your club card for strong stout in Tesco.
ReplyDeleteOscar
ok
ReplyDelete