Grocery stores, pharmacies, and department stores often ask for your phone number during checkout. But why?

This information is too personal for some people to give out and we fully understand that. The cashier is not the one who is interested, in case you are curious.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

In fact, in most instances, there is a company policy that has been put into place to collect information like this, so please do not berate the cashier or accuse them of hoarding your info.

The phone number is often used as a means of finding the address of the shopper. From there, they will send special offers and coupons that are designed to make the shopper come back again and again. The information is not being taken for any sort of nefarious reason, to the best of our knowledge. They simply would like to market to you.

Photo: flickr/Walmart

If you do not want to give the information to the cashier, there is nothing wrong with that. You can politely decline. You are also more than welcome to ask about the company policy so that you can learn more about why the company needs the information. Loyalty rewards programs are always optional and so is giving out any other piece of information.

At the end of the day, it is up to the customer to decide what they are comfortable sharing. We hope that this helps and keeps people from potentially sharing information that they are not going to be happy about later. No one is trying to trick a customer into providing information that they do not want to offer.

Photo: flickr/jridgewayphotography

Now that you have learned more about the reasoning for these questions, you can proceed accordingly. If you are anything like us, you have no problem with offering up this information because you like to receive all sorts of coupons and special offers.

In many instances, the coupons that are offered up to the customers who are enrolled in loyalty programs are much better than the ones that other customers are given access to….food for thought!