Went in to their Christchurch branch on Sunday 17th of March for a mooch. Saw a couple of bird feeders showing £10.99 but reduced to £6.99. Queued to buy them but the guy serving was taking customer details for a home delivery and, as he seemed to be the only member of staff in the store, I left to visit some other shops first. When I returned there was only one person in front of me so I picked them up and waited. When he scanned the first bar code they came up at £10.99 so I questioned that it said £6.99 on the shelf. He held a leaflet up to me and said (with a French accent?) "Yes but only if you sign up to this." I put them back on the shelf and he put his head down with no further communication. I come from a retail background and I really can't understand this data gathering ethos and that a sale is allowed to die simply because a customer wants to keep hold of his data and not pay £8 for the privilege. The data is very rarely used in a manner that drives further sales and, honestly, how many apps or cards do companies expect us to have? This is Robert Dyas, a store that has no unique retail purpose and would hardly cause a flutter if it disappeared from the high street. Why not be a company that advertises the fact that it is very good value and doesn't think paying for a loyalty scheme is the best way to run a value for money business. Robert Dyas were still likely making a good profit on selling them at £6.99 so do they really think that adding £4 because they aren't getting your data is wise? Why is there no effort put in to retrieving a sale that looks like it's heading out of the door? Business is making a profit and I do hope Robert Dyas are collecting data on those who want to keep theirs and will, one day, give up on following supermarkets and realise they're not owed a place on the high street.
Having received a response I have to say it's totally inadequate and fails to address what is a growing problem in retail. It's clear to me what Robert Dyas are doing. I am questioning whether it's wise.