Online shopping is fantastic. A few clicks and you've ordered almost anything from anywhere.
But I've noticed a huge uptick in the volume of emails relating to an online order which makes it frustrating to order anything.
I recently had a purchase which included the following chain
- Thanks for your order
- Create your account
- We've got your order
- We've shipped your order
- We're expecting your parcel
- We've got your parcel
- Your order is scheduled for delivery
- We've delivered your item (Courier) 8a. We've delivered your item (Vendor)
- How was your delivery
- Are you happy with your purchase
I'm sure there are a myriad of A/B tests that these businesses have run to optimise the living day lights out of their email campaigns to burn both the brand and the experience as a joyful one in the minds of any consumers. But as Goodhart's Law teaches us, that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure - these sorts of email chains are prime examples of that. Created to optimise whoknowswhat, but ultimately resulting in a frustrating experience.
My solution is ultimately to use a simplelogin alias that I turn off immidiately but this feels like a solution to a problem that shouldn't exist.