97 Things About Ethics Everyone in Data Science Should Know

Chapter 94. 100% Conversion: Utopia or Dystopia?

Dave Cherry

Executive Strategy Advisor, Cherry Advisory LLC

It was a bright day in retail, and conversions were striking 100% yet again.¹

Marketing had once more delivered hyperpersonalized offerings. These offers were not only unique to each individual customer, but also context-sensitive to the specific mindset of each customer at the time that they were delivered. Upon receipt of each offer, every customer had the identical reaction: “I’ll take it.”

Merchandising had the perfect amount of inventory on hand in every store and in the fulfillment center. So regardless of where the customer wanted to complete the transaction, the product was in stock. Additional shipping costs to fulfill out-of-stock items were a thing of the past.

Excess inventory, clearance, and returns were nonexistent. IT removed the clearance section from the website, and store operations eliminated labor hours for redlining and returns. Every transaction was productive, and operational costs had never been lower.

Financial planning and analysis continued its record of perfect forecast accuracy, as it nailed unit, margin, and revenue targets precisely. Stock prices soared, and incentive compensation targets were exceeded.

The chief analytics officer took pride in the amount of customer data gathered and stored from transactions, loyalty, and social media...as ...