I’ve seen many tries at personalization in the last decade. Most don’t work very well. Among the best personalization systems are Netflix’s and Amazon’s recommendations engines.

There’s another to add to the list, and it comes from an unlikely source: my grocery store. Each week Harris Teeter emails me weekly specials. But there’s a twist. The email is customized based on my purchase history. Using the data from my loyalty card, they present the offers I’m most interested in first. Unlike United’s weekly spam, this email gets opened once in a while.

It’s personalization that works for me and for them. Most grocery stores collect the data; Harris Teeter is the first that I’ve encountered that uses it to directly enhance my shopping experience. They benefit by selling more stuff.

Another convenience: I was able to pull up my personalized circular email on my cell phone. Now they just need to tell me which aisle each item is in.