How Much Do "They" Know?!

A few weeks ago, I went shopping for a few summer items...

(I wasn't really looking for clothing, but there was a 40% off everything sale, so I wandered through the store!)

A light denim dress caught my eye - denim is one of my favorite fabrics. I also bought a light, white cotton tunic to protect my arms from the summer sun.

(But summer isn't here yet so I haven't worn either garment.)

A few days later, I received two emails from the store asking, in essence, How do you like your new purchases? Would you write a product review?

Each email had a picture of an item I bought. I was shocked!

Really? Do they keep track of every item I purchase?!! How detailed is this store's knowledge about my shopping style?!!

I know I provided an email... And I'm glad they know I purchased these things - in case I want to return them... But is the new way of tracking shopper preferences - by knowing who buys every item in their store?!

Other questions come to mind, like...

1. How big is their server to store all this information?!
2. How long do they keep it?
3. Do they share this information with anyone else?
4. Do other stores track product purchases this carefully?

I've read that there is a lot of consumer "tracking" going on out there - and I appreciate reading online product reviews (which is what this store wants me to contribute)... But this amount of detail - minute tracking of every item I bought - really shocked me...

I guess my "online profile" is much bigger than I thought!