Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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POINT-OF-SALE ADVERTISEMENT SYSTEM
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a point-of-sale advertisement
display
system and method. Specifically, the invention relates to a system and method
for modifying
an advertisement on an electronic display at a point-of-sale location using a
customer's
profile obtained from a customer card, the products being purchased by the
customer, or a
date and time criteria. A combination of these factors may also be used to
modify the
advertisements displayed.
2. Description of Related Art
An important part of most businesses includes effective_advertising. Many
advertising methods focus advertising information on a specific group of
people, such as
men, women, athletes, etc. For example, advertisers on television may choose
specific
programs and time periods with the goal of reaching a target audience known to
be interested
in that program.
The period of time during the point-of-sale experience, for example the check-
out
stand at a supermarket, provides a potent opportunity to focus advertising on
the individual
customer. At the point-of-sale, information about the customer may be
obtained. For
example, the customer's buying habits and preferences are known by the items
presently
being purchased. A business may issue customer cards used to track information
regarding
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the kinds of products the customer typically will purchase, income, family
status, or other
information. A store can use this information to serve the customer better and
provide
targeted and more effective advertising geared towards the individual
customer's buying
habits.
Large and small retail stores employ computer systems that only provide a 2 x
20
text-based display to inform the customer of what items are being purchased
and the cost. For
example, most large supermarkets and similar stores use IBM's 4690 retail
operating system
on hardware such as IBM's Netfinity computers. IBM's 4680-4690 retail
operating system
host application are called the "Supermarket Application" and the 4680-4690
"General Sales
Application" (GSA). These applications presently only provide text information
about the
items being purchased, a running total and the weight of products on the scale
at the point-of-
sale. These operating systems provide a reliable and efficient means of
handling many
different check-out stands or points-of-sale in various stores for large
retail chain operations,
but are not designed to provide the additional features which could include
electronic
advertising at the point-of-sale. Furthermore, the retail applications do not
offer any means
of advertising or displaying graphical images that are integrated with the
operating system
presently used.
While graphical advertising systems have not previously been available, a
coupon-
printing system is known to exist. The coupon-printing system involves
printing coupons on
the backside of the store receipt or on a separate coupon printer that relate
or correspond to
the items purchased. Such a system is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,910,672
to Off et al.
and U.S. Patent No. 4,723,212 to Mindrum et al. Off et al. teach a system that
monitors the
purchases of the customer for items that trigger the creation of a coupon.
Once an item
triggers the creation of a coupon, at least one associated "coupon deal
record" is retrieved,
2~ and a coupon will be printed subject to a predetermined maximum number of
coupows.per
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transaction. The system also validates coupons presented by the customer for
redemption,
compares those coupons to the items purchased and insures that the coupon has
not expired.
Another coupon-printing system is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,832,457 to
O'Brien
et al. The O'Brien et al. system prints coupons according to. a_pre-selected
combipation of
information, including present and past shopping behavior of a customer, and
customer
supplied data obtained from a customer identification database. Once the pre-
selected
conditions are satisfied, a coupon is printed.
These coupon-printing systems have deficiencies, however. Many customers do
not
notice the coupons. Those that do notice the coupons may not be impressed or
persuaded to
use the coupons to purchase the product because the coupon may not provide an
animated or
compelling image. Furthermore, the coupon is easily lost or thrown away and
thus useless.
Coupons are limited in their capability to motivate a customer's buying habits
in the same
manner as effective advertising. Therefore, simply providing a coupon to a
customer does
not fully take advantage of the information known about the particular
customer at the point-
of-sale. Therefore, the conventional coupon-printing system does not
adequately optimize
the potential for directed advertising.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
What is needed in the art is a point-of-sale advertisement system that
presents a
compelling and easily remembered advertisement to a customer. Furthermore,
what is
needed in the art is a graphical advertisement system that is integrated with
the present
application used by large supermarkets, for example, IBM's 4690 supermarket
application or
the like. By integrating a point-of-sale advertisement system with the retail
applications
already in place, a more economical advertisement system is employed which
requires a
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minimal amount of additional hardware and which draws on the data and
operating system
functions already used.
In order to address the deficiencies in the related art, a point-of-sale
system is
proposed comprising a central host computer (also called an Ad JukeboxT"'), a
retail store
host computer, a store controller for each store associated with each
retailer, and a terminal
application at each point-of-sale. Each point-of-sale location also includes a
card scanner, a
product scanner, a cash register, and at least one display. The central host
computer stores a
variety of databases: a store/lane database, an ad database, group databases,
and playlists.
The central host computer also stores a playlist builder. The store/lane
database stores
information corresponding to individual stores and the number and types of
lanes in that
store. For example, a store may have 12 regular check-out lanes, an express
lane and a deli
counter lane. The group databases include customized information for a
specific retailer.
Group databases may comprise, for example, "groups" of stores, and specific
lanes in that
group of stores. For example, a group database may consist of all grocery
stores in California
at beach-front areas, and all the express lanes in those stores. The group
database structure is
determined by the retailer and is customizable in a variety of different forms
The playlists include advertisements for a particular group and when the
advertisements are displayed. The playlists include advertisement display
criteria. For
example, a playlist will include criteria to display a particular
advertisement based on the date
and time, the purchase of a triggering item, or the demographics or profile of
the customer (if
a customer card is used). A combination of these factors may be used to
determine which
advertisement from the playlist will be displayed at what time.
The playlist builder creates playlists on a lane-by-lane basis using a
predetermined
schedule, such as, for example, daily, weekly, or monthly. The playlist
building schedule is
customizablebythe individual stores. The central host computer stores and runs
the playlist
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builder that builds the customized playlists for each check-out lane. The
built playlists are
downloaded to the retail store controller. The store controller includes a
playlist reader that
will read the playlists and instruct the terminal application regarding what
advertisements to
display at an individual lane.
As an example of the operation of the point-of-sale advertisement system of
the
present invention, consider a customer in a supermarket check-out lane. When
the customer
arrives at the cashier's location, the customer card may be "swiped" on a
standard card
reading system that is well known to those in the art. The point-of-sale
advertisement
system first displays an advertisement according to a customer profile if a
customer card is
used near the beginning of the transaction. It is estimated that a typical
store check-out
experience lasts between 30 seconds and 2 1h minutes. Therefore, if the
customer card is
"swiped" near the beginning of the transaction, the terminal application
informs the store
controller that a customer card has been used. The playlist reader on the
store controller will
then read the playlist for that lane. If the playlist reader is built to
present an advertisement
based on a customer profile, the customer profile is retrieved from a
database, and an
advertisement that is chosen according to the profile demographics is shown
for the duration
of the check-out experience.
If the customer does not present a customer card, then the terminal
application
searches for items purchased that trigger the retrieval of an advertisement.
Some items will
be programmed to correspond to an advertisement that will appeal to the
customer purchasing
the item. If such a "triggering" item is purchased, the terminal application
will inform the
store controller of that item, and request from the playlist reader which
advertisements to
display. The playlist reader will read the playlist for that lane and inform
the terminal
application regarding the chosen advertisement to display based on the
triggering item
purchased. The triggering factor may be the SKU of the purchased it~m;un which
case the
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playlist reader 54 will check to determine if the SKU will correspond to a
particular
advertisement in the playlist 20.
Once the triggering item is purchased, the advertisement is displayed for the
remainder of the check-out experience. If the customer does not use a customer
hard or
purchase a triggering item, an advertisement based on the date and time of the
purchase is
displayed throughout the entire transaction.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention may be understood by reference to the following
drawings,
wherein:
FIG. 1 illustrates an overview of the hardware components used in the present
invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates the hardware and software components used at the point-of-
sale;
FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram for a software algorithm according to the
first
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 illustrates the database structure for the playlists;
FIG. 5 illustrates the database structure for the store/lane database;
FIG. 6 illustrates the data structure for the advertisement database;
FIG. 7 illustrates the database structure for the group database; and
FIG. 8 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the display.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The first and preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described
with
reference to Fig. 1. The point-of-sale advertising system 10 comprises a
network of computer
systems connected via the Internet 34; hardware associated with point-of-sale,
and a software
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program operating on the computer network and at the point-of-sale for
controlling the
display of advertisements. A central host computer 12 communicates with at
least one retail
store controller or host computer 40, a store controller 46 and at least one
point-of-sale
register 50. The central host computer 12 is a centralized computer server
and.may be an
IBM AS-400, RS/6000, IBM Systems 390 computer, or some other similar host
computer
system. In the preferred embodiment, the central host computer 12 operates a
retail store
application such as IB.M's 4680-4690 "Supermarket Application" or the 4680-
4690 "General
Sales Application" (GSA) running on top of IBM's 4690 retail operating system.
Other
retail store operating systems are contemplated as being within the scope of
the present
invention, and such systems will be known to those of ordinary skill in the
art. The central
host computer 12 runs a playlist builder 28, also known as the Ad JukeboxTM.
In the preferred
embodiment, the playlist builder 28 and other software disclosed herein is
developed and
programmed using JAVA.
The central host computer 12 contains a store and lane database 14. This
database 14
consists of every store and every lane in each store of a particular retail
chain or multiple
retail chains. For example, the store and lane database will contain for a
chosen store, four
regular check out lanes, an express lane, and a deli lane. The store/lane
database 14 also
includes data from different store chains when the central host computer 12
supports
scheduling advertisements across multiple store chains. Each lane in the
database include its
own set of descriptive fields. Figure 5 illustrates an example of the dababase
structure for the
store/lane database. The store/lane database includes store and lane
descriptions 182, 184, a
store address 186, a primary and secondary store controller IP addresses 188,
store contact
information 190, technical contact information 192, email address & phone
number for the
various store contacts 194.
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The central host computer 12 also stores the advertisement database 16. The
advertisement database 16 contains all the advertisements that may be shown at
a particular
lane. Figure 6 illustrates in more detail the structure of the advertisement
database 16. As
shown in Figure 6, the advertisement database 16 includes at the lane levzl,
in a specific
store, which is part of a particular retail chain 132: an advertisement 134,
advertisement
dimensions 136, file size 138, location of advertisement on the screen 140,
type of
advertisement 142(i.e., banner, "lane closed"), e-mail contacts for
advertisement 144, and an
accounting code 145.
The central host computer 12 also stores group data 18 in a group database.
Figure 7
shows an example of a group database 18 according to the present invention.
Group data is
customizable by the advertiser. Group data can contain any combination of
stores, lanes and
even other groups. Groups are assigned a playlist (sche:dule of ads) to be
sent via the network
to every store contained in that group. For example, a group may comprise
stores in an
affluent area, stores near sporting events, or stores in particular ethnic
areas, or other
configurations that are customizable by the store owner. Group lists may be
modified at the
lane level. For example, a group may consist of all the express lanes in all
stores near a
sporting event. As shown in Figure 7, an exemplary group database for a
particular retail
store having express lanes in stores near sporting events 150. This group
database comprises
a store number 152, which is located near a football arena 154, and an express
lane within
that store 156. The group database includes the next store 158, located near
another football
arena 160, which also has an express lane 162. By organizing the data in this
manner, the
group databases may be used to determine where to display the advertisements.
Next, the central host computer 12 stores playlists 20. The playlists 20 are
groups of
advertisements, and the advertisement logic determining when each
advertisement is
displayed on a display 72. Figure 4 illustrates the structure of the playlist
20. For example, a
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group of products geared towards people interested in sporting events would be
advertised on
the lanes in stores near sporting events. The playlists are created on a lane-
by-lane basis for
each store and are customizable by the user. Playlists preferably consist of
two types of
advertisements: ( 1 ) scheduled advertisements, based on a rotation of
date/time o~rotation, or
(2) triggered advertisements, which comprise advertisements based on a
demographic code
obtained from a customer card or based on the items purchased.
Various priority systems are. contemplated for determining the chosen
advertisements
to display according to the playlists. For example, preferably, the highest
priority is when a
customer card is used, an advertisement corresponding to that customer's
demographics will
be displayed. Next in priority will be whether a triggering item is purchased.
If no customer
card is used, and an item is purchased that corresponds to an advertisement in
the playlist for
that check-out lane, then the triggered advertisement will display. If no
customer card is used
and no triggering advertisement is purchased, then an advertisement based on
the date and
time will display.
Furthermore, other variations in the order of displaying advertisements are
contemplated. For example, an advertisement may only display. for a
predetermined period
of time. Therefore, if no customer card is used, a first triggering item may
trigger the display
of an advertisement for 30 seconds. If the sales transaction continues beyond
30 seconds,
another advertisement will display when the next triggering item is purchased
after the 30
second period has elapsed.
Each playlist 20 is categorized by retail store chain, a specific store in
that chain, and
a specific lane in the store 170. The playlist 20 includes an advertisement
172, a code
associated with customer criteria 174, a code associated with a triggering
item purchased 176,
and a date and time code 178. A playlist will include a plurality of
advertisements with
associated codes outlining the criteria of when to play the advertisement 172.
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The playlist builder 28 will generate an individual playlist for each lane in
a store and
transmit 30, 36, 44 the playlists 20 via the Internet to each store controller
46 including the
advertisements and display criteria for displaying the advertisements for the
respective lane.
Playlists 20 may be generated on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, or other
schedule that is
user defined.
An accounting/reporting system 13 is also included in the central host
computer 12.
The accounting and reporting system 13 will receive reports 32, 38, 44 from
the retail host-.
computers 40 and the store controllers 46 regarding which advertisements have
been
displayed, where the advertisements have been displayed and when. The
advertising reports
may issue daily, weekly, or on some other customizable basis. Such accounting
reports are
received, stored, and reported by the central host computer 12. Reporting can
be sent to
advertisers via email 24 or made accessible to advertisers via an Internet
website 26 that is
password accessible. Through the reporting website 26, the advertiser may also
be able to
enter information into the system regarding updates or changes to the
advertisement criteria.
Once the playlists are created on the central host computer 12, they are down-
loaded
to the retail host computer 40. The retail host computer 40 is connected 44 to
at least one
store controller 46 associated with that particular retail store chain. The
playlists may also be
stored at the individual store controllers 26. The respective store
controllers 46 are
computers physically located at each store site and typically use the IBM 4690
retail store
operating system or the like. The advertisement system of the present
invention is preferably
written in JAVA to operate with the store controller 46 retail store operating
software. The
application running on the store controller 46 is called the playlist reader
54 (see Figure 2,
discussed below). The playlist reader 54 determines which advertisements to
display at the
point-of-sale.
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Each store controller 46 controls at least one register 50. The register 50 of
Figure 1
represents the hardware and software located at the point-of-sale. Figure 2
illustrates the
components of register 50 and the store controller 46 in more detail. Each
store controller 46
preferably has a separate mirrored store controller 46(a) for system
redundancy. and back-up
purposes. The store controller 46 also holds an item record file 56 and an
advertisement
display file 58 which record what advertisements have been displayed and what
items have
been advertised. The playlist reader 54-operates on the store controller 46
and controls which
advertisements are shown on the display 72. The playlist reader 54
communicates with a
terminal application 60 operating at the point-of-sale.
The terminal application 60 controls the hardware components at the check-out
counter or lane: the weightlscale 62, the printer 64, the scanner 66, the card
reader 68, the
cash register 70, and the display 72. The display 72 is shown in more detail
in Fig. 8,
discussed in more detail below. In the preferred embodiment, the display 72
comprises a
12.1-inch LCD flat panel display having a more modern appearance and takes up
less space.
However, it is also contemplated that the display may be any traditional VGA
display.
The terminal application 60 receives data from the scale 62 used for
calculating costs
for items which need to be weighed. In the preferred embodiment. the display
constantly
represents the present weight on the scale in the lower right hand corner of
the display 72.
The terminal application 60 receives data from the scanner 66 representing
items being
purchased. A card reader 68 also communicates with the terminal application 60
to
determine whether a customer card has been "swiped" or used by the customer.
The playlist
reader 54, in order to choose an advertisement from the playlist, uses
information
corresponding to the items being purchased and the customer card. The terminal
application
60 also controls the cash register 70 as is well known in the art.
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The terminal application 60 controls the contents of the display 72. One
example of
the layout is shown in Fig. 8. Two areas 80, 84 are used to display
advertisements, which
may be text only, static, animated, or any design configuration that the user
desires. Separate
advertisements or coordinated advertisements may be shown in these locations..
A portion of
the display 82 is dedicated to the scrolling receipt that shows the items
being purchased,
costs, and a running summary of the total amount of the purchase. The date and
time may
also be shown on 86. The IBM 4690 retail operating system, or the like,
controls this data as
is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
A current weight on the scale 62 is always shown. In the preferred embodiment,
if the
checkout lane is closed, the display 72 will display "lane closed" or the
like. The appearance
of the display 72 and location of advertisements, the scrolling receipt, scale
weight, or
date/time may be modified to any location on the display and all such
variations of the
display of Fig. 8 are contemplated as within the scope of the present
invention. Furthermore,
one or more advertising panels 80, 84 may be displayed, and the present
invention is not
limited to the two shown in Fig. 8.
Figure 3 illustrates the preferred process flow of the program in a typical
sales
transaction at the point-of-sale. First, a new sale transaction begins 102 and
the system
displays a default advertisement 104. The initial advertisement to display is
determined by
the terminal application 60 performing a query to the playlist reader 54
running on the store
controller 46. The playlist reader 54 will read the playlist 20 and determine
the correct
advertisement to display based on date and time, and the correct advertisement
is passed to
the terminal application 60 to display. If there is no advertisement scheduled
according to the
date and time, the default advertisement, which is defined in the
advertisement database 16, is
passed to the terminal application 60 to display. The default advertisement
may be chosen,
for example, based on date and time or on a rotation system.
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The system updates an advertisement log in the store controller 46 each time
it
displays a new advertisement. An advertisement flag is used to control the
process
branching. The advertisement flag is set to "off' 106 before any items are
scanned by the
scanner 66 or card reader 68. As the sales transaction proceeds., the system
looks for scanned
items 108, which can either be products purchased as scanned from the scanner
66 or the card
reader 68. Next, the system determines whether the advertisement flag has been
set to "on"
110. Checking the advertisement flag at this point insures that the
advertisement does not
change multiple times during the short sales transaction period, which is
typically between 30
seconds and 2.5 minutes. For example, if the advertisement flag has been set
to "on," the
program will continue scanning 112 items purchased from the scanner 66 until
the sales
transaction is complete 114. The system then prepares for the next new
transaction 102.
If the advertisement flag is not set to "on," the program determines whether
the item
scanned is a loyalty card or customer card 116. The customer card may be
scanned either
using the scanner 66 or a card reader 68. Although step 110 indicates
determining whether
the advertisement flag is "on," it is contemplated that determining whether
the advertisement
flag is "off' is included as within the scope of this invention. Step 110
determines whether
the flag is "off," and if the flag is "off," the process determines whether
the customer card has
been used 116, and if the flag is not "off," the process continues scanning
items 112 until the
transaction is complete.
If the customer uses a customer card 116, the terminal application 60 passes a
demographic code 118 associated with that customer to the playlist reader 54
on the store
controller 46. The playlist reader 54 reads the playlist and chooses an
advertisement based on
the demographic code and sends the advertisement to the terminal application
60 (not shown
in Figure 3). In choosing the corresponding advertisement to display, an
advertiser's regular
electronic marketing, loyalty program or customer relationship management data
may be
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coordinated to prepare the demographic code 118. The chosen advertisement
based on the
demographic code is displayed on the display 120 and the advertisement flag is
set to "on"
122. The system updates advertisement log on the store controller 122 with the
information
regarding the displayed advertisement. The system then continues to scan for
items 108 as
set forth above.
If the item scanned is not a loyalty card or customer card 116, then the
system
determines whether the item scanned triggers an associated advertisement 124.
A triggering
item will have a predetermined association between the item scanned (being
purchased) and
the advertisement. For example, if a customer is purchasing shaving cream, the
associated
advertisement may be for razor blades. The association criteria are user
defined. If the item
scanned has an associated advertisement, the terminal application 60 will
request the
associated advertisement from the playlist reader 54, which will review the
playlists and
respond with the associated advertisement to be displayed 126. The system sets
the
advertisement flag to "on" 128 and updates the advertisement log on the store
controller 46
with the information associated with the new advertisement 128. The point-of-
sale system
then prepares to receive the next scanned item 108.
If the item scanned does not trigger an associated advertisement 124, the
point-of-sale
system continues to display the default advertisement and looks for the next
scanned item
108. Therefore, when the system changes the default advertisement upon
scanning a
customer card or a the customer purchasing a triggering item, setting the
advertisement flag
to "on" insures that the same advertisement remains displayed throughout the
sales
transaction.
As discussed above, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the
advertising
decision is prioritized based on the use of a customer card, and next a
triggering item
purchased, and finally, using a date and time criteria. According to a second
embodiment of
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the present invention, prior to changing the advertisement from the default
advertisement
104, the system will check to determine whether the customer card or
triggering item has
been scanned at the beginning, middle, or end of the transaction. If the
triggering card or
item is scanned at the end of the transaction such that there is not
sufficient time to display
the advertisement, then the default advertisement will continue to display
through the end of
the transaction. For example, if the average transaction takes 1.5 minutes to
complete, a
timer beings at the beginning of each transaction 103, and when a customer
card is scanned
116 after 1 minute has elapsed, the default advertisement continues to
display. Similarly, if
no customer card is used, but a purchased product triggers an advertisement
after 1 minute
from the beginning of the transaction, then the system would continue to
display the default
advertisement. In this manner, when only a short time remains in the
transaction for the
customer to view the advertisement, the default advertisement will continue to
show.
As a further feature of the second embodiment of the invention, when no
customer
card is used, a triggering item near the beginning of the transaction, for
example, within the
first 30 seconds, may cause an advertisement to be displayed. Then after a
predetermined
period of time of displaying the first triggered advertisement, such as 45
seconds, the system
will look for another triggering item. Then if the customer purchases another
triggering item
after the predetermined period of time, the system displays a new
advertisement for the
remainder of the transaction or for another predetermined period of time.
Although the above description and exemplary embodiments are very specific,
these
should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention to these
embodiments. The
above examples merely provide illustrations of some of the presently preferred
embodiments
of the invention. For example, the system above is described as only using one
display per
lane. However, any number of displays could be used at the lane or in other
parts of a store,
on a wired or wireless basis. For example, the system could include a second
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positioned at the beginning of a check-out lane that displays advertisements
based on the date
and time criteria. This second display would be viewed by customers waiting in
line, while
the system would control a display near the cash register according to the
description above.
with the advertising priorities according to customer card use,.triggering
items being
purchased, and date and time. In the dual-display above system, a different
playlist would be
built for the secondary display and the first display. Sound could also be
added to the
advertisements to present another dimension to the presentation.
Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims
and
their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.
16
