Tuesday, September 12, 2000

Reply from Giant Food - Giant Snoops

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about frequent shopper cards. We certainly understand and appreciate your point of view with regard to privacy.

After long consideration, we have made the decision to offer frequent shopper cards to our customers. Before making this decision, we did a great deal of consumer research, which has
shown us that customers perceive cards as bringing them value. They also told us that they believe Giant is behind the curve since so
many of our competitors already offer a card.

We strongly recognize our special obligation to our customers to properly manage their purchase information and safeguard their privacy. Customers can opt out of receiving mailings. Odonna Mathews, our Vice President for Consumer Affairs, heads our Giant privacy committee and I want to assure you of our commitment. Here is our privacy policy:

"We do not sell, rent, or relinquish customer names, home or e-mail addresses, phone numbers or any other customer identifiable information to anyone. Personal transaction data will be used only for promotional programs provided to you which are sponsored or co-sponsored by Giant or its parent company, Ahold USA. We will not use this information for any other purpose.

Purchases made with your BonusCard will be automatically recorded. Through use of this information Giant can better understand our customers' needs. This will help us be better at providing the kinds of products and services you want. For your protection, Giant has developed a set of privacy policies for the use and handling of this data. (For detailed information, see our privacy brochure, available in your local Giant store or visit our website at www.giantfood.com).

One of the most exciting aspects of this program is the opportunity to create offers targeted to specific customer needs. This means we can target baby offers to families with babies and pet offers to families with pets. Customers who do not want to receive targeted offers in the mail, can choose not to by checking the box below."

For Giant, offering the card means that we will be able to remain competitive in our market, have a better understanding of our customers, and will be able to reward loyal customers by offering special promotions and features that add value to shopping with us.

I was also sorry to hear of your dissatisfaction with the service and stock conditions at your Giant. Please be assured that I have involved the appropriate operations people to follow up on those concerns.

Regarding bulk food and SuperDeals, these sections were discontinued because of a decline in sales over the years. We did incorporate the more popular SuperDeals into our regular aisles and carry them on a regular basis. We also still offer some of the most popular bulk snack foods in the regular aisles. As you know, the space where we used to carry SuperDeals is now used for seasonal merchandise.

I hope you will find that you want to give the card a try. In the meantime, I will make sure that our appropriate decision-makers here at Giant are aware of your concerns. And please feel free to call me if you would like to discuss this further at (301) 341-4365.

Sincerely,

Eileen Katz
Assistant Director
Ref: 17098

Posted 9/12/2000

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Selected links about Giant Food

Wikipedia's history of Giant Food Includes the following statement about the once successful culture Giant has abandoned:
There were several reasons for Giant's market domination during Danzansky's 13-year tenure as president. First and most important were the principles laid down by founder N.M. Cohen. Companies often have paper principles but Cohen enforced them. The first principle was uncompromising quality. In the upscale Washington Metro Area, this was a competitive advantage Giant's competitors were slow to emulate until the advent of Whole Foods Market many years later. The second principle was value. Cohen believed that shoppers wouldn't mind paying a bit more if they got their money's worth in consistent quality. The third principle was service. Cohen was rarely in his office. He tirelessly spent his days dropping in unannounced at his store and making sure that every customer was treated as a welcome friend. He would be known to bawl out an employee for refusing to give a customer a refund for a spoiled competitor's product.