Can You Ban Customers From Comparison Shopping?

from the good-luck-with-that... dept

Mon, Aug 16th 2004 1:50pm — Mike Masnick

While Korean bookstores are worried about students photographing textbooks with camera phones, according to Alan Reiter, Dick's Sporting Goods is claiming to ban customers from using camera phones to stop them from comparison shopping. Why don't they just scream out that they're more expensive and to avoid them in the first place? While a store can decide which customers they want to serve, it seems particularly anti-customer to tell your customers they can't use a camera phone in your store. While I don't have a camera phone, I do often use my phone to look up more information about products I am looking at in a store, and it's helped convince me to buy a product quite a few times (though, the opposite is also true). Under the rules at Dick's Sporting Goods, apparently, they'd kick me out of the store for trying to be a more informed shopper. Companies can try to target just the dumb shoppers, but with the ease of information transfer these days, they're looking at a shrinking market. Update: Alan Reiter has updated the post, following a conversation with execs at Dick's Sporting Goods who claim they have no such policy in place. It's unclear if the reporter jumped to conclusions, though it is completely possible.

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6 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 16 Aug 2004 @ 2:10pm

No Sense at All
What, are they going to ban customers with paper and pencil? Writing down "Head Tennis Racket - $350 - Blue Titanium" Has as much info as a pic.

No wonder I do more and more of my shopping on-line.
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Oliver Wendell Jones, 16 Aug 2004 @ 2:25pm

Re: No Sense at All
Well, if you write down the price, you don't accidentally record an image of other customers, possibly out in public with people they don't want to be seen with, or at least not be recorded as being with.

I doubt seriously that the camera phone ban has anything to do with comparison shopping and everything to do with protecting the perceived rights of individuals.
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Nicole, 16 Aug 2004 @ 3:16pm

Re: No Sense at All
I wonder the same thing. I know there have been some blow ups about people taking pics of girls with their cell phones and putting it on the internet...
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thecaptain, 16 Aug 2004 @ 4:45pm

Re: No Sense at All
Well the article is pretty specific in reporting the fact that the company is in effect trying to hinder comparison shopping.

As for accidentally recording an image of other customers, in a public place isn't that legal? Something about "reasonable expectation of privacy" or something? (I honestly do not know, I only know that in Canada, I can snap away all I want without a problem as long as the pics aren't used for commercial ventures...ie: I can't take pics of pretty girls and sell them on the net, but they can't arrest me for taking pictures of people walking around the tourist sites)
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Aug 2004 @ 7:30am

No Subject Given
No surprise. There was an article than ran a month or two ago on Best Buy basically ignoring or chasing away customers who are 'bargain shoppers only'. With the technology they are getting better data and realizing that people are only buying the deals (often loss leaders) and shopping elsewhere for better prices.

With the glut of choices out there why are they surprised that people do bargain shopping ? There is so very little left of the 'customer experience', most stores are only differiated by price these days ... and with the information highway so wide open, it's easy, smart, and economical to shop in a variety of places.

On the other hand, I'm in favor of banning Cell Phones in public places on general principles ... I'm close to wanting to shove one down someone's throat who feels it's important to share their conversation with everyone around them.
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Yannick, 20 Sep 2007 @ 1:43pm

Re: Re: No Sense at All
did you even take a picture with a cell phone camera??
if you want to be able to read the price & description of the item, you will be so close that you wont even see 6 inches around the price tag!

I do that all the time, nobody has given me a hard time for do it
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