The dark underbelly of Shoprite’s Xtra Savings rewards programme has been exposed: they’re harvesting YOUR data to sell you more groceries!
Shoprite, parent company of Shoprite and Checkers, is leveraging its 2.5 million customer swipes per minute to pry into your shopping habits, preferences, and routines. They claim to be using this data to optimise their inventory and delivery routes, but let’s be real, it’s all about making more dough.
Their ” largest loyalty programme in Africa” has gained 31 million customers, with 85% of sales coming from loyalty programme members. But what does it mean for you, the consumer? More targeted ads, more personalized offers, and a never-ending stream of “exclusive” deals that make you feel like you’re getting a good deal. But are you?
Their latest move? Deploying AI and machine learning algorithms to analyze your shopping behavior and tailor store layouts and pricing to match your every whim. Sounds like a dream come true, right? Wrong. This is just Big Brother in disguise, using technology to keep you in a trap of consumerism.
And don’t even get me started on the impact on jobs. 160,000 employees, the largest private sector employer in South Africa, are at risk of being replaced by AI-powered checkout lanes and algorithms. It’s a Brave New World, folks, where workers are redundant and customers are perpetual prisoners of consumption.
Shoprite’s CEO wants to “attract, develop, and retain globally competitive IT talent” but what about the rest of us? Are they ready for the worker revolution that’s brewing?
Stay vigilant, my friends. Fight back against this corporate behemoth and its stranglehold on our wallets and our very lives.
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