Name of Case: The dark side of customer analytics

Date of Submission: 09/02/2020

Strategic Management
Faculty In Charge : Prof. Gayathri Sampath
Group Details

Group No: 4

Name SAP ID Roll No

Anubhav Bagchi 80133190004 A004

Soumik Chakraborty 80133190007 A006

Kaashyap Chintala 80133190009 A008

Ayush Gupta 80133190015 A012

Sabitra Rudra 80133190035 A026

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The Context / Background of the case:
The case talks about how IFA wants to partner with Shop sense so that IFA could get data of
their premium customers which they can analyze and make customized insurance plans for
their customers thereby helping them drive revenues and better insurance plans. The insurance
company IFA will pay for the data thereby, helping Shop sense drive better profits. Although,
there are some concerns being raised by the Shop sense team members regarding if they should
sell customer data or not as it might end up diluting customer relationships.
The Problem(s) / The key issues in the case:
The major issue with the case is that IFA wants to procure data about customer from Shop
sense but Shop sense’s COO Alan and CEO Donna had their fair bit of concerns (customer
relationships, misuse of data, and ethical issues regarding charging more if a person eats more
of unhealthy food) about the same which Steve tried to address but wasn’t successful. So,
Should Shop sense provide their data to IFA is the problem according to the case.
Analysis of issues identified:
Customer Relationship – When IFA officials made a few announcements regarding using Shop
sense data, it improved their reputation for a short while. However, there were no insights that
it would harm the reputation of the company in long term too. Although, Shop sense should
take measures so that such a circumstance doesn’t occur by asking IFA to not disclose the deal
in public.
Misuse of Data – IFA might involve itself in practices that might reveal customer information
which could lead them to charge more on insurances and other things which are beneficial to
the company and harmful for the people.
Ethical issues – Charging people based on what people eat should be something that shouldn’t
be done as it will lead IFA to charge more to certain customers for the same insurance. But
there is other side to this which is they will charge less to people eating healthy which might
encourage people to develop healthy eating habits. Shop sense should make sure that IFA
releases such data directly or to Shop sense so that they can benefit the people with such
information. The ethical issue regarding the situation of data being should be thought of before
handling the data to IFA.
Shared Data Risks - Decisions made on the basis of the shared data represents another hazard for
consumers and for organizations. Take the case of The Shop Sense data, it reflects upon the food
bought but not necessarily consumed, and individuals buying food at many stores, not just one.
IFA might start drawing wrong conclusions and charging unfair rate increases. Thus every part of
this deal should be investigated thoroughly by the insurer’s general counsel so as to find any such
loopholes beforehand.
Recommendations for the case problem:
The recommendation is that Shop sense should provide their data to IFA.
 Since, IFA needs the data, Shop sense should drive the partnership, by charging them a
decent amount as they have good quality data which was proved during the trial run.
 Apart from the money perspective, Shop sense should ask IFA to reveal about their
partnership and provide customers with an opportunity if they want to participate in such a
plan rather than directly imposing it on them, making customers feel more valued & this
will also cover the fact that the person might be purchasing groceries for some other person.
 A senior member of Shop sense should be involved in the process on how the data is being
used by IFA so that they ensure that ethical norms are being followed and his role should
also be such that it keeps Shop sense away from legal troubles if the laws get tweaked or if

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 IFA manages to misuse the data provided by IFA. Advanced Information security systems
should be placed so that data breach doesn’t happen.
 If a significant insight relating to correlation between disease and eating habits of the
person, then it must be reported to Shop sense and they will print it behind the receipts, so
that the data is not exactly being used to drive profits only, it drives customer well-being
too. Also, a data-pledge between the two companies should be developed which will be
publicly available and tell the customer how their data will be used.

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