At a start up networking panel today I happened to bump into an old acquaintance from the college days who has since gone on to manage multiple different projects and is now an investor. We caught up and got into talking about Scannibal and the idea of customer purchasing patterns. It got me thinking about an angle of the shopping experience that is often overlooked. Until now, coupons, ads, and marketing in general has been an attempt to create consumer patterns. A big part of Scannibal is creating an easy way for us, as customers, to do exactly the opposite. Our goal is to help break patterns.
Buying Patterns
First, answer these two questions
1. When you go shopping, do you usually go to the same few places?
2. What do you actually get for your loyalty?
If you are like most people, your answer to the first question was "Yes". Although many of us think we are thrifty, clever, diverse shoppers (yes, myself included), the fact is that over 80% of people make the majority of their purchases for a given type of good from one place. For example, if you buy groceries at Target, chances are that you almost always shop there for groceries. You are used to it, you know what to expect, and it's predictable.
For question two, think about all the loyalty programs you are enrolled in and all the cards, key chains, and email coupons you need to make them useful. What is the goal of these programs? These programs are all intended to try and funnel you into a purchasing pattern. The most useful info in the world for any business is being able to know who will come in, when they will come in, what they will buy, and how much they will spend. This means that being a predictable, traditionally "loyal" shopper gives businesses a virtual crystal ball.
Are they worth it?
When businesses have this much information and know what you will do, it gives them all the power. It leads to customers feeling like they owe these businesses for caring about them enough to give out a few rewards points. This seems backwards to us. Shouldn't the customer's needs and decisions based on all the options available determine where and how we shop? Big companies are spending billions of dollars to get you into these patterns and keep you from being able to actually make your own choices about how you spend money.
This all leads to the question of whether loyalty programs are actually saving us money, or costing us money. The fact is that the minimal savings you get as a reward is almost always outweighed by the additional money you spend because you got the reward. Wouldn't it be great if we had rewards that were meant to help us change our habits rather than rewards that try to reinforce them? When you think about it, the businesses are trying to use the same psychology on you that you use on your kids when you want them to clean their room. Don't fall for it!
Let's fix it!
We believe that both consumers and businesses will benefit from a little more good-spirited competition. Our goal is to provide a platform to help level the playing field across all levels of purchasing, from buying lunch to buying a new TV. When businesses compete, customers win. Goods become cheaper, service becomes better, and those competing businesses grow and adapt in to much more responsible and healthy businesses. While the buying patterns that big marketing budgets are intended to create are good for a few big businesses, the customers ultimately lose out as their choices narrow and when choices narrow, the few choices that are left can charge whatever they want. Scary.
Stay tuned and thanks for reading
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