Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
COUPON DELIVERY SYSTEM
~ I BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to computer systems and methods for generating
coupons to provide discounts for purchases and, in particular, to delivery techniques for
5 delivering coupons assigned to a particular household. The invention is particularly adapted for
delivering targeted coupons to a household. Targeted coupons are coupons which are assigned
to a household on the basis of attributes of that household.
Retail establishments, in particular grocery establishments, have attempted to use various
technologies to assist in increasing sales at its stores, or retail outlets. One technique is to
10 provide rewards in the form of discounts to regular customers who purchase significant amounts
from that chain. This led to a frequent shopper system in which point-of-sale, or checkout,
systems are used in conjunction with frequent shopper cards in order to provide instant discounts
to customers presenting a frequent shopper card to the cashier. Such frequent shopper card may
be bar-coded, wherein the identity of the household possessing the card may be scanned with the
15 bar code scanner used to input purchases to the point-of-sale system. One difficulty with such
instant discounts is that they are provided to every customer who presents a frequent shopper
card to the cashier. This invites "cherry picking" in which certain customers obtain frequent
shopper cards from multiple chains and plan purchases in order to purchase items from each
chain which are discounted. Such "cherry picking" reduces the profit margin of the retail
20 establishment, which, particularly for grocery establishments, tends to be low to begin with.
In order to discourage such "cherry picking," computer systems have been developed
which take the discounting function away from the point-of-sale system, which is inflexible and
must provide discounts to all parties possessing a frequent shopper card and, imte~(l, utilize
information obtained by the point-of-sale system in order to target coupons to particular
25 households. In one such system, households are divided into clusters, such as deciles, according
to the amount of purchases made by each household in a given period of time. Thus, infrequent
shoppers would fall in the first decile, more frequent shoppers in the second decile, and the like,
with shoppers doing the heaviest purchasing falling in the tenth decile. The targeting system
then assigns coupons to particular households based upon the cluster, or deciles, in which that
30 particular household is situated. In this manner, all households in a particular cluster, or decile,
are assigned the same coupons. However, households in one decile may be assigned coupons
different from households in a different decile. Each coupon assigned to a household represents
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
a negative price or "cents off" value. A print file is generated by the targeting system and
~orwarded by the retail establishment to a commercial printer. The commercial printer prints,
folds, and mails to each household the coupons assigned to that household based upon the output
print file of the targeting system. Each of the coupons typically includes a bar code, or other
5 coding technique, which is scanned at the point-of-sale system and provides a pointer to a
location in a product lookup ( PLU) table. The PLU table contains a listing of negative prices,
or discounts, which are applied to the total purchase when the coupon is redeemed. The targeted
coupon typically includes a text field made up of, for example, three lines of text, which
describes an offer statement for that coupon. The offer statement may be, for example, a number
10 of cents off of a particular item, buy-one get-one free, $5 off of $50 of purchases, and the like.
In addition to the offer statement, the text field includes any information with respect to an
expiration date of the coupon. As a result, substantially the entire text field is typically devoted
to describing the offer statement and expiration information. Any additional information must
be squeezed into any rem~ining portions of the text field that are not used by the offer statement
15 and expiration information.
The targeted coupon print file is typically sent by the retail establishment to the
commercial printer periodically, such as every month, every two months, or the like. All of the
targeted coupons assigned to a household are printed on sheets, with multiple coupons on a
sheet. Therefore, the number of coupons assigned to each household is fixed. Once the coupons
20 are printed, folded, and inserted in an envelope, the coupons are mailed typically utili7ing bulk
mail rates. The printing and m~iling process is relatively expensive. Therefore, it is typical for
the retail establishment to exclude all but the highest level clusters, or deciles, from the system.
Therefore, infrequent shoppers are not mailed coupons. The households which do receive
coupons may receive them up to approximately two (2) weeks after printing because of the
25 delays inherent in bulk rate tariffs.
Such mailed targeted coupon system has many drawbacks. In addition to the high costs,
which limit the number of frequent shoppers who receive coupons, the delay in the cycle
between assigning coupons to households and the receipt of those coupons in the mail by the
households, often results in the coupons either already being expired when they arrive or the
30 merchandise discounted by the coupons no longer being available from the m~nllf~cturer
resulting in the necessity to hand out rain checks. The coupons are often delivered to households
on vacation or who have changed addresses, resulting in wasted production and m~iling costs, as
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
well as the creation of additional junk mail which must be discarded. The lengthy planning
cycle of assigning coupons to households and printing and mail delivery of the coupons to the
households precludes responding to any fast changes in market conditions. Furthermore, receipt
of the coupons in the mail greatly ~limini~hes any impulse-buying because of delay between the
5 time the household receives the coupons and the next shopping trip to the issuing retail
establishment.
Although the m~iling of targeted coupons to a household could provide the opportunity
for directing specific information to the household, the mailed targeted coupon packets are not
utilized for that purpose. Because of the excessively long planning cycle, it is not feasible to
10 utilize mailed targeted coupon packets to inform the households of information which changes
frequently. They additionally do not provide an opportunity for dialog with customers of the
retail establishment. Furthermore, customers get coupons without requesting them, which may
further reduce the impact that the coupons have on the purchasing habits of the household.
Retail establishments, such as grocery stores, often develop promotional campaigns
15 designed to encourage increased purchases among its frequent shopper members. An example
of such a campaign is a program which gives away a valuable item, such as a turkey or ham, to a
frequent shopper member who purchases a given amount of merchandise within a predefined
period of time. While such campaign has proven successful at increasing purchases by frequent
shoppers, it can create ~rlmini~trative difficulties. One difficulty is that members desire to keep
20 track of their qualifying accllml]l;~ted purchases in order to gauge how much additional
purchases must be made to qualify for the prize. This desire for information increases as the
cutoffdate for the qualifying period approaches. In order to learn their accllm~ te~l purchase
value, households tend to approach the customer service counter reslll1ing in an increased
distraction to customer service personnel, especially as the campaign deadline approaches.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a computer system and method which generates coupons
to provide discounts for purchases which is efficient, flexible, and dynamic and which is capable
of increasing profit margins of the participating retail establishment. Such computer system not
30 only generates and dispenses targeted coupons, which are assigned to particular households on
the basis of at least one attribute of that household, it also has the capability of enhancing a
dialog between a retail establishment and its customers.
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
A computer-implemented method of generating coupons to provide discounts for
purchases, according to an aspect of the invention, includes providing a computer-based kiosk at
a retail establishment. A user identification of a household is received at the kiosk. The kiosk
outputs a series of targeted coupons which have been assigned to the individual household on the
basis of at least one attribute of that household. Because the coupons are dispensed by a kiosk at
the retail establishment, a very short planning cycle, between assigning of the coupons to the
particular households and the availability of the coupons to the households, is provided. This
short of plarming cycles makes the kiosk dispense coupons more responsive to market
conditions. For example, a notification by the m~nllf~cturer that a promotional discount
program is being termin~ted as a result of lack of availability of merchandise, can be
immediately responded to by disabling of the associated coupon offers. Additionally, items
which are subject to rapidly ch~nging market conditions, such as fresh produce and direct store
delivery items, can be discounted, according to the invention, because coupon offers can be
created or changed frequently, even daily, if desired. Advantageously, coupons are provided to a
l S household by the kiosk only upon request by the household user who obtains coupons assigned
to that household by entering a user identification at the kiosk, such as by passing a frequent
shopper card past a scanner or the like. This avoids the problem of coupons being mailed to an
incorrect address or to a household on vacation. Coupons may be available to users based upon
users' frequency of shopping rather than a fixed mailing cycle. Indeed, coupon assignments may
be "stacked up" for households so that a coupon assignment is always ready even for households
that make frequent shopping trips. Furthermore, the shorter planning cycle ensures that coupons
will not be delivered to households at, or beyond, the expiration date. If coupons in a coupon
assignment are at or near the expiration date when the user requests coupons from the kiosk, the
expired or about-to-expire coupons can be deleted.
According to a more-detailed aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method
of generating coupons to provide discounts for purchases includes providing a computer coupon
database and a computer household database. The coupon database includes a plurality of
coupon records, each providing a definition of a coupon offer. The household database includes
a plurality of household records, each providing at least one attribute of a particular household.
A record for a particular household is retrieved from the household database and at least one
targeted coupon is assigned to the particular household. The targeted coupon is selected from
the coupon database as a function of an attribute of that household in the household record for
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
that household. ~ignment of targeted coupons to households may occur remotely from the
'Kiosk, or kiosks, with a communication link, such as a local area network or a wide area network
utilized to link the kiosk, or kiosks, with the computer assigning the targeted coupons which
may, for example, be a network server. When a user household is identified at one of the kiosks,
5 any coupons assigned to the identified household are formatted and outputted by the kiosk.
This form~tting of coupons assigned to a household in response to receipt of the user
identification of the particular household may be accomplished, according to another aspect of
the invention, by including in each coupon record an identification of an offer type and at least
one offer value. An image of an offer statement is form~tted for each of the coupons assigned to
10 the identified household as a function of the offer type and the at least one offer value.
Advantageously, such offer statement, such as a given number of cents off of a particular
product, two for the price of one, or the like, may be placed at a prominent place on the coupon
separate from text field. This allows the text field to be utilized for additional information
regarding the particular offer. For example, a particular item may be identified in the text field
15 to which a buy-one get-one free offer applies. The form~tted coupon may additionally include
an expiration statement separate from the test field. The image of the expiration statement is
formatted from information contained in a validity date field on the coupon record. Likewise,
any text to be applied to the coupon is in a separate text field. By form~tting images of coupons
"on the fly" from parameters set forth in a coupon record, coupon offers can be created and
20 modified readily without a requirement for mass storage of a coupon image.
According to another aspect of the invention, at least one triggered coupon may be
assigned to a particular household. The triggered coupon is selected by the computer from the
coupon database, based upon an attribute of that household, and assigned to that household.
When the user is identified at the kiosk, the user is prompted to select whether the user wishes to
25 receive the triggered coupon, or not. If the user indicates a wish to obtain the triggered coupon,
the triggered coupon is formatted and outputted by the kiosk. This aspect of the invention is
especially useful with promotional programs that award coupons for large items to the user. The
triggered coupon is only generated when the user qualifies for the item. However, the coupon is
not automatically generated in response to identification of the user at the kiosk. Rather, the
30 user is allowed to decline receipt of the triggered coupon at that time. When the user, again,
accesses the kiosk, or another kiosk, at a later date, the consumer will, again, be notified that a
CA 022141F70 1997-09-09
triggered coupon is available and allowed to determine whether to receive the triggered coupon
at that time, or not.
According to another aspect of the invention, the kiosk is capable of form~tting messages
which incorporate key words. The key words are derived from an attribute of the household
from the household file for the user identified at the kiosk. This not only allows messages to be
personalized to the particular user, but also allows specialized communication with the user. For
example, the user may be notified of the accumulative purchases made by that user for the
purposes of an award program. This allows the user to remain apprised of the amount of
purchases necessary in order to receive the award without the necessity for the user being
serviced at the customer service counter. This greatly enhances the productivity of customer
service personnel. The messages may be displayed on a display device, such as a TV monitor,
or may be printed and dispensed with the coupons. Other messages may be displayed to the
user, such as a greeting message, a survey plo~ g series of questions, and the like.
According to another aspect of the invention, the number of coupons dispensed toparticular households may be set at a particular number which may vary from household to
household. This allows the system to vary the number of coupons assigned to a household as a
function of attributes of the household, such as accumulative purchases by that household. In
this manner, the heaviest shoppers may be awarded more coupons than less frequent shoppers.
Coupons assigned to each household may include not only targeted coupons, but also mandatory
coupons which are assigned to all households. Mandatory coupons are typically provided by
m~mlf~cturers and assigned to the households prior to assignment of any targeted coupons. If
the m~n(l~tory coupons and targeted coupons to do not fill the coupon number allotted to that
household, default coupons may be assigned to that household until the assigned number is
reached.
A coupon-generating system, according to an aspect of the invention, includes a
computer system defining a computer database and a household database. The coupon database
includes a plurality of coupon records, each providing a definition of a coupon offer. The
household database includes a plurality of household records, each providing at least one
attribute of a particular household. The computer system is programmed to assign at least one
coupon from the coupon database to a particular household as a function of at least an attribute
of that household. One or more computer-based kiosks are provided, each having a user
identification device, a display device, and a printer, and all are controlled by a computer. Each
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
kiosk computer is programmed to format images of coupons assigned to a particular household
and to output the coupon images in response to the user identification device receiving a user
identification of a particular household. The computer system is preferably a network server
interconnected with a plurality of kiosks by either a local area network or a wide area network.
5 If the communication link between one or more of the kiosks and the computer system is non-
functional, the kiosk computer is programmed to format images of a set of default coupons.
This allows users to receive coupons from the kiosk even if the network server or network is
non-functional, in order to avoid disappointment to the customer. The coupon-generating
system may additionally include at least one point-of-sale system having a scanner device and a
10 point-of-sale computer. The point-of-sale computer is responsive to codes scanned by the
scanner device in order to provide data which is fed to the computer system in order to
det~nnine at least in part the attribute, or attributes, of the household identified at the point-of-
sale computer. The scanner preferably also provides for sc~nning of coupons printed by the
kiosk.
The system is additionally capable of dispensing coupons to new members who may be
added to the system by responding to questions prompted at the kiosk followed by dispensing of
a default selection of coupons to that user. This provides an instant reward for becoming a
frequent shopper member of the retail establishment.
These and other objects, advantages, and features of this invention will become apparent
upon review of the following specification in conjunction with the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a hardware block diagram of a computer-generating system useful with the
invention;
Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer-generating system according
to the invention;
Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a computer-implement method of generating coupons
according to the embodiment in Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a calling screen program;
Fig. 5 is a flowchart of an import file definition program;
Fig. 6a is a flowchart of an import offer file program;
Fig. 6b is a flowchart of an import miscellaneous files program;
Fig. 7 is a flowchart of an offer setup program;
CA 022141S0 1997-09-09
Fig. 8 is a flowchart of an offer maintenance program;
Fig. 9 is a flowchart of an offer enable/disable program;
Fig. 10 is a flowchart of a printed message m~inten~nce program;
Fig. 11 is a flowchart of a printed message release program;
Fig. 12 is a flowchart of a printed message enable/disable program;
Fig. 13 is a flowchart of a screen message m~int~n~nce program;
Fig. 14 is a flowchart of a screen message release program;
Fig. 15 is a flowchart of a screen message enable/disable program;
Fig. 16 is a flowchart of a characteristic maintenance program;
Fig. 17 is a flowchart of a key word maintenance program;
Figs. 18a-18h are a flowchart of a kiosk coupon-delivery program;
Fig. 19 is an illustration of a coupon image format according to the invention; and
Fig. 20 is an illustration of coupons generated according to the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now specifically to the drawings, and the illustrative embodiments depicted
therein, a coupon-generating system 10 may be organized around a host computer 12 which
m~int~in~ a coupon database of coupon offer records, a household database of member
households, and software which performs numerous functions including assigning coupons to
particular households (Fig. 1). Host computer 12 may be located on the premises of one of the
retail outlets of the retail chain utili~ing the coupon-generating system or may be located at a
headquarters operation or at another remote site. Coupon-generating system 10 includes a
coupon management computer 14 which is utilized by a system operator of the retail chain to
enter in the system various system parameters, as will be described in more detail below. Data
files on computer 14 may be colllnlullicated over any convenient communication system link 15
to host computer 12. A network server 18, typically located at the same premises as host
computer 12, receives coupon offer records and colmllullicates the records over a
communication link, such as public telephone system 16, or a leased line, or the like, to an in-
store processor 30. In-store processor 30 communicates with a point-of-sale master termin:~l 32,
which, in turn, communicates with a plurality of point-of-sale terminals 34. Host computer 12
downloads to in-store processor 30 files of valid coupon records, including a coupon
identification code assigned to each coupon record. Each point-of-sale terminal 34 supports a
scanner (not shown), such as a bar code reader, in order to scan codes, such as a one-dimensional
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
or two-dimensional bar code, on merchandise packages and on coupons. Point-of-sale master
~rmin~l 32 m~int~in~ a database of coupon records and product codes in order to decode the
data scanned through each terminal 34 and thereby construct a transaction set. Each transaction
set may include products purchased by a consumer, total value of a transaction, and each coupon
redeemed by a consumer. Each transaction set is associated with a particular purchasing entity,
such as a user household, and is uploaded through in-store processor 30 to host computer 12.
The transaction set may be associated with a particular purchasing entity by any means for
entering the identity of the purchasing entity in POS terminal 34, such as by sc~nning a
machine-readable user identification code provided on a frequent shopper card. ~lt~rn~tively,
POS terminal 34 may identify the purchasing entity by sc:~nning a combined coupon
identification and household identification bar code on a coupon as disclosed in United States
Patent 5,353,218 issued to James P. DeLapa et al. for a FOCUSED COUPON SYSTEM, the
disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Alternatively, POS terminal 34
may identify the purchasing entity by sc~nning a machine-readable user identification code
provided on a personalized shopping list of the type disclosed in commonly assigned co-pending
application Serial No. 08/470,224 filed June 6, 1995, by DeLapa et al. for a COMPUTER-
IMPLEMENTED METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING PRODUCTS THAT
ARE OF LIKELY INTEREST TO PURCHASERS IN A RETAIL ESTABLISHMENT, the
disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Another network server 20 physically located with host computer 12 receives files
co~ g targeted coupons generated by host computer 12. Network server 20 passes the
targeted coupon records on through a communication link, such as public telephone system 16,
or a leased line, or the like, to an in-store controller, such as a network server 22 located in a
retail outlet of the retail chain. In-store controller 22 may be a network server which provides
co~ lication with a plurality of kiosks 24 located within the retail outlet. Network servers 18
and 20 may be separate units or may be combined in a single unit and may be combined with
host computer 12.
Each kiosk 24 includes a kiosk computer 25, a display device, such as a touch-screen
monitor 26, which is capable of displaying messages to the user and receiving input selections
from a user, a printer 28, which prints coupons, and a user identification device, such as a
scanner 29, which identifies users. In the illustrated embodiment, scanner 29 scans the bar code
on a frequent shopper card, the bar code being unique to a particular household to whom the card
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
has been issued. However, alternate means may be provided to identify the user/household, such
as by receiving an identification number, such as a telephone number through touch screen 26, a
magnetic skip reader, an optical character recognition reader, a Smart Card reader, a voice
recognition device, a handprint recognition device, a mechanical keypad, or any such device
5 capable of providing user identification. In the illustrated embodiment, kiosk 24 is a
commercially available kiosk marketed by Kiosk Information Systems, Inc., located in
Broomfield, Colorado. Scanner 29 is a commercial scanner marketed by Symbol Technology,
Inc., printer 28 is a commercially available printer marketed by M~n~teck, and touch screen 26
is a commercially available monitor marketed by Magnavox. However, as will be described in
10 more detail below, kiosk computer 25 is programmed with additional software which formats
coupon images as well as form~tting various messages and the like for co~ ullication with the
user. Kiosk computer 25 is programmed with software supplied with kiosk 24 in order to
conkol the components of the kiosk in a coordinated fashion. The software is provided with the
kiosk and is proprietary to Kiosk Information Systems, Inc. Kiosk computer 25 is an IBM PC-
15 compatible computer supplied by Gateway Computer Corporation having a Pentium processormarketed by Intel Corporation.
Although, in the illustrated embodiment, host computer 12 is illuskated as
comlllullicating with the network server in each retail outlet through the public telephone
system, a wide area network or other dedicated communication link may be utilized.
20 Additionally, especially in a single outlet establishment, the functions of host computer 12 may
be carried out in the network server 22 for that establishment. The particular hal.lw~
configuration is outside the scope of the present invention and may be selected by the skilled
artisan according to the particular application.
A coupon-generating system 36 according to the invention, in the illuskated
25 embodiment, utilizes a targeting system 38 of the type marketed by RMS Corporation located in
Stamford, Cormecticut (Figs. 2 and 3). The host-targeting system resides on host computer 12
and receives inputs from in-store processor 30 and management computer 14 in order to
establish a coupon offer definition database 55, a household database 57 of frequent shopper
members and particular attributes regarding that household. Such atkibutes tracked in the host
30 kacking system may include accumulative purchases by that household within a particular
period of time, whether the household is a member of a particular promotional campaign, and
the like. A coupon offer database and household database are established in database software
-10-
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
marketed by Microsoft, Inc., located in Redmond, Washington under the brand name SQL
~erver. Host-targeting system 38 is programmed to assign coupon offers to particular
households based upon an attribute of the household. In the illustrated embodiment, the attribute
utilized for assigning coupons is the decile of accumulative purchases by the household within a
5 given period of time. Coupons are assigned to households based upon the household decile and
coupon-assigning parameters entered through management computer 14. Coupons are assigned
using techniques specific to the targeting system but may be assigned using the method
disclosed in the DeLapa et al. co-pending application Serial No. 08/470,224 filed June 6, 1995.
Host-targeting system 38 produces a print file 51 co~ i ng information regarding the coupons
10 assigned to each household, including details on the coupon offer. The print file produced by
targeting system 38 is conventionally supplied by the retail establishment or chain to a
commercial printer in order to print, fold, and mail coupons to households. According to the
present invention, the print file of host-targeting system 38 is provided to a targeting promotion
delivery system 40 which transliterates the print file at 53 in order to arrange the data in a format
15 which facilitates further processing in a manner which will be described below. Coupon-
generating process 36 further includes an enhancement module 42, which receives, via input
screens, various setup information to augment that produced by host-targeting system 38. This
includes a database 59 of coupon types. Coupons are form~tte~l at a kiosk 24 "on the fly,"
utili7ing a dynamic coupon creation process 61, in a manner which will be described in more
20 detail below. The kiosk prints the dynamically form~ttecl coupons at 63 utili7ing coupon page
definition data in a database 65. Coupon definition database 59 and coupon page definition
database 65 are established in database software marketed by Microsoft Corporation located in
Redmond, Washington under the brand name Access.
The benefit of the coupon-generating method process, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, is
25 that it utilizes the existing host-targeting system installed on the retail chain's host computer.
Alternatively, the function of host-targeting system 38 and enhancement system 42 may be
provided according to the principles disclosed in United States Patent 5,353,218 issued to
DeLapa et al. for a FOCUSED COUPON SYSTEM and co-pending United States patent
application Serial No. 08/470,224 filed June 6, 1995, by DeLapa et al. for a COMPUTER-
30 IMPLEMENTED METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING PRODUCTS THATARE OF LIKELY INTEREST TO PURCHASERS IN A RETAIL ESTABLISHMENT, the
disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference (hereinafter commonly referred
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
to as the "focused coupon system"). The focused coupon system may assign targeted coupons to
households on the basis of attributes of the household which are dynamically developed and
m~int~ined by the focused coupon system. Such attributes may be determine~l initially by a
consumer survey in order to obtain basic information regarding the household. Thereafter,
5 household attributes are dynamically updated by monitoring which targeted coupons the
household redeems and which targeted coupons the household does not redeem. The focused
coupon system may additionally take into account other data in updating the household
attributes, such as accumulative purchases, purchases of particular items, item categories, and
the like. It should be understood that the term "targeted coupon" applies to any technique which
10 assigns a coupon to a household based upon any attribute of that household.
Because host-targeting system 38 is commercially available, it will not be described in
detail herein. Suffice it to say, host-targeting system 38 produces for each offer a basic offer
description, text, bar code, and a single value stating the number of cents the offer is valued at.
Enhancement system 42 provides the ability to define each coupon offer as a targeted coupon, a
15 default coupon, or a mandatory coupon, as will be described in more detail below. Enhancement
system 42 additionally provides the ability to enable and disable coupon offers individually.
Enhancement system 42 additionally provides the ability to create printable messages targeted at
particular households, including key words which are generated as a function of particular
attributes of the household, as will be explained in more detail below. Enhancement system 42
20 additionally creates screen messages for greeting, informing, th~nking, and surveying customers.
Enhancement system 42 additionally controls, for each particular household, the number of
coupons that may be received by that household for each visit. In the illustrated embodiment,
the number of coupons that may be received by each household with each visit is preferably a
function of accumulative purchases by the household within a particular period of time.
25 However, other factors may be included in establishing the number of coupons which the
household may receive with each visit, including the frequency of visits by that household, the
time since the last visit, and the like.
Other functions performed by enhancement module 42 include developing and
appending an offer type and its constituent parameters, as will be described in more detail below,
30 and a valid data range. The enhancement system 42 additionally provides the capability of
defining an offer as a triggered coupon offer which provides the user with the ability to choose
whether to receive the offer at that time or not. The enhancement system may additionally
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
provide the ability to limit the number of times a household may receive a given offer.
Additionally, enhancement system 42 may provide various ~rlmini~trative-reporting functions,
such as reporting what offers were given to which households, as well as responses of
households to survey questions, and the like.
Enhancement system 42 provides a facility to transliterate extracted data from offer-
targeting system 38 into a forrn where it may be supplemented with data for further targeting and
delivery of the coupon by a kiosk 24. In order to accomplish this function, enhancement system
42 includes a menu selection calling program 44 which displays on management computer 14 a
menu of system management functions which may be selected by the system operator (Fig. 4).
Menu selection program 44 provides an import file definition selection 46, which calls an import
file definition program 48; an import-targeted/default/m~n~ tory offer file selection 50, which
calls an import offer file program 52; an import miscellaneous file selection 54, which calls an
import file program 56; a targeted/default/ m~n~l~tory offer setup selection 58, which calls an
offer setup program 60; a targeted/default/m~n-l~tQry offer maintenance selection 62, which calls
an offer maintenance program 64; a targeted/default/ m~n(l~tory offer enable/disable selection
66, which calls an offer able/disable program 68; a printed message maintenance selection 70,
which calls a printed message maintenance program 72; a printed message release selection 74,
which calls a printed message release program 76; a printed message enable/disable selection 78,
which calls a printed message enable/disable program 80; a screen message maintenance
selection 82, which calls a screen message maintenance program 84; a screen message release
selection 86, which calls a screened message release program 88; a screen message
enable/disable program 90, which calls a screen message enable/disable program 92; a
characteristic m~int~n~nce selection 94, which calls a characteristic m:~inten~nce program 96;
and a key word m:~int~n~nce selection 98, which calls a key word m~inten~nce program 100.
After a program is called from menu selection call program 44, control returns to the menu
selection after completion of the function by the system operator.
The import file definition function 48, which is called by import file definition selection
46, allows the operator to set up the enhancement system so that the system knows how to
interpret files imported from the host-targeting system and to organize the file definitions in a
manner suitable to the operator (Fig. 5). The import file definition function determines which
fields in each record go in the enhancement system. When selected, import file definition
program 48 pro~ t~ the user to select an import-type and the file name to be imported at 102.
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
The import type is selected from: (a) card number to household affiliation files, (b) coupon
files, (c) household-triggering coupon files, (d) household characteristic files, (e) household key
word value files, and (f) coupon dispense limit files. If only one import type is selected, the
program prompts the user at 104 to enter the start and length of each column in the incoming
record and a corresponding column that the data is to be applied in a table being constructed by
the operator. Some files have multiple records. If multiple record types are selected at 102, the
operator is prompted at 106 to match a table with each record type and enter a value for each
record type that defines the record type. For the first file, the format is edited at 108 by entering
the start and length of each column in the incoming record and the corresponding column in the
table being constructed by the operator in which that data is to be placed. After the operator is
satisfied, the program then returns to 106 for selection of the next file to be processed. After the
operator has imported and formatted all of the desired import files, the program returns to calling
menu 44 at 110.
When the import offer file program is selected by the operator choosing the import
targeted/default/mandatory offer file selection, the operator is provided with the tools to import
coupon offer files by entering or selecting a file name at 112 (Fig. 6a). The operator is
additionally prompted to identify coupons by batch and to assign a name to the batch at 116.
Batches allow the operator to subsequently process offers in batches which are set up for the
convenience of the operator, such as by store assignment or the like. When the operator is
completed with importing coupon offer files, control returns to the calling menu 44 at 114.
When the operator chooses the import miscellaneous file selection 54, a function is selected
which allows the operator to import other files by entering a file name or a batch name at 116
(Fig. 6b). When the operator has imported all of the files desired, control returns to the calling
program 44 at 118.
After the operator has defined and imported all of the necessary files from the host-
targeting system, the operator may then choose functions which allow the operator to set up the
offers. This may be accomplished by choosing the offer setup function 60 using
targeting/default/mandatory offer-setup selection 58, which prompts the operator to select
between processing a targeted offer at 120 or processing default and m~n(l~tory offers at 122
(Fig. 7). Targeted offers are coupons which are assigned to a household on a basis of an
attribute of the household. In a host-targeting system supplied by RMS, the attribute of the
household is the accumulative purchases by that household at the retail establishment. In a host-
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targeting system supplied according to the teachings of the DeLapa et al. '218 patent, the
attribute of the household may be related to the makeup and ages of the family, presence or
absence of particular types of pets, and the like. Such attributes may be determined initially
from a household survey and updated as a result of coupons issued to that household which the
household either redeems or does not redeem. However, other attributes may be lltili~crl These
may include, for example, particular items which are purchased by the household, or categories
of items purchased by the household, such as laundry soap, ketchup, and the like, without regard
to the particular brand, size, or the like, as disclosed in the DeLapa et al. pending patent
application for a COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR
IDENTIFYING PRODUCTS THAT ARE OF LIKELY INTEREST TO PURCHASERS. Other
targeting schemes will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. Default offers are coupons
which are assigned to all customers of a particular store or outlet. Default offers may
additionally include coupons issued by the kiosk when communication between host computer
12 and kiosks 24 is malfunctioning. Default offers may additionally provide coupons to newly
added members which have not yet established an attribute in their household record. Default
offers may additionally be provided to make up for the difference between the number of
coupons assigned to a household and the total number allowed for that household after the
mandatory and targeted offers are assigned. Mandatory offers are coupons that are assigned to
all recognized households or all households of a particular retail outlet.
If the targeted offers are to be processed at 120, the operator is prompted to determine
which action is desired from a group of possible actions including: (a) selecting an offer type,
(b) entering offer values, (c) entering validity dates, (d) limiting the number of times a coupon
can be dispensed per household, and (e) designating the coupon as a triggered coupon. The
operator is also prompted to select a batch of coupons and an offer from the selected batch. If
the operator selects a batch to process, the operator is prompted to identify the batch at 124,
which returns the program to 120, in order to select the first offer to process. The offer is
selected at 126 and parameters for the selected action are entered at 128. If additional offers or
batches require processing, control returns to the offer setup menu at 60 for further processing.
If all offers are processed, then control is returned to calling menu 44 at 130.A triggered offer is an offer that is targeted to a household based upon an attribute of a
household. However, when the kiosk receives an identification of that household, the kiosk will
display a message on the screen with a YES/NO button in order to allow the user to choose
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
whether to receive the offer or not. If the user chooses to receive the offer, the coupon will be
dispensed at that time. If the user chooses to not receive the offer, the offer will remain targeted
to that household and the household will be prompted the next time that household is identified
in a kiosk as to whether the user wishes to receive the targeted offer. If the selected action is to
designate a coupon as a trigger coupon, the operator is prompted at 132 to enter a screen
message text which is viewable by the customer. The screen message may then be previewed at
134 by the operator. Control returns to the calling program at 130.
If the operator chooses to set up default/mandatory offers at 122, the operator is
prompted to identify a batch at 138 and an offer within the selected batch at 140. For the
selected offer, the operator is prompted to enter an offer type, offer values, and validity dates at
142. The offer type would be selected from a field of offer types, such as cents offwith this
coupon, cents off for a particular minimum purchase level, a number of free articles with the
purchase of another number of same articles, and the like. After the operator has selected the
offer type, offer values, and validity dates at 142, the operator is prompted to select stores, or
outlets, of the chain to which the selected offers are to be made available at 144. The operator
may then return to the main menu 60 for offer setup or may return to the calling menu at 130.
At any time after targeted/default/mandatory offers have been set up, the operator may
choose the targeted/default/m~n(l~tQry offer maintenance selection 62 in order to perform an
offer maintenance function 64 which allows the operator to modify any of the parameters of any
of the targeted/default/ m~n(l~tory offers (Fig. 8). The offer maintenance function 64 allows the
operator to choose the targeted offer to m~int~in at 148, which plo~ the operator to select the
offer at 150, and to reselect any of the parameters of that offer at 152, including offer type, offer
values, validity dates, dispense limit per household, and trigger coupon selection. If the coupon-
triggered selection is chosen, the operator is prompted at 154 to enter or edit a screen message
text which will be viewable by the customer. The operator may then preview the screen
message at 156. If the operator chooses to m~int~in the default/m~n~l~tory offers at 158, the
operator is prompted to select the offer to be maintained at 160 and to edit the offer type, offer
values, or validity dates at 162. The operator may also edit the stores, or outlets, for which the
coupon is to be available at 164.
By choosing the targeted/defaultlmandatory offer enable/disable selection 66, the
operator is provided with a program which allows the operator to enable or disable any coupon
offer (Fig. 9). This may be useful, for example, when the retail establishment is notified by the
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manufacturer that an offer must be withdrawn because of unavailability of merchandise.
Without having to delete the offer from the system, the operator may disable the offer.
Likewise, offers can be set up in advance and enabled at a later date, if desired. When the offer
enable/disable function 68 is selected, the operator is prompted to select whether a targeted offer
is to be enabledldisabled at 166 or a default/m~n(1~tory offer is to be enabled/disabled at 168. If
a targeted offer is selected, the user is prompted to select whether the offer or offers are to be
enabled or disabled at 170. If the action is to enable offers, the operator chooses from a list of
disabled coupons those to be enabled at 172. If the action is to disable offers, then the operator
is prompted at 174 to select from a list of enabled coupons those which are to be disabled. A
similar process occurs if default/m~n(i~tQry offers are to be enabled or disabled (168). The
operator chooses at 176 whether the action is to enable or to disable offers. If to enable offers,
the operator is prompted at 178 to select from a list of disabled offers those which are to be
enabled and to select at 180 at which stores the offers are to be enabled. If the operator chooses
to disable offers, the operator is prompted at 182 to select from a list of enabled offers those
which are to be disabled and chooses at 184 at which stores the offers are to be disabled. Where
the operator has enabled and disabled all desired offers, control returns to the calling program at
186.
Printable messages are messages which are targeted to a particular household on the
basis of an attribute of the household designating a triggering characteristic. For example, the
triggering characteristic may be that the user has accumulated sufficient purchases to qualify for
a prize. Printable messages include .text, some of which are standard, and others of which are
values which are specific to that household. Such household specific values are called "key
word values." Key word values relate a specific attribute of the household to a particular text in
order to allow a value specific to the household to be inserted into a printed message. Printed
messages may be created or m~int~ined by choosing the printed message maintenance selection
70. This calls program 72 which prompts the user to select a printed message to m~int~in or to
enter a new message at 188 (Fig. 10). If a new message is to be entered, the message is entered
at 198 including a message description and a triggering characteristic. A life span for the printed
message may also be entered at 198. After the text is entered at 198, the key word to be selected
in response to occurrence of the triggering characteristic is inserted at 200. If a selected printed
message is to be edited, the operator is prompted to select at 202 from a list of previous message
descriptions. The operator may delete the message at 204 or edit the message at 206. The
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
message description, triggering characteristic, and/or life span of the message may be edited.
After the text is edited at 206, the key words to be inserted in the message are selected at 208.
The printed message release function 76 called by the printed message release selection
74 allows the user to select messages at 210 which are to be added to the list of messages
5 selected for release (Fig. 11). This function allows the operator at 212 to select messages from
the list of released messages to be removed from the messages ready to release. After the
function is complete, control returns to the calling menu at 214.
The printed message enable/disable function 80, which is called by the printed message
enable/disable selection 78, allows the operator to select at 216 whether the operator wishes to
10 enable printed messages or disable printed messages (Fig. 12). If the operator chooses to enable
printed messages, then the operator is prompted to select at 218 from a list of disabled messages
that are to be enabled. If the operator chooses to disable messages, the operator is prompted at
220 to select from a list of enabled functions those which are to be disabled.
Screen messages are messages which are displayed while the kiosk is not in use or when
15 a household user is identified or while coupons are being printed. Screen messages may
additionally prompt the user to provide a YES/NO response to a question displayed on the
screen. Screen messages may be varied between stores in the retail chain. When the screen
message setup and maintenance function 84 is called by screen message m~inteM~nce selection
82, the operator is prompted at 222 whether the operator will be setting up new messages or
20 m~int~ining the existing messages (Fig. 13). If new messages are to be set up, the user is
prompted at 224 to enter a message description to select the message type and to select a life
span for the message. Message type includes cyclic, greeting, thank you, and survey question.
After the user has entered the message, the user is prompted at 226 to enter the text of the
message. The operator then is prompted to select from available stores whether the newly
25 created message is to be added to those stores at 228. The operator is also prompted to select at
230 from stores previously selected for receipt of the message those for which the message is to
be removed. If the operator chooses to edit an existing message, the operator is prompted at 232
to select from a list of previous message descriptions and to select whether to delete the message
at 234. If it is not deleted, the operator is prompted at 236 to edit the message description,
30 message type, or message life span. The operator may then edit the text at 238. After the
message has been edited, it may be added to selected stores at 240 or removed from selected
stores at 242.
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If the screen message release function 88 is called by screen message release selection
86, the operator may select at 244 messages to be added to a release list or the operator may
choose at 246 to select messages to be removed from the list of messages ready for release (Fig.
14). If the screen message enable/disable function 92 is called by the screen message
enable/disable selection 90, the operator chooses at 248 whether to enable or disable a message
(Fig. 15). If the operator chooses to enable a message, the operator is prompted at 250 to select
from a list of disable messages those to be enabled and to select at 252 which stores the disabled
message is to be enabled at. If the operator chooses to disable messages, then the operator is
prompted at 254 to select from a list of enabled messages those to be disabled and to select at
256 which stores the messages are to be disabled at.
The characteristic m~inten~nce function 96 is called from the characteristic m~inten~nce
selection 94 when the user wishes to set up or edit a characteristic, such as baby club member
(Fig. 16). When selected, the operator is prompted at 258 whether a new characteristic is to be
established or an existing characteristic is to be edited. If a new characteristic is to be entered,
the operator is prompted at 260 to enter the new characteristic. If an existing characteristic is to
be deleted, the user is prompted at 262 to select from a list of previously entered characteristics
those that are to be deleted.
The key word maintenance function 100 is called from the key word maintenance 98when the user wishes to add or delete key words (Fig. 17). The operator is prompted at 264
whether the operator wishes to add key words or delete key words. If the operator chooses to
add key words, the operator is prompted at 266 to enter the new key word to select the key word
type and to enter a maximum width of the key word. If the operator selects to delete key words,
the operator is prompted at 268 to select from a list of previously entered key words those which
are to be deleted.
The previously described routines are carried out by the system operator lltili7ing
management computer 14 in combination with data generated by host-targeting system 38. The
result is a series of coupons assigned to each participating household that are enabled and for
which the dispense count is less than the dispense limit for the household. This coupon set is
retrieved by the kiosk computer in response to identification of that user household at the kiosk.
Using a kiosk program 270, images of the coupons in the coupon set are formatted "on the fly"
and the coupons are dispensed by the kiosk to the identified user. Referring to Figs. 18a-18h,
kiosk program 270 initializes the kiosk by retrieving settings for mandatory coupons included in
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the coupon limit at 271. This setting determines whether m~n-l~tory coupons are included in the
coupon limit or may be provided above the coupon limit. The program next retrieves the setting
for pad with default coupons at 272 and retrieves the coupon limit for default coupons at 274.
Default coupons are issued upon a failure of the collllllunication system, during which assigned
coupons cannot be retrieved for households, or upon initiation of new members. The program
next retrieves at 276 the set of cyclic screen messages which are enabled and within the valid
date range at the current store. It is determined at 278 whether there are such messages. If so,
the cyclic messages are sorted at 280 by starting date range. If it is determined at 278 that there
are no cyclic messages, a default set of cyclic messages are retrieved at 282. The cyclic screen
messages are pulled into a cyclic message array store at 284.
The set of greeting screen messages, which are enabled and within a valid date range at
the current store, are retrieved at 286. It is determined at 288 whether there are any such
messages. If there are greeting screen messages, the messages are sorted by starting date range
at 290. If there are no greeting screen messages, a set of default greeting screen messages are
retrieved at 292. The first greeting screen message is pulled into the greeting screen message
store at 294. Only one greeting screen message is used at a time. That message is replaced with
a subsequent message when the date range of the first message is exceeded. The program then
retrieves the set of thank-you screen messages at 296 and determines at 298 whether there are
any such messages. If there are thank-you screen messages, the messages are sorted by starting
date range at 299. If there are no stored thank-you screen messages, a default thank-you screen
message is retrieved at 300. The first thank-you screen message is pulled at 302 into the thank-
you screen message store. Once this first thank-you screen message expires, the thank-you
screen message having a next starting date will replace it. The program next retrieves the set of
question screen messages which are enabled and within a valid date range for the current store,
at 304. If it is determined at 306 that there are such messages, the question screen messages are
sorted at 308 by starting date range and pulled into the question screen message array store at
310. No default question screen messages are provided.
After kiosk initialization, kiosk program 270 waits for a user to identify himself/herself
such as by passing a frequent shopper card, encoded with a bar code, in front of scanner 29 or
any of the other previously described methods of household identification (Fig. 18b). The
program repetitively tests at 312 whether a user is attempting to identify himselflherself. If not,
the program moves to the first cyclic message at 314 and displays the message for a particular
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predetermined length of time at 316. The program then determines at 318 whether the last cyclic
message has been displayed. If it Is determined at 318 that the last cyclic message was
displayed, the program returns to 314 in order to move to the first cyclic message and begin the
cycle over. If it is determined at 318 that the last cyclic message has not been displayed, then
the program tests again at 320 whether a user attempting to identify himself/herself. If a user is
not attempting to identify himself/herself, the program moves to the next cyclic message at 322
and displays that message for a given period of time at 316.
If it is determined at either 312 or 320 that a user is attempting to identify
himself/herself, the program tests for a valid match between the scanned household
identification number and household identification numbers in its database at 324. If it is
determined at 326 that there is a match with an existing household, the greeting message is
displayed at 328. If it is determined at 326 that there is not a match with a household in the
household's database, then the program sets the coupon limit parameter to a default value at 330.
The program then retrieves a set of default coupons at 332 (Fig. 18g) and determines at 334 if
any default coupons were retrieved. If it is determined at 334 that there are no default coupons,
the program will determine at 336 (Fig. 18e) that there are no coupons in the selected coupon set
and will proceed to 441 (Fig. 18f) to retrieve and print messages in a manner which will be
described in more detail below. If it is determined at 334 that there are default coupons to be
dispensed, the program moves to the first default coupon at 340 and pulls the current default
coupon into the selected coupon set at 342. The coupon limit parameter is indexed at 344 and it
is determined at 346 whether the coupon limit is reached or the last default coupon has been
assigned. If not, the program moves to the next default coupon at 348 and repeats the cycle of
assigning the next default coupon to the selected coupon set and intlexing the coupon limit
parameter.
When it is determined at 346 that either the coupon limit has been reached or the last
default coupon has been assigned, the program determines at 336 (Fig. 18e) whether there are
any coupons in the selected coupon set. Because there should now be coupons in the selected
coupon set, the program moves to 350 for form~tting the image of the coupons in the selected
coupon set and printing of the coupons, which will be described in detail below.If it is determined at 326 (Fig. 18b) that a member in the system has identifiedhimself/herself, the greeting message is displayed at 328 and the household identifier is retrieved
at 352 (Fig. 18c) for the household matching the scanned card. The household name is then
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retrieved based upon the household identification at 354. The set of coupons which are assigned
~o that household and marked enabled and have a dispensed count less than the dispense limit,
are retrieved at 356. The dlspense count limit allows the operator to limit the number of times
each coupon offer may be provided to a household. The retrieved coupons are sorted at 358 into
5 triggered and non-triggered coupons and then by expiration date, priority, and number of times
dispensed. The coupons having the closest ending date are assigned first and coupons having a
higher priority and a lower number of times dispensed are placed higher in the sort over coupons
having lower priority and greater number of times dispensed.
The program then retrieves any triggered coupons at 360 and determines at 362 if any
10 trigger coupons were located. If no trigger coupons were located, the program retrieves the set
of m~n~l~tory coupons assigned to the current store at 364 (Fig. 18d). It is then determined at
366 if any mandatory coupons were retrieved. If so, the first coupon in the mandatory coupon
set is retrieved at 368 and pulled into the selected coupon set at 370. It is then determined at 372
whether the last m~n(l~tory coupon has been retrieved. If not, the next coupon in the m~n(l~tory
set is processed at 374 and 370. When it is determined at 372 that the last coupon in the
m~n(l~tory set has been pulled into the selected coupon set, it is determined at 376 whether it had
previously been chosen that the mandatory coupons are to be included in the coupon limit. If so,
the number of m~n(l~tory coupons are subtracted from the coupon limit at 378 and the program
determines at 380 whether any coupons are in the coupon set. If there are no coupons in the
20 coupon set, it is determined at 382 whether the coupon limit is greater than zero. If not, it will
be determined at 336 that the number of coupons in the selected coupon set is not greater than
zero and the program will enter the printed message routine at 441 (Fig. 18f). If it is determined
at 382 that the coupon limit is greater than zero, it will be determined at 384 whether the pad
with the default coupon is true. If so, the default coupons are retrieved at 332 (Fig. 18g). If it is
25 determined at 384 that the pad with default coupons is not true, then the program proceeds to
retrieve the printed messages at 441.
If it is determined at 380 that there are coupons in the coupon set, the first coupon in the
household coupon set is pulled into the selected coupon set at 385, 386, and the coupon limit is
indexed at 387. It is then determined at 388 whether the coupon limit has been met or the last
30 coupon in the household coupon set has been pulled. If not, the next coupon in the household
coupon set is pulled into the selected coupon at 390 and 386.
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When it is determined at 388 that the coupon limit has been met or the last coupon in the
household coupon set has been pulled, the program determines at 382 whether the coupon limit
is greater than zero. If the coupon limit is not greater than zero, then the household will not
receive default coupons and control passes to 336 where it will be deterrnined that the number of
5 coupons in the selected coupon set is greater than zero. The program will then move to the first
coupon in the selected coupon set at 350 and begin to format the image of the selected coupons
in a manner which will be described in more detail below. If it is determined at 382 that the
coupon limit has not been reached, the household will receive default coupons if it is determined
at 384 that the pad with default coupons is true. If so, control passes to 332 (Fig. 18g) for
10 retrieval of the default coupons in a manner previously described.
If it is determined at 362 (Fig. 18c) that there are triggered coupons present, the program
moves to the first triggered coupon at 392 and displays (394) the text associated with the
triggered coupon along with YES and NO touch buttons on monitor 26. The program then
monitors at 396 for receipt of a YES response. If, instead, a NO response is received, the
15 triggered coupon is removed from the household coupon set at 398. The triggered coupon,
however, will remain assigned to the household and will be retrieved the next time the
household is identified at the kiosk. If the user responds YES at 396, it is then determined at
399 whether the last triggered coupon has been presented to the user. If not, the next triggered
coupon is presented to the user at 400 and 394. When it is determined at 399 that the user
20 indicated a desire to obtain the triggered coupon and the last triggered coupon has been
processed, control passes to 364 (Fig. 18d) for pulling the rem~in(l~r of mandatory, targeted, and
default coupons into the selected coupon set for that household.
Once the selected coupon set has been completed for the identified household at 350
(Fig. 18e), the program retrieves (402) the coupon offer definition for the first coupon in the
25 selected coupon set. The offer definition record includes: (a) validity date range, (b) offer
parameters, (c) text, and (d) offer type. The program then inserts the household name, validity
date, and text onto the coupon at 404. Because individual fields are provided on the coupon for
the household name, validity date, and text, no additional form~tting is required to insert this
information onto the coupon image. The program then retrieves the offer-type records for the
30 current coupon offer type at 406. The offer-type records and offer parameters allow the program
to construct the offer statement 408 (Fig. 19) of a coupon image 407. Referring to Fig. 19, a text
field 410 and validity date field 412 are established in coupon image 407 of a size that allows the
CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
coupon text and validity dates to be inserted therein. Likewise, a household name field 416
receives the household name information and directly generates the image thereof.
In order to construct the offer statement 408, the offer statement is broken down into a
plurality of variable-size offer statement fields 418a-418d. The program formats the image of
offer statement 408, field-by-field, by combining data in each offer element with an offer
parameter or with text contained in the offer element. In the illustrated embodiment, the first
offer statement field 418a, beginning from the left as viewed in Fig. 19, is a numerical value
determined from the offer parameter. This numerical value may be a number of cents off or may
be the 1 in a "buy-one get-one free" offer statement. Typically, if the coupon is a number of
cents off of a particular item, the description of the item will appear in text field 410 and the
only value in the offer parameters will be the number of cents off. The second offer statement
field 418b, beginning from the left as viewed in Fig. 19, will typically contain text which is
included with the offer element. Such text may be "off with this coupon" or the "get" from the
buy-one get-one free offer statement. The third offer statement field 418c, beginning from the
left as viewed in Fig. 19, if present, will typically include a second numeric value obtained from
a second offer parameter included with the offer. For example, the third offer statement field
may include a dollar amount, such as $50. Therefore, with 300 as the first offer parameter and
5,000 as the second offer parameter, the program can construct the image of the offer statement
408 by offer elements which apply the first offer parameter to the first offer statement field 418a,
a second offer element applies the text "off" to the second offer statement field 418b, and a third
offer element applies the second offer parameter to create the numeric value of $50 in the third
offer statement field 418c. By this process of building an offer statement field from offer
parameters contained in a coupon offer definition record and from offer elements contained in
offer-type records associated with an offer type, the program is capable of creating the images of
coupons "on the fly." Each offer element, in addition to establishing the content of each offer
statement field, additionally establishes the area and position of the offer statement field along
with type font and the like in order to provide an offer statement which is pleasant in appearance
and easy to comprehend. Although four offer statement fields 418a-418d are illustrated, the
number used may be selected by the practitioner.
Reference is made to Fig. 20 in which different offer fields 408 are generated by the
program "on the fly" and combined with text fields 410 and validity date fields 412 in order to
provide a complete coupon image 407. An optional household name field 416 may be
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CA 022141~0 1997-09-09
generated, if desired. Each coupon additionally includes a bar code 420 which, when read by the
'scanner of a point-of-sale terminal 34, produces a product lookup number (PLU) which is
applied by the point-of-sale t~rmin~l to a PLU lookup table in order to determine a price.
Because the coupon is in order to provide a discount to the user, the price in the PLU lookup
table will be a negative price corresponding to the discount of the coupon. In the illustrated
embodiment, there is no validity checking and the cashier must determine that the customer
purchased any product receiving a discount or accumulative purchases greater than an amount
stated in the offer. However, the invention may additionally be utilized to encode bar code 420
with a more complex coupon definition in order to allow validity checking by including in the
bar code a definition of the discounted item or other event which must occur to obtain the
discount.
In order to construct the image of the offer statement from the offer-type records and the
offer parameters, the program determines at 422 whether there are any offer-type records (Fig.
18e). If so, the program looks at the first offer-type record at 424 and determines at 426 if the
offer-type in the record is a value. If not, the text included in the offer-type record is retrieved at
430 and inserted into the offer statement field defined in the offer-type record. If it is
determined at 426 that the offer type is a value, the amount of the value is retrieved from the
offer parameters and inserted into the corresponding offer statement field at 428. The program
then determines at 432 whether the last offer-type record had been processed. If not, the next
offer-type record is processed at 434 and 426. When it is determined at 432 that the last offer-
type record has been processed, the form~tted coupon image is sent to the printer at 436. It is
then determined at 438 if the last coupon in the selected coupon set has been form~tte-l If not,
the next coupon in the selected coupon set is processed at 440. If it is determined at 422 that no
offer-type records are retrieved for a coupon offer, then the program proceeds to 440 in order to
process the next coupon. This provides a failsafe exit from the coupon-form~tting process if an
incomplete coupon definition occurs.
After the coupons have been selected, form:~tte-l, and are being printed, the program
retrieves (441) the printed messages, which have an enabled status, and determines at 442 if any
printed messages were retrieved (Fig. 18f). If so, the first record is tested at 444, 446 in order to
determine if the triggering characteristic matches the corresponding characteristic for the
identified household. If it is determined at 448 that the triggering characteristic matches and
there is a value associated with the printed message, the program retrieves all of the key words
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CA 022141F70 1997-09-09
from the message at 450 and substitutes each key word with the key word value from the given
household. The message is then formatted and printed at 452 in accordance with format
specifications. It is then determined at 454 if this was the last message. If it is determined at
454 that this was not the last message, then the next printed message is retrieved at 456 and
tested at 446. When it is determined at 454 that the last printed message has been processed, the
program then determines if there are valid survey screens available at 458 (Fig. 18h). If not, the
kiosk displays the "thank-you" screen until all printing is complete at 460. If there are any valid
survey screens available, the program moves to the first survey screen at 460 and displays the
message with YES and NO response buttons 462. The program then stores a response from the
user at 464. If a response is not received within a predetermined period, it is determined at 466
that the response has timed out and the program is exited. If a response is received before the
response is timed out, it is then determined at 468 whether the last survey screen has been
processed. If so, the program is exited. If not, the program moves to the next survey screen at
470 and displays the message at 462. Although kiosk program 270 functionally operates a kiosk
24, it may reside on the kiosk computer or another computer.
Thus, it is seen that the present invention provides a unique coupon delivery system
which allows targeted coupons to be generated "on the fly" and dispensed at a kiosk on dem~n(1
by a household user upon identification of the household. Because the coupons are dispensed at
the retail establishment, they create a greater impulse purchase effect. Furthermore, consumers
obtain coupons when desired rather than when the coupons are printed and mailed by the
commercial printer. Because of the rapid cycle time available with the present invention,
coupon offers can be created to respond to rapidly ch~n~ing market conditions, such as direct
store purchases as well as notification by a manufacturer that a promotional program is being
prematurely ended. The present invention further provides many unique characteristics which
take advantage of the kiosk technology in order to enhance a dialog with customers of the retail
establishment and to implement, in an efficient fashion, numerous promotional programs, the
variations of which are only limited by the im~gin~tion of the system operator and management
of the retail establishment. This is all accomplished in a cost-effective manner because the cost
of m~iling coupons is elimin:~te~
Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments can be carried out
without departing from the principles of the invention, which is intended to be limited only by
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CA 02214150 1997-09-09
the scope of the appended claims, as interpreted according to the principles of patent law
including the doctrine of equivalents.
