Going shopping on a Saturday morning, even though we don’t feel like it, can be a common occurrence. We open our closet and realize that something is missing. However, as soon as we enter the store, the otherwise sweet saleswoman starts to pressure us with suggestions and questions. Some people enjoy this form of cross-selling, while others find it unbearable.

Going to the store means actively searching for what we need, but when we’re sitting quietly at home, in front of our PCs or TVs, or even taking the dog for a walk, we’re bombarded with emails from Amazon about products we might be interested in.

Even if we’ve shopped at the biggest online department store 5-10 times, they’ve still filed our information worse than Facebook, and they spend millions to get information out of the file. But, why do they send us emails with a thermos two days after we’ve bought a Porsche, or bike lights, when we’ve already bought two sets? How many coffees do we need to carry and how many satellites does our bike need to be visible from?

Despite spending millions, companies like Amazon have yet to match the effectiveness of the in-store saleswoman, in the process of cross-selling and product suggestions.