· 1955 · Retail
The Macy's counter
A sales clerk who remembered. Not a recommendation engine, not a loyalty points balance - a person who noticed what you had looked at and had the right thing ready when you came back.
The historical control condition. Every 'personalised' retail system since is an attempt to reproduce what one person could do for a few hundred regulars, and none of them have done it as well, because the thing that made it work was not the data. It was that it was somebody's job to pay attention.
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