Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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1KATCH-CODE-RESPONSIVE SELECTING/CAPTURING
OF POS WHOLE-TRANSACTIONS-DATA
BACKGROUND
In transactions occurring at points of contact
with customers, for example such as in mass retailing and
banking, the practice for many years was to handle
customers' purchase transactions by involvement of
servicing personnel in almost all aspects of such
transactions occurring at points of check-out contact with
customers. Such points of contact with customers wherein
tender is exchanged for desired goods or services herein
are called points-of-sale (POS).
As demand growth plateaued and as competition
intensified, retaining market leadership necessitated
servicing more transactions, cutting costs, improving
service and efficiency and speeding up transactions
occurring at each POS to lower market pricing while
increasing profit margins. To accomplish these
objectives, most of each transaction now is handled by
computerized processing. Since today's large retail
chains face a high threshold of costs to be overcome each
business day, with overall consumer purchases
("consumption") now tending to be "flat" and competitively
volatile, there is great urgency in transmitting and
aggregating all data regarding sales transactions
occurring at each POS as fast and accurately as possible
to a central ("host") computer facility for data storage
and for processing into decision-making information. In
summary, there is an urgent, competitive-pressure need to
know up-to-the-minute profit data. This need to know
current profit facts puts pressure on managers of retail
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firms (particularly chains) to allow nothing to interfere
with nor interrupt quick and accurate real-time
transmission to their "host" computer facility of all
sales data. By way of example, it is my understanding
that Walmart's Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters knows
the daily total of all sales for all 2,000 stores in their
chain by 7:00 A.M. the next morning.
Sales transactions data are fed into a retailer's
POS computerized processing system at each check-out
terminal station as cashiers scan-in (machine-read-in)
and/or key-in all data regarding transactions as they are
occurring, including Product Codes for items being sold.
Thus, all transaction data immediately are sent to and are
collected temporarily in the retailer's nearby "in-store
processor" or "controller", herein called a data storage
computer facility, thereby becoming an aggregation of all
data regarding incoming revenue and total costs of all
items sold. From Product Codes data, the data storage
computer facility determines identifies of sold items,
their current sales prices and their costs. Thereby, such
an in-store data storage computer facility is enabled to
provide a total of revenue from sales and to provide a
total of costs of items sold. This in-store data storage
computer facility is regularly and consistently polled by
the centralized host computer, thereby becoming an
aggregation of all sales receipts of all items sold at all
stores in the chain and an aggregation of all costs of
items sold.
An objective is for management of a retail
establishment on a hour-by-hour basis to be able to
determine if and when today's aggregation of sales data.
indicates that sufficient profits have accrued to exceed
today's threshold of costs. This need to determine if and
when aggregate sales profits are exceeding a current
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threshold of costs has become increasingly critical in
view of a long-term trend (since 1960's) in retailing
towards mufti-store chains of larger and larger stores,
i.e., with more and more square feet and sales volume per
store. As America's and Europe's socioeconomic
environments have matured, price elasticity in retailing
has waned, and competition has intensified.
The retailing industry has consolidated for
greater market share and operating efficiencies.
Individually-owned establishments have been bought out or
displaced by larger stores which are associated with or
included in chains. In America, the Walmart chain has
grown to about 2,000 units with annual current aggregate
sales of about $104 Billion.
For retail establishments which are parts of a
retail chain, as soon as possible after close of their
day's business, each individual store's sales transactions
data, which have been collected in the retailer's data
storage computer facility, are transmitted to the
retailer's host computer facility located at company
headquarters or at a dedicated site. In that host
computer facility, the individual store's sales
transactions data transmitted from each particular retail
establishment in the chain are aggregated with sales data
transmitted from all other stores in the chain. Thus,
soon after close of each business day, corporate
management of the chain can determine their total sales
volume, identities of all items sold and profit or loss
resulting from these sales transactions which have
occurred at all of the retail outlets in the chain. But
there is no readily available, customer-specific, sales
transactions information nor customer-specific purchasing-
patterns information collected in the host computer.
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While it is possible to utilize data in the host
computer to analyze transactions to determine which are
the most profitable, such information is academic without
an ability to predictably and accurately replicate or
enhance subsequent most profitable purchases and
purchasing-patterns by having the most vital information,
namely: WHO ARE THE RETAILER'S MOST PROFITABLE SHOPPERS
AND WHERE ARE THEY LOCATED?
Relatively recently, managements involved in
transaction-based industries, particularly those managing
large mass-marketing chains of outlets, have begun to
recognize that various outlets located in various
geographic areas: rural, suburban, urban, coastal, inland,
farming, manufacturing, etc. are serving groups of
customers who are not alike in the types of and prices of
their purchases and whether or not their purchases at
particular outlets involve a multi-year-usage item, such
as a refrigerator, stove, lawn mower, clothes dryer and'
the like. Transaction volume levels for the nation's
dominant mass retailers are enormously high. All
transactions regardless of profitability are aggregated
into a central host computer. Therefore, this enormous
bank of data aggregated into a central host computer
essentially is unavailable and useless for analytical
purposes.
In an attempt to mine or extract some further
benefits from the aggregated bank of data stored in their
host computers and in seeking to reap such benefits on an
"actionable time frame basis", two of the nation's largest
mass-marketing retailers have invested hundreds of
millions of dollars (perhaps more than a billion dollars
sum total by them both) in purchasing some of the world's
fastest, most powerful and most expensive computers. Even
using these fastest, most powerful computers, these two
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huge retailers do not find out information about their
sales patterns which I believe to be among the most
important factors for guiding an efficient, profitable
retail sales operation so as to optimize transactions
occurring at each individual outlet in the chain and to
enhance customer loyalty and to encourage consistent
patronage by those specifically-identified customers whose
patterns of transactions are more profitable than typical
or average patterns of transactions.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
Among advantages provided by a method, systems
and apparatus embodying the present invention are those
resulting from the fact that they enable a real-time,
selective, on-line capture of valuable data about
characteristics and nature of selected individual
transactions and provide the identities of specific, most
profitable customers or households. They provide a far
more time and cost efficient ability to extract and yield
information including identification of the specific
customers or households which are the retailer's most
profitable shoppers, and including determinations of their
usual or average purchasing patterns as shown by their
particular transactions. They enable selective capture of
valuable information about specific customer's frequencies
of coming to a particular retain establishment and each
customer's typical or average dollar volumes of purchases
occurring during each of their POS transactions and the
typical cost/quality of products involved in their
individual transactions. From this captured information,
a retail organization is enabled to efficiently and
effectively leverage their sales data. The organization
is enabled to isolate and to motivate by special treatment
their most profitable core of customers. A method,
systems and apparatus embodying the invention provide for
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determining product assortment and inventory levels
required to meet and to please (or to satisfy) the sales
wishes and desires of those particular customers who
account for about 75% to 80% of all purchases occurring at
a specific retail outlet in a chain and who account for
about 75% to 80% of all purchases occurring at various
respective individual retail outlets in the chain. The
illustrative embodiments of the invention as described
enable various aspects of each selected sales transaction
to be analyzed in various ways as may be deemed most
useful and helpful for each specific retail outlet and as
may be deemed most useful and helpful for an overall chain
operation, wherein there are local managements of numerous
retail outlets scattered throughout large and diverse
geographic regions.
For example, this invention enables the sorting
and analysis of 100% of transactions by automated
presorting for capturing a selection of whole transactions
in relation to actual customers or customer households via
the use of a household-specific or customer-specific MATCH
Code to track and enable automated presorting
simultaneously with the ongoing current purchases by each
successive customer coming to each check-out terminal
station.
As a valuable result of this presorting, a retail
operation is enabled to select those 20% to 30% of
customers whose patterns of purchases are most profitable
and whose patronage and loyalty are most needed to be
encouraged and rewarded; so that each retail outlet will
be operating at and will continue operations at an optimum
profitability, and so that a chain of outlets as a whole
will be operating at and will remain at optimum
profitability, thereby to keep a whole retail chain
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operation successful and growing in the face of
ever-increasing competition.
In accord with the invention, a method is
provided for use in retail establishments involving
points-of-sale (POS) transactions wherein customers in
their respective transactions present selected products at
check-out terminal stations and wherein such products have
Product Codes for enabling a data storage computer
facility to determine identities, current prices and costs
of products being sold and wherein all data regarding
transactions currently occurring at the check-out terminal
stations including Product Codes are input into the data
storage computer facility. This method enables operating
such POS transactions to develop sales information so that
managements of such retail establishments can carry out
focused or selective marketing activities and/or enhanced
sales procedures for increasing profitability.
This method comprises the steps of:
providing to selected prospect customers,
identified as Primary Prospect Households (PPHs),
respective Reward Offers each having an associated MATCH
Code identifying the specific Household and/or to its
address to which the Reward Offer was provided, said
Reward Offer presenting at least one offer for sale of a
product identified in the Reward Offer with a special
incentive for its purchase;
fashioning each Reward Offer for a prospect
customer to submit the Reward Offer with its MATCH Code at
a check-out terminal station during a retail transaction;
inputting the MATCH Code at the check-out
terminal station developing a corresponding code signal as
an input signal for a data storage computer facility;
monitoring signals input to the data storage
computer facility relating to purchasing activities
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occurring at the check-out terminal station for detecting
any code signal corresponding to a MATCH Code;
identifying, in response to detection of a code
signal corresponding to a MATCH Code, a group of signals
representing all data relating to each completed
transaction at the check-out terminal station wherein a
code signal was developed corresponding to a MATCH Code;
and
storing data relating to each such group of
signals in an accessible manner.
Also, in one aspect, the method involves
analyzing the stored data relating to each such group of
signals to determine information relevant for marketing
and sales procedures to be carried out subsequently.
The invention provides a method, systems and/or
apparatus for use in retail establishments involving
points-of-sale (POS) transactions wherein customers in
their respective transactions present selected products at
check-out terminal stations and wherein such products have
Product Codes for enabling a data storage computer
facility to determine identities, current prices and costs
of products being sold and wherein all data regarding
transactions currently occurring at the check-out terminal
stations including Product Codes are input into the data
storage computer facility. The method, systems and/or
apparatus enable operating such POS transactions in
relation to submissions of Reward Offers having MATCH
Codes to develop sales information so that managements of
such retail establishments can carry out focused or
selective marketing activities and/or enhanced sales
procedures for increasing profitability.
Apparatus as shown monitors and captures
customer-specific sales information regarding Primary
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Prospect Households (PpHs) during transmissions to a data
storage computer facility of all data signals relating to
transactions occurring at a check-out terminal station
involving submissions of Reward Offers having MATCH Codes
for enabling managements of such retail establishments to
carry out focused or selective marketing activities and/or
enhanced, sales procedures for increasing profitability.
The customer-specific data-capturing apparatus
comprises:
a Reward Offer adapted to be provided to a
specific prospect customer address and having a MATCH Code
associated therewith;
said MATCH Code including data identifying the
specific prospect customer address to which the Reward
Offer is provided;
said Reward Offer presenting at least one offer
for sale of a product identified in the Reward Offer with
a special incentive for its purchase;
said MATCH Code being machine-sensible;
a computer facility for use in a retail
establishment for monitoring all data signals arising from
transactions occurring at a check-out terminal station;
said data signals being adapted for input to a
data storage facility;
said computer facility being responsive to any
signal corresponding to a MATCH Code for identifying a
group of data signals representing the total of all
transaction data relating to a completed transaction
involving submission at a check-out station of a Reward
Offer having an associated MATCH Code;
said computer facility selecting from said
monitored data signals each group of data signals
representing the total of all transaction data relating to
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a completed transaction involving the submission of a
Reward Offer having an associated MATCH Code; and
said computer selectively accessibly storing each
such group of data signals in a form suitable for
analyzing the group to determine relevant information to
enable improved selective marketing activities and/or
enhanced sales procedures regarding specific prospect
customers.
In accord with an embodiment of the invention for
use in reference to sales transactions involving
multitudes of customers per day coming to at least one
Point of Sale (POS) wherein each customer is involved in a
purchasing transaction and during each respective
purchasing transaction each respective customer purchases
varying amounts of various items, wherein items usually
are identified by individual Product Codes, wherein each
respective customer's overall transaction is completed by
creating a total charged amount equal to the total charges
for all items purchased in the respective transaction
minus any discounts and/or premium credits applicable to
items purchased during the respective overall transaction
and/or applicable to the respective overall transaction;
wherein a stream of electronic and/or optical data is
developed at the POS resulting from said transactions and
said stream of data is transmitted to a predetermined data
storage computer facility located at a distance from each
POS, said data corresponding to Product Codes and
quantities of items purchased at the POS, discounts and/or
premium credits applicable to purchased items and/or
applicable to each respective transaction, and said data
storage computer facility transmits back to each POS
current price data and other suitable data for enabling to
be developed at the POS a total charged amount for the
respective completed transaction, there is provided a
method comprising the steps of: providing Reward Offers to
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preselected specific customers, each Reward Offer having
an associated MATCH Code identifying a specific customer
and each Reward Offer including an offer for sale of at
least one product identified in the Reward Offer with an
inducement for purchase of said product; sensing said
stream of data; temporarily storing successive portions of
said stream of data in accessible temporary storage; said
temporary storage having suitable data storage capacity
for temporarily storing more data than all of the data
developed in a longest predetermined transaction; sensing
each occurrence of a signal corresponding to a MATCH Code;
removing from said accessible temporary storage all data
relating to each completed transaction wherein there is no
occurrence of a signal corresponding to a MATCH Code;
selecting from said accessible temporary storage each
group of data relating to each completed transaction
wherein there is an occurrence of data corresponding to a
MATCH Code; and analyzing each such group of selected data
for determining predetermined aspects regarding the data
in each such group, said predetermined aspects comprising:
(a) for each respective group of selected data
determining the identity of each customer to whom a Reward
Offer was provided from data corresponding to a respective
MATCH Code;
(b) for each respective group of selected data
determining the charged amount; and
(c) for each respective group of selected data
determining identities of items purchased by said specific
customer from data corresponding to Product Codes.
In accord with further aspects of this method,
predetermined analytical steps include:
(d) for each respective group of selected data
identifying a charged amount occurring at completion of a
transaction which exceeds a predetermined dollar amount;
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(e) for each respective group of selected data
identifying each item whose sale provides a profit
exceeding a predetermined amount of money;
(f) for each respective group of selected data
identifying each item whose sale provides a profit
exceeding a predetermined percentage.
As used herein the term "machine-sensible" as
applied to MATCH Codes is intended to include
machine-readable codes, optically-readable codes,
magnetically-readable codes, electrostatically-readable
codes, electronically-readable codes and/or codes which
are scannable by electromagnetic mechanisms and/or by
mechanical mechanisms and/or by electrical mechanisms
and/or by electronic mechanisms, and/or by optical
mechanisms and the like.
At current technology levels, machine-sensible
MATCH Codes associated with Reward Offers are preferably
provided in the form of strips of optically-readable bar
code. However, it is to be understood that future
technology may provide other media and/or other mechanisms
for providing machine-sensible MATCH Codes in other forms
and/or other configurations.
As used herein the term "MATCH Code" means a
machine-sensible code incorporating data comprising:
M - Marking data for identifying the Primary
Prospect Household to whom the Reward Offer
was provided and for Marking a transaction
involving that Primary Prospect Household
(PPH).
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A - Auditing data for auditing a reward
reimbursement trail for financial control
and for fraud control.
T - Tracking data for enabling Tracking of
actual purchase behavior of a PPH.
C - Cueing data for compiling purchasing loyalty
rewards for respective PPHs.
H - Household data for confirming and
identifying respective PPHs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention, together with further objects,
features, advantages and aspects thereof, will be more
clearly understood from the following detailed description
considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings
which are arranged with emphasis being placed upon clearly
illustrating the principles of the invention. Like
reference numerals indicate like elements, like components
or similar functions throughout the different views.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated
in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate
presently preferred methods, systems and apparatus
embodying the invention and, together with the general
description set forth above and the detailed description
of the preferred embodiments set forth below, serve to
illustrate and explain principles of the invention. In
these drawings:
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating
embodiments of the invention.
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FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating
other embodiments of the invention.
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating
functions involved in monitoring all data occurring and/or
developed in POS transactions and in selectively capturing
and analyzing selected groups of data relating to
completed transactions each of which involved a MATCH
Code.
Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments
Inviting attention to FIG. 1, there is shown a
method, systems and apparatus generally indicated at 10
embodying the present invention and being operated in a
retail establishment 12, for example such as a
supermarket, department store, and the like. Such a
retail establishment 12 usually has a plurality of
check-out terminal stations, as is well known in the art
of operating retail establishments. Two of these plural
check-out terminal stations are shown at 20. These
stations 20 are connected by a data communication pathway
30 with a data storage computer processing facility 40.
It is noted that this data communication pathway 3o may
include electronic and/or optical mechanisms and/ar signal
processors and/or other suitable communications handling
equipment in addition to electrical and/or optical and/or
microwave communication connections and/or other suitable
communications transmission equipment.
The data storage computer facility 40 is located
and arranged to be conveniently accessible to management
of the retail establishment 12. For example this facility
40 may be in an adjacent office or in a second floor
office of the retail establishment 12.
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As is shown by a functional explanation 50 and by
an arrow 52 showing input of data signals, the
communication pathway 30 inputs data signals from the
check-out terminal stations 20 into the data storage
computer facility 40. It is noted that this data storage
computer facility includes suitable processing capability
for practical uses in a retail establishment 12. The data
signals 52 relate to all check-out transactions 60 and 70
occurring at the check-out terminal stations 20.
It is to be understood that some or all of the
other check-out terminal stations in the retail
establishment 12 also may be connected through this
communications pathway 30 to the data storage computer
facility 40.
The check-out transactions include those shown at
70 embodying aspects of the present invention, wherein
each transaction involves a presentation of a Reward Offer
having an associated MATCH Code, and these check-out
transactions also include other check-out transactions 60
as known in the art being carried out without involving
MATCH Codes.
The other transactions 60 typically include
purchases of various products, tenders of cash, or of
credit or debit cards, credit adjustments, e.g. for
coupons, bottle deposits, rainchecks, and the like. Also,
these other transactions 60 include sensing at the
check-out terminal station 20 of Product Codes associated
with various items being purchased. This sensing of
Product Codes produces data signals corresponding
specifically to identifies of Products being purchased.
These product identity data signals are input along the
data communication pathway 30 along with other input data
relating to the transactions 60 as shown by arrow 52,
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thereby being input into the data storage computer
facility 40. In order to determine current prices
(including any current sales discounts) applicable to
respective products whose Product Codes produced the
product identity data signals input into the data storage
computer facility 40, this facility is arranged, e.g.
programmed, to "look up", i.e., to locate in a data bank
and to provide data signals representing prices applicable
to current respective identified products. This computer
facility 40 transmits data signals 54 along the data
communication pathway 30 to the check-out station 20.
These data signals 54 are suitable for enabling all debit
items to be subtotalled and for credit adjustments for
coupons, bottle deposit returns, rainchecks, etc. then to
be subtracted from a subtotal such that customers' bills
can be calculated and totalled. Each transaction is
"completed" when data is entered relating to tender of
payment for the totalled bill.
In the introduction above, it was explained that
Reward Offers are provided to selected prospect customers,
identified as Primary Prospect Households (PPHs). Each
Reward offer has an associated MATCH Code identifying the
specific Household and/or its address to which the Reward
Offer was provided. The Reward Offer presents to the PPH
at least one offer (and preferably presents a plurality of
such offers) for sale of a product (or for sale of a
plurality of products) identified in the Reward Offer.
This (these) offers) for sale of identified products)
includes) special incentives) for its (their) purchase.
Consequently, the PPH becomes motivated to bring its
Reward Offer to the retail establishment which provided
the Reward Offer and to present the Reward Offer to a
check-out station 20 at that establishment during a
check-out transaction 70.
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The Reward Offer has an associated machine-
sensible MATCH Code. Thus, when a PPH submits its Reward
Offer at a check-out terminal station 20 during its
check-out transaction 70, this MATCH Code is sensed by an
appropriate sensor at the check-out terminal station 20,
thereby producing a code signal corresponding specifically
to this MATCH Code. This code signal is input into the
data storage computer facility 40 along with all other
data signals 52 relating to this currently on-going
check-out transaction 70.
Except for aspects embodying the present
invention involving presentation of a Reward Offer having
an associated MATCH Code, and except for any incentive
and/or rewards and/or extra discounts and/or premiums
and/or benefits arising in a transaction 70 which involves
such MATCH Code, a transaction 70 otherwise is similar to
a transaction 60, which was described above.
A computer facility 80 embodies aspects of the
present invention and is shown monitoring via communica-
tion pathway 90 the input data signals 52 coming from the
check-out terminal stations and the return data signals 54
coming from the data storage computer facility 40. This
monitoring of data signals 52 and 54 is shown by arrows
52' and 54' aimed along the communication pathway 90
toward the computer facility 80. It is noted that this
monitoring communication pathway 90 may include electronic
and/or optical mechanisms and/or signal processors and/or
other suitable communication handling equipment in addi-
tion to electrical and/or optical and/or microwave communi-
cation connections and/or other suitable communication
transmission equipment. Also, it is to be understood that
this monitoring communication pathway 90 and the computer
facility 80 do not block ongoing transmissions of data
signals 52 and 54 along the communication pathway 30.
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The computer facility 80 as shown has suitable
temporary data storage capacity for temporarily storing
and thereafter erasing all data relating to all completed
transactions occurring at all check-out terminal stations
20 and 20' wherein code signals corresponding to MATCH
Codes are not monitored during each such completed
transaction. This. computer facility 80 is programmed
suitably to erase from its temporary storage all data
relating to all transactions for which "completed
transaction" data signals are monitored and wherein a code
signal corresponding to a MATCH Code is not monitored as
occurring during each such completed transaction.
The computer facility 80 also is programmed to
identify and to transfer from temporary storage to its
internal selectively accessible data storage each group of
data including all data relating to each completed
transaction involving a MATCH Code. All such data
relating to each completed transaction involving a MATCH
Code incudes all data occurring and/or developed during a
completed transaction during which is monitored a code
signal corresponding to a MATCH Code.
The computer facility 80 as shown has suitable
selectively accessible data storage capacity for
accessibly storing all such groups of data occurring
within a predetermined convenient time period, such
convenient time period being determined by management of
the retail establishment 12, or being determined by
corporate headquarters management of a chain, if the
retail establishment 12 is included in a chain.
Accessible from a port 100 of the computer
facility 80 is each group of data relating to all data
relating to, i.e., occurring and/or developed during, each
completed transaction during which is monitored a code
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signal corresponding to a MATCH" Code. Said groups of
data are available through port 100 for analysis as is
shown by arrow 110 directed to a data analysis computer
facility 120 for individually analyzing each group of data
including all data relating to individual completed
transactions during each of which a code signal
corresponding to a MATCH Code had been monitored.
This analysis facility 120 is programmed as
determined by management of the establishment 12 to carry
out analysis of each individual group of data for a
completed transaction each of which involves MATCH Code
data. Various possible analytical procedures are
described later which can be carried out advantageously
for enhancing retail operations. The results of such
computer analysis are provided to management of the
establishment 12 as is shown by an analysis output arrow
160. It is noted that this data analysis computer
facility 120 may be incorporated within the computer
facility 80, in which case the port 100 is a port within
the computer facility 80.
Alternatively, the data analysis computer
facility 120 may be located at a remote corporate chain
headquarters, if the establishment 12 is part of a retail
chain. In the event that the data analysis computer
facility 120 is located at a remote corporate headquarters
for a chain, then a data communication and interrogation
pathway 130 shown by a dash and dot line extends through
a data communication and interrogation pathway 130
(described later in greater detail) to a host computer at
the remote corporate headquarters (not shown).
This data communication and interrogation pathway
130 extends outside of the establishment 12 through an
outside region 14 to the centralized host computer
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facility (not shown). A double line 13 indicates the
boundary of the establishment 12, with the region 14 being
outside of this boundary.
If the retail establishment 12 is part of a
chain, then this data communication and interrogation
pathway 130 also is in communication with a port 150 of
the data storage computer facility 40 as is shown in FIG.
1.
In the event that the retail establishment 12 is
part of a chain (and regardless of whether or not the data
analysis computer facility 120 is included within the
computer facility 80), this data analysis computer
facility has a communication port 140 which is in
communication through a data communication and
interrogation pathway 13o with a centralized host computer
facility (not shown) located at the remote corporate
headquarters (not shown) or located at a dedicated site
used by such headquarters.
Management of the chain may determine programming
of the computer facility 120 regardless of whether this
facility 120 is located nearby to the establishment 12 or
is located at corporate headquarters or at a dedicated
site for use by corporate headquarters. The output
results 160 of such computer analysis are arranged to be
provided to corporate management of the chain. These
analytical out put results 160 may be provided so as to be
communicated to and available from the host computer in
any convenient form as determined by corporate management
of the chain.
It is noted that each communication pathway 30,
90, 1I0, 130 and 130 will include suitable signal
handling equipment as may be technologically available at
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a time when a method, system and apparatus l0 embodying
the invention are put into operation in a retail
establishment 12. Also, each computer facility 40, 80 and
120 will include suitable processing and data storage
capability as may be technologically available at a time
when a method, system and apparatus l0 embodying the
invention are put into operation in a retail establishment
12.
In FIG. 2 is shown a method, systems and
apparatus generally indicated at 10A, wherein a data
storage computer facility 40A is programmed in accord with
aspects of the present invention. This facility 40A is
programmed to provide therein accessible data storage 82
for the groups of data signals transmitted thereto from a
computer facility 80A.
This computer facility 80A is similar in some
respects to the computer facility 80 in FIG. 1 in that
this facility 80A monitors data signals 52 and 54 as is
shown by arrows 52' and 54' for detecting each code signal
corresponding to a MATCH Code and for identifying each
group of data including all data relating to each
completed transaction involving a MATCH Code. Unlike the
computer facility 80 in FIG. 1, this computer facility 80A
selectively feeds to the accessible storage 82 which has
been programmed into the data storage computer facility
80A in accordance with a method embodying the present
invention so that this data storage 82 is available in the
computer facility 40A.
Since the accessible storage 82 is programmed to
be within the retail establishment's data storage computer
facility 80A, the data analysis computer facility 120 is
in communication with this accessible storage through a
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suitable communication pathway 110. The data analysis
computer facility 120 may be located outside of the
computer facility 80A or may be included within this
facility. It is programmed as determined by management of
the establishment 12 to carry out analysis of each
individual group of data for completed transactions each
of which involves MATCH Code data. Various possible
analytical procedures are described later which can be
carried out advantageously by computer analysis for
enhancing retail operations. The results of such computer
analysis are provided to management of the establishment
12 as is shown by an analysis output arrow 160.
In the event that the establishment 12 is part of
a retail chain, then the data analysis computer facility
120 may be located at corporate headquarters of the chain
or at a dedicated site used by management of the chain.
This data analysis computer facility is arranged to be
programmed as determined by management of the chain to
carry out analysis of each individual group of data for
completed transactions each of which involves MATCH Code
data. Various possible analytical procedures are
described later which can be carried out advantageously by
computer analysis for enhancing retail operations of the
chain as a whole and for enhancing retail operations of
each retail establishment 12 in the chain.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, data signals 52' and
54' being monitored are fed by communication pathway 90
into temporary storage 91 which is provided by computer
facility 80 in FIG. 1 and is provided at 82 in computer
facility 40A in FIG. 2. As shown at 92 the computer
facility 80 in FIG. 1 of 80A in FIG. 2 determines: DOES
STORED DATA FOR A COMPLETED TRANSACTION INCLUDE DATA
CORRESPONDING TO A MATCH CODE?
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When this determination 92 is NO, then data which
was temporarily stored as shown at 91 is removed as is
shown at 93.
When this determination 92 is YES, then as is
shown at 94 an identification is made of each group of
data including all data relating to each completed
transaction including data corresponding to a MATCH Code.
This identification is made by the computer facility 80 in
FIG. 1 or 80A in FIG. 2.
Each such group of data is selectively accessibly
stored as is shown at 95. This accessible storage is
provided in computer facility 80 in FIG. 1 or in computer
facility 40A in FIG. 2 as is shown at 82 in the computer
facility 40A.
Each individual group of data is analyzed as
shown at 96 in accord with analytical procedures
determined by the management responsible for operations at
the retail establishment 12. This analysis is carried
bout by the computer facility 120 which may be a separate
facility at the retail establishment 12 or which may be
included in the computer facility 80 or 80A of which may
be located at headquarters of a retail chain or located at
a dedicated site convenient for management of a retail
chain or which may be programmed into a host computer
facility of the retail chain.
The analysis 96 provides an output of results of
analysis as is shown at 97 which is provided as indicated
by the output arrow 160 in FIG. 1 and in FIG. 2.
The analysis procedures 96 (FIG. 3) programmed
into the data analysis computer facility 120 may include
those described in the SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE at (a),
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(b), (c), (d), (e) and (f). In addition this analysis may
include one of more of the following steps:
(g) determining whether and how often a
specifically-identified customer patronizes more than one
retail establishment 12 in the chain;
(h) determining whether a
specifically-identified customer has purchased a
multi-year usage item, such as a refrigerator, stove,
dishwasher, clothes washer, clothes dryer, lawn mower, and
the like and the identity of such an item. If the
specifically-identified customer has purchased such an
item, then the analysis procedures may include determining
an expected useful or utilitarian lifetime of such an item
and may set up a program to send a suitable notice to the
specifically-identified customer at a future date for
advising this customer that such an item purchased at such
store on such date has a useful or utilitarian lifetime
which will expire in a time period of such months and
informing this customer that certain improved models of
that item are available and that a purchase price for each
such improved model will be reduced by such percentage if
this customer will prior to such a date place an order for
such improved model and that an invoice for such purchase
will not be sent to this customer until one month after
the ordered improved model has been delivered directly to
this customer, thereby saving the customer's time, costs
and effort in selecting and arranging for delivery of such
improved model; and
(i) since the output of results of analysis 97
includes this vital information, namely: THIS
SPECIFICALLY-IDENTIFIED CUSTOMER IS ONE OF OUR MOST
PROFITABLE SHOPPERS, AND WE NOW KNOW THE LOCATION OF THIS
SHOPPER AND THIS SHOPPER'S CUSTOMARY TYPES OF PURCHASES
AND PURCHASING PATTERNS, therefore we will arrange our
inventory of products so that this customer will not
encounter an out-of-stock situation at this customer's
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usually-used store and we will arrange our promotions and
sales in various ways as are most likely to encourage
patronage and engender loyalty in this customer directed
toward our stores.
Although specific presently preferred embodiments
of the invention have been disclosed herein in detail, it
is to be understood that these examples of the invention
have been described for purposes of illustration. This
disclosure is not intended to be construed as limiting the
scope of the invention, since the described method,
systems and apparatus may be changed in detail by those
skilled in the field of retailing and mass marketing
without departing from the scope of the following claims.
