The own data is not enough. That’s why Amazon now wants to buy receipts from customers to learn even more about their purchasing behavior. Those who participate in the Amazon Shopper Panel will receive a small amount of money. Should we respond to this offer?
The more data a company has about a customer, the better. For this reason, Amazon now wants to access external data in order to create even more detailed customer profiles on its own platform. But apparently the e-commerce giant does not want to invest much in this.
The company has created a new program in which a limited number of US customers can participate: the Amazon Shopper Panel.
Amazon Shopper Panel: Amazon buys your receipts – for ten US dollars
Via a mobile app, program participants can then take photos of receipts and submit them – for example from purchases in supermarkets, pharmacies and sports stores, but also from visits to the cinema and restaurants.
Amazon then pays out a voucher for ten submitted receipts – worth ten US dollars. Alternatively, customers can donate the amount to charity.
The offer may seem very attractive to many people at first glance. After all, it is not much work to photograph ten receipts and send them in via app.
Additional rewards are also offered when users fill out surveys and tell Amazon which brands and products interest them or how they like a particular advertising campaign.
How much do customers reveal about themselves?
What most customers don’t realize is that receipts and survey results contain sensitive information that Amazon can use to create detailed profiles. The data obtained is very valuable for any large tech company – including Amazon.
For example, users share with Amazon what time they shop or go to a restaurant, which supermarkets they favor and which brands they like. The company is only too happy to record all this data and store it on its servers.
The only exceptions to this are particularly personal purchase receipts, such as for medicines.
Does Amazon play with its customers through the Amazon Shopper Panel?
Amazon can use the collected data to further optimize its product and entertainment offerings. And, of course, the information can also help to play out even more personalized advertisements for corresponding target groups.
Unfortunately, many people are still unaware of how valuable their data is to Amazon and Co. The e-commerce giant knows that, of course. Otherwise he would not advertise such a low salary. So does Amazon sell its customers for stupid with the Amazon Shopper Panel?
Ultimately, each user can decide for himself how important data protection and privacy are to him. However, it is advisable to have a certain understanding of how personal data can be made transparent.
Amazon and Co. will be incredibly powerful in the year 2020. That’s why the US government is finally looking into the possibilities of smashing it. Recently, Facebook and Google have been accused of this.
