Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USING DATA POINTS COLLECTED FROM A
CUSTOMER TO PROVIDE CUSTOMER SPECIFIC OFFERINGS
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is related to US Application No. 13/191,918, filed on July
27, 2011,
the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
The subject invention generally relates to retail systems and, more
particularly, relates
to a system and method for collecting data points from a customer and for
using the collected
data points to provide a customer with customer specific product and/or
service offerings,
customer relevant information, and the like.
Various systems and methods for collecting data points from a customer and/or
for
providing customer specific incentives are generally known in the art.
By way of example, U.S. Patent No. 7,917,386 describes a system and method for
distributing, generating, and redeeming incentives, e.g., coupons, rebates,
gift certificates or
the like, which may be used in conjunction with a rewards card, e.g., a
frequent shopper card.
The incentives are distributed electronically, for example, in the form of a
diskette or CD-
ROM software. Once the software is validated, a consumer may print out a list
of selected
incentives displayed on a Graphical User Interface (GUI). When a product is
purchased, the
UPC code of the product may be compared electronically with a list of
incentives authorized
for a particular consumer. An appropriate coupon discount may then be applied
and the
incentive may be considered "redeemed." Once redeemed, consumer ID information
and
incentive information may be retrieved electronically and used to update a
central database.
Accurate data may then be produced illustrating which consumers or groups of
consumers
are redeeming which incentives.
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U.S. Published Application No. 2011/0029368 describes a system for handling
electronic coupons which accesses information indicating association of an
electronic coupon
with an account of a user that identifies multiple retail entities associated
with the user.
Information indicating association of electronic coupons with the user's
account may be
transmitted to respective computer systems associated with the multiple retail
entities. The
computer systems may associate electronic coupons with the user such that the
user may
redeem the electronic coupons at a retail store upon presentation of a user
identifier. When
the user redeems an electronic coupon, cancellation information for the
electronic coupon
may be transmitted to the computer systems of other retail entities associated
with the user.
Receipt of the cancellation information may cause the respective computer
systems to cancel
the redeemability of the electronic coupon such that the user is prevented
from redeeming the
electronic coupon at a retail store associated with the corresponding retail
entity.
U.S. Published Application No. 2005/0222906 describes a method for providing
at
least one targeted local marketing program and for measuring the effectiveness
of the at least
one targeted local marketing program. The method includes generating at least
one targeted
message in accordance with instructions of at least one retailer, forwarding
the at least one
targeted message to a plurality of select customers, and monitoring responses
from the
plurality of select customers via an identification methodology. The
monitoring allows for a
determination of the effectiveness of the at least one marketing program,
where the targeted
messages attract customers to retailers by targeting the plurality of select
customers with
incentives.
U.S. Patent No. 6,912,505 describes methods for monitoring user browsing
activities
that indicate user interests in particular products or other items, and for
using such
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infoiniation to identify items that are related to one another. Relationships
between products
within an online catalog are determined by identifying products that are
frequently viewed by
users within the same browsing session (e.g., products A and B are related
because a
significant portion of those who viewed A also viewed B). The resulting item
relatedness
data is preferably stored in a table that maps items to sets of related items.
The table may be
used to provide personalized product recommendations to users, and/or to
supplement
product detail pages with lists of related products. The table is used to
provide session-
specific product recommendations to users that are based on the products
viewed by the user
during the current browsing session.
U.S. Patent No. 7,174,312 describes a user-personalized product sampling,
recommendation and purchasing system that uses customer identification numbers
and
associated customer profile data to tailor specific product recommendations to
a customer at
a content sampling station of a retail location. The customer also can use her
customer
profile to receive the same information from an Internet website of the
merchant. In-store
sampling stations also may have the capability of checking store inventory and
central
warehouse inventory and providing recommendations to the customer in
accordance with
product availability, and optionally may provide the customer with the ability
to place
product orders directly through the sampling station. The recommendation
system also can
be used to tailor product recommendations in accordance with a rule-based
model and real-
time inventory data from a point-of-sale (POS) database.
U.S. Published Application No. 2004/0177003 describes a system for
distributing
adaptive electronic coupons to a user. Electronic coupon metadata
automatically changes
redemption characteristics of a coupon based upon predeteiniined conditions
relating to
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personal data of the user and a redemption environment. A redemption system
honors the
adaptive electronic coupon at a time and place of redemption based on the
predetermined
conditions relating to the personal data of the user and the redemption
environment.
U.S. Patent Nos. 6,484,146, 7,024,374, and 7,398,348 describe systems for
presenting
customized special offers to customers, the special offers including targeted
offers to a
customer selected from a plurality of customers, and for collecting purchasing
behavior
information concerning the customers which utilize customer cards having
machine readable
card information indicating at least identification of the card with a
particular customer
account.
While the systems and method described in these references (which references
are
incorporated herein by reference in their entirety) generally work for their
intended purpose,
the invention described hereinafter provides much needed improvements thereto.
SUMMARY
Described hereinafter is a system and method for collecting data points from a
customer and for using the collected data points to provide a customer with
customer specific
product and/or service offerings, customer relevant information, and the like.
By way of
example, the collected data points may include products viewed by a customer
while in a
retail establishment, reasons for viewing the products (which are typically
indicative of a life
event for the customer), etc. In addition or alternatively, the collected data
points may
include information related to a service call at a customer's home, a service
center visit (e.g.,
at a vehicle service center) by customer, a conversational exchange between a
customer and a
customer care representative (e.g., by phone, email, on-line chat, etc.), and
the like. The
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customer specific offerings may include incentives (e.g., discounts, coupons,
sweepstake
entries, etc.), product recommendations, service recommendations, and the like
selected for
the customer. The customer relevant information may include information
relating to a
product purchased by the customer (e.g., product warranties, instruction
manuals, etc.) and/or
to a life event of the customer (e.g., information relevant to a customer that
is moving, doing
home improvements, getting married, etc.).
In described embodiments, the subject system resides on a retailer computer
system
that receives from a first computing device, such as a tablet computing device
operated by a
sales associate (e.g., in store, in a service center, in the customer's home,
etc.), a shopping
and/or service recap, e.g., data points indicative of one or more products
and/or services that
were shown to and/or provided to a customer by the sales associate. The recap
process may
also be used to capture from the customer answers to posed questions relating
to life events
of the customer, e.g., is the customer moving, replacing a broken product,
getting married,
etc. Such information could also be obtained from the customer during
interaction with the
customer and/or in connection with the customer signing up to become a member
of the
recap services. The received recap is then stored within a data repository
with the recap being
linked to a customer identifier that is associated with the customer and an
associate identifier
that is associated with the sale associate, service technician, customer care
representative, or
the like that interacted with the customer. The recap can also be shared with
the customer,
for example by email, to entice the customer to purchase the one or more
products and/or
service that were shown to and/or made available to the customer and/or to
collect further
data points from the customer. If the customer later purchases a product,
service, etc. either
on-line or in a store, data indicative of the product being purchased is
compared against data
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within any recap that is linked to that customer to determine if a sales
associate, service
technician, customer care representative, etc. that is also linked to any
recap of the customer
is to be awarded a commission for a resulting transaction, e.g., it is
determined whether or
not the product and/or or service being purchased is one that the customer was
made aware of
by a sales associate, service technician, etc. or is one that is otherwise
related to a product
and/or service that the customer was made aware of a sale associate, service
technician, etc.
The purchase of the product and/or service by the customer may further
generate a
digital receipt where the digital receipt includes a notice that the customer
is being awarded
an incentive, such as a coupon, entry into a sweepstake, etc. The provided
incentives may be
in the form of digital incentives where the digital incentives may be linked
to a customer
loyalty account and, thereby, be automatically redeemable. Meanwhile, the
captured life
event data may be used to cause the transmission of targeted communications to
the customer
where the targeted communications are provided to the customer to assist the
customer in
addressing various issues/mind sets that typically arise during the course of
the life event. As
will be appreciated, by use of the incentives and life event communications,
still further data
points may be collected from the customer. These additionally collected data
points can then
be used to maintain an ongoing dialog with the customer and, thereby, provide
the customer
with still further relevant product offerings and/or information.
While the forgoing provides a general overview of some of the various features
and
functionalities of the subject invention, a better understanding of the
objects, advantages,
features, properties, and relationships of the subject invention will be
obtained from the
following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth
illustrative
embodiments and which are indicative of the various ways in which the
principles of the
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subject invention may be employed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a better understanding of the subject invention, reference may be had to
preferred
embodiments shown in the attached drawings in which:
Figure 1 illustrates in block diagram foini components of an exemplary system
for
collecting data points from a customer and for using the same to generate a
recap;
Figure 2 illustrates a flow chart diagram of exemplary steps used to collect
data points
from a customer and for using the collected data points to provide customer
specific
incentives, customer specific infoiniation, sales associate commissions,
and/or the like in
association with the recap process;
Figures 3-14 illustrate exemplary screen shots of a recap application running
on a
tablet computing device as used to collect data points from a customer related
to product
purchasing events;
Figures 15 and 16 illustrate a decision matrix for sending targeted
communications to
a customer considering an exemplary life event of moving;
Figures 17 and 18 illustrate exemplary steps for obtaining data points related
to a
service center visit and for using the same to generate a recap;
Figure 19 illustrates exemplary channels available to touch a customer in
connection
with the service center visit;
Figure 20 illustrates an exemplary web page of an Internet usable to touch a
customer
in connection with the service center visit;
Figure 21 illustrates exemplary steps for obtaining data points related to an
in-home
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service visit and for using the same to generate a recap;
Figure 22 illustrates exemplary channels available to touch a customer in
connection
with the in-home service visit;
Figure 23 illustrates exemplary steps for obtaining data points related to a
customer
care exchange and for using the same to generate a recap; and
Figures 24-26 illustrate exemplary recaps generated using the data points
obtained in
connection with a customer care exchange.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
With reference to the figures, the following describes a system and method for
collecting data points from a customer, for using the collected data points to
provide
customer specific offerings, incentives, information, and the like, and for
rewarding sales
associates, service technicians, and/or customer call representatives
(individually and
collectively referred to hereinafter as "sales associates") based upon their
involvement in the
process.
Turning to Fig. 1, illustrated is an exemplary system for collecting data
points from a
customer and for using the collected data points to provide enhanced retail
services in a
manner that is described in greater detail hereinafter. As illustrated, the
exemplary system
includes a processing device 20 whereby a user, e.g., a customer and/or a
sales associate,
may register the customer with and/or otherwise access an online retail
channel hosted by a
retailer system 68 associated with one or more retail establishments to, among
other things,
view and purchase product being offered for sale by the retail
establishment(s) create and/or
view recaps, etc. As will be appreciated, during the registration process a
log-in
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name/password combination may be established for the customer to thereby
provide secure
and recognized access to the retailer system 68 (which information and/or
cookies provided
to the processing device 20 will additionally allow the retailer system 68 to
track data points
associated with the online usage of the retailer system 68 by the customer -
such as pages
viewed, products purchased, etc.) with additional information also being
obtained, e.g., a
contact email address, phone number, demographic information such as age,
gender,
preferences, interests, etc. As a result of the registration process, the
customer will
additionally be associated with a unique customer ID, which customer ID may,
but need not,
be reflected on a physical and/or digital rewards card that will be provided
to the customer.
For example, the customer ID may be reflected in a device having a machine
readable code,
such as a barcode imprinted on a physical rewards card or be otherwise
displayable/transmittable via use of a device such as a smart phone. Using the
same or
another processing device, the customer may additionally receive from the
retailer system 68
digital incentives or other communications that will be associated with their
customer ID.
While illustrated in the exemplary form of a personal computer, it is to be
understood that the
processing device 20 may be embodied in any type of device having the ability
to execute
instructions such as, by way of example only, a personal-digital assistant
("PDA"), a smart
phone, a tablet computing device, or the like. Furthermore, while described
and illustrated in
the context of a single processing device 20, those skilled in the art will
also appreciate that
the various tasks described herein may be practiced in a distributed or cloud
environment
having multiple processing devices linked via a local or wide-area network,
such as the
Internet, whereby the executable instructions may be associated with and/or
executed by one
or more of the multiple processing devices.
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More particularly, to provide a means for a user, e.g., a customer and/or a
sales
associate, to access the online channel of the retailer(s) (and to perfolin
various tasks as
necessary) the processing device 20 preferably includes a processing unit 22
and a system
memory 24 which may be linked via a bus 26. Without limitation, the bus 26 may
be a
memory bus, a peripheral bus, and/or a local bus using any of a variety of
known bus
architectures. As needed for any particular purpose, the system memory 24 may
include read
only memory (ROM) 28 and/or random access memory (RAM) 30. Additional memory
devices may also be made accessible to the processing device 20 by means of,
for example, a
hard disk drive interface 32, a magnetic disk drive interface 34, and/or an
optical disk drive
interface 36. As will be understood, these devices, which would be linked to
the system bus
26, respectively allow for reading from and writing to a hard disk 38, reading
from or writing
to a removable magnetic disk 40, and for reading from or writing to a
removable optical disk
42, such as a CD/DVD ROM or other optical media. The drive interfaces and
their
associated physically embodied, i.e., non-transitory, computer-readable media
allow for the
storage of instructions, data structures, program modules, and the like for
execution by the
processing unit 22 of the processing device 20. Those skilled in the art will
further
appreciate that other types of physically embodied computer-readable media
that can store
data and/or executable instructions may be used for this same purpose.
Examples of such
media devices include, but are not limited to, magnetic cassettes, flash
memory cards, digital
videodisks, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memories, nano-drives, memory
sticks, and
other read/write and/or read-only memories. Meanwhile, the program modules
that may be
stored in one or more of the memory/media devices may include a basic
input/output system
(BIOS) 44 which contains the basic routines that help to transfer infonnation
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elements within the processing device 20, such as during start-up, an
operating system 46,
one or more applications programs 48 (such as a Web browser), other program
modules 50,
and/or program data 52.
To allow a user to enter commands and information into the processing device
20,
e.g., to create or upload task related instructions, to search for and
purchase product, to
indicate how an order for product is to be fulfilled, to schedule a service
appointment, etc.,
input devices such as a touch pad or keyboard 54 and/or a pointing device 56
are provided.
While not illustrated, other input devices may include a microphone, a
joystick, a game pad,
a scanner, a camera, etc. These and other input devices would typically be
connected to the
processing unit 22 by means of an interface 58 which, in turn, would be
coupled to the bus
26. Input devices may be connected to the processor 22 using interfaces such
as, for
example, a parallel port, game port, firewire, or a universal serial bus
(USB). To view
information from the processing device 20, a monitor 60 or other type of
display device may
also be connected to the bus 26 via an interface, such as a video adapter 62.
In addition to
the monitor 60, the processing device 20 may also include other peripheral
output devices,
not shown, such as speakers and printers.
As noted above, the processing device 20 may also utilize logical connections
to one
or more remote processing devices, such as a retailer system 68 having
associated data
repository 68A. As will be understood, the data repository 68A may maintain a
database of
product that is being sold by the retailer(s), customer related information
(including
information concerning past purchasing histories of particular customers,
product viewing
histories of particular customers, demographic information for particular
customers,
incentives available for and/or being offered to particular customers, etc.),
financial
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information, and the like type of data used in commerce. While the retailer
system 68 has
been illustrated in the exemplary form of a system server computer, it will be
appreciated that
the retailer system 68 may, like processing device 20, be any type of device
having
processing capabilities. Similarly, it will be appreciated that the retailer
system 68 need not
be implemented as a single device but may be implemented in a manner such that
the tasks
performed by the retailer system 68 are distributed amongst a plurality of
processing
devices/databases located at the same or different geographical locations and
linked through
a communication network. Additionally, the retailer system 68 may have logical
connections
to other third party systems 80 via the network 12 and, via such connections,
will be
associated with functions that are supported by and data repositories that are
linked to such
other third party systems. Such third party systems may include, without
limitation, systems
of banking, credit, or other financial institutions, systems of third party
providers of product,
systems of shipping/delivery companies, systems that support social
networking, etc.
For performing tasks as needed, the retailer system 68 may include many or all
of the
elements described above relative to the processing device 20. In addition,
the retailer
system 68 would generally include executable instructions that are likewise
stored on
physically embodied memory devices for, among other things, supporting online
retail
channel services, supporting physical retail channel services, i.e., in store,
maintaining
records, etc. The retailer system 68 may thus include links to point-of-sale
(POS) devices,
e.g., cash registers, that are located within one or more retail stores
without limitation. As
will also be described in greater detail hereinafter, the retailer system 68
further has
instructions for storing and using captured information related to products
that a customer is
viewing while in a retail establishment (e.g., as captured by a sales
associate using a
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processing device 20') to, among other things, provide customer specific
incentives. To this
end, the system may incorporate a recommendation or selection engine which
utilizes
techniques to discern relationships in a manner similar to the engines
described in the
references listed in the background section of this document.
Communications between the processing devices 20/20' and the retailer system
68
may be exchanged via a further processing device, such as a network router,
that is
responsible for network routing. Communications with the network router may be
perfoimed
via a network interface component 73. Thus, within such a networked
environment, e.g., the
Internet, World Wide Web, LAN, or other like type of wired or wireless
network, it will be
appreciated that program modules depicted relative to the processing devices
20/20', or
portions thereof, may be stored in the memory storage device(s) associated
with the retailer
system 68.
As noted above, the retailer system 68 includes instructions for storing and
using data
points collected about a customer to, among other things, provide customer
specific offerings
and/or infomiational services. The collected data points may be reflective of
a specific
customer's online experiences with the retailer system 68, the specific
customer's in-store
experiences with one or more retail establishment(s), the specific customer's
in-home
experiences with a service technician, the specific customer's interactions
with a customer
service representative, etc., i.e., the captured data points are preferably
reflective of the multi-
channel experiences of a specific customer. The data points reflective of the
customer's
online experiences may include products viewed while online, products
purchased while
online, products placed into one or more lists (e.g., a wish list, shopping
cart list, etc.),
product infoimation captured by the customer (e.g., via use of a mobile
barcode scanning
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application), expressed or inferred interests of the customer, expressed or
inferred
communities for that customer (e.g., as indicated by online social network
links), etc.
Demographic data points for the customer (e.g., residence address, gender,
age, marital
status, etc.) may also be captured via the online channel or may be provided
by the customer
while interacting with the sales associate. Data points captured via the in-
store retail channel
may similarly include data points reflective of products viewed while the
customer is within
a store, products and/or services purchased within a store, questions asked
while in the store,
etc. Similar data points could be captured by an in-home service technician
and by a
customer care representative. The data points collected online, in-home, over
the phone, in-
store, etc. e.g., via an ongoing dialog with the customer, may also be
indicative of one or
more life events of the customer, e.g., the customer is moving, replacing
product, getting
married, etc. As discussed above, such data points captured for a specific
customer would be
associated with a customer ID, e.g., phone number, email address, a physical
or digital
rewards card having an associated machine readable indicia, or the like.
For collecting data points from a specific customer while that customer is
within a
retail establishment, it is contemplated that a recap procedure may be
utilized as generally
illustrated in Fig. 2. By way of non-limiting example, the recap procedure may
be initiated
by a customer meeting 202 with a sales associate in the retail establishment
whereupon the
sales associate will show the customer one or more products that may be of
interest to the
customer. While not required, the products to be shown to the customer by the
sales
associate may be pre-designated by the customer before their arrival to the
retail
establishment, for example by being specified in an online generated list 204.
In connection
with the generation of the online list, an appointment may be made to meet the
sales
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associate at a given time at a given store location. As will be appreciated,
any list generated
in this manner is preferably routed to a sales associate, for example to their
processing device
20', prior to the scheduled appointment to thereby allow the sales associate
to gather or
otherwise locate within the retail establishment the product(s) of interest.
When a list is
generated online in this manner, any data points captured during the online
session that was
used to generate the list, e.g., products viewed, added to the list, etc., may
also be associated
with that particular customer for later reference and use by the system. Data
points regarding
online activities may be captured and associated with the customer via use of
their log-in
infoimation, provided customer ID, a stored cookie, or the like. In the event
that such data
points are not captured during the online list generation process, e.g., the
customer did not
register with the retailer system 68 when creating the list, the customer did
not create a list
prior to entering the store, etc., data points with respect to the products
viewed by the
customer may nevertheless by captured by the sales associate during the
product review with
the customer, e.g., the sales associate may register the customer with the
system as part of the
product review process and enter data points 206 indicative of products being
shown to the
customer, demographic infounation, etc. into their processing device 20' as
needed for
uploading 208 to the retailer system 68. Such in-store, captured data points
will be saved
into a customer's profile that is linked to the customer ID whereupon it will
be available for
use by the engine that is provided to deteimine offers/coupons and the like
for customers. In
the event that a customer decided to purchase any of the items that are shown
to the customer
during this meeting, the purchase of such items would also be captured by the
system, e.g., at
the POS, and the data points related to such purchase(s) would be similarly
saved into the
customer's profile. If the customer is not ready to make a purchase and wants
to think about
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it, the sales associate can then interact with the system to cause a detailed
recap to be sent to
the customer. The recap may be in the form of an email that lists all the
items the sales
associate showed to the customers as well as associate's personal notes on
each item.
Alternatively or in addition to sending an email, the recap may be made
available to the
customer via online access to the retailer system 68 or via an "app" provided
to the customer
for use on their smart phone, tablet, or the like.
Through use of the recap provided to the customer 210, the customer can return
to a
store associated with the retailer to complete their purchase 212 and/or the
customer may
interact with the recap to go online and review all the items they were shown
in the store and
also see the associate's notes on each item. The recap may additionally
provide links
whereby the consumer can add product(s) to their shopping cart and complete
their purchase
online 214 in an otherwise conventional manner. As will be appreciated, data
points
associated with a purchase of a product, whether online or in-store, and/or
data points
associated with the customer viewing product online is again preferably
captured and
uploaded 216 to the system server 68 for inclusion in the customer's profile.
By way of more specific example, reference is made to Figs. 3-14 which
illustrate a
method by which a sales associate captures data points for a customer via use
of a table
computing device. It will be appreciated that a smart phone or the like could
also be used by
a sales associate in the same or similar manner to achieve the same end. As
such, the
illustrated example is not intended to be limiting.
As shown in Fig. 3, when a customer meets with the sales associate, the sales
associate opens up an assisted selling tool app on their device 20' and
provides their log-in
information 300. The log-in information provided will be used to link the
sales associate
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with the to-be-created shopping recap for the various reasons described
hereinafter. At this
time, the assisted selling tool app may additionally present, for viewing by
the customer
and/or the sales associate, messaging in a window 302. This messaging may
display
advertisements and/or video messages for various business units and/or vendors
within the
retailer network to advertise key messages, offerings, and the like. For
example, a slideshow
of messages can be displayed and advertisements can be selected by clicking on
presented
links. It is contemplated that the advertisements can be dynamic and updated
in real-time as
needed to convey desired information. The advertisements can also be specific
to key
shopping time frames (e.g., Christmas) or used to communicate new arrivals,
special offers,
weather related messages, or even price changes in response to competition at
the local level.
Still further, it is contemplated that various entities within the retailer
network can bid to
advertise in this space. Clicking on a presented advertisement may further
function to take
the device to a specific page of product listings, e.g., appliances, clothing,
or the like.
After the sales associate has logged into the system, the sales associate may
then start
collecting data points that are reflective of the interests of the customer.
In this illustrated
example, the sales associate interacts with the device 20' to indicate a
category of product
(e.g., "lawn and garden" as shown in Fig. 4) and a specific type of product
within that
category (e.g., "riding mowers and tractors" as shown Fig. 5) that the
customer has expressed
an interested in viewing. In addition, the sales associate will collect data
points reflective of
the needs of the customer as shown in Fig. 6. For example, the system can seek
responses
from the customer to various questions to obtain information indicative of
intended uses and
needs for the product of interest as well as information indicative of
customer life events.
The information indicative of intended uses and needs for the product of
interest will be used
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by the system to narrow down product choices for the customer while the
information
indicative of life events (e.g., why is the customer interested in purchasing
the product) will
be used by the system to establish an on going dialog with the customer as
described in
greater detail hereinafter. As will be appreciated, the questions posed to the
customer in this
stage of the process may be varied as needed depending upon, for example, the
category of
product that is of interest to the customer. As answers to the posed questions
are provided,
with the answers preferably being highlighted for ease of confirmation
purposes (e.g., by a
black boundary 602), the system may continually update, in real time, the
number of
products 604 that meet the currently obtained selection criteria. Clicking on
the "results"
indicator may then take the sales associate to a listing of the products as
shown in Fig. 7. In
addition, or alternatively, with the listing of products, the system may ask
that the sales
associate obtain still further information from the customer to assist in
narrowing down the
customer's choices as shown in Fig. 8. In any event, when the choices have
been narrowed
to the satisfaction of the customer, the sales associate may then walk the
customer around the
store to show the customer product at which time the sales associate may add
any of the
product located via use of the computing device 20' (as well as any notations
related thereto)
to the recap product listing as shown, for example, in Fig. 9. It will also be
appreciated that
additional product shown to the customer during this in-store showing may also
be added to
the recap product listing, for example, by simply scanning the barcode of such
product using
the computing device 20'.
When the sales associate and the customer have finished the in-store review
process,
the sales associate may then bring up the listing of product that was
indicated by the
customer to be of interest as shown in Fig. 10. From this page, detailed
information 1002
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related to any of the product can be viewed, product can be added to a
shopping cart
associated with the customer (e.g., for immediate purchase or purchase via the
on-line
channel) or removed from the listing 1004, a notification can be presented to
the sales
associate 1006 that a recap alert is pending (which recap can be sent to the
customer via
activation of link 1008), and/or the sales associate may interact with the
device 20' to
proceed with the purchase of any product 1010. In the event that a recap is to
be sent to the
customer, the sales associate will proceed to initiate a customer look-up (or
otherwise register
the customer with the system) as shown in Fig. 11 at which time the recap will
be linked to a
customer identifier, such as their frequent shopper account. Before sending
the recap to the
customer, the sales associate may also provide any additional notes that might
be appropriate
for the customer and/or indicate any reminder "follow-up" dates as further
illustrated. In the
event that a customer indicates a desire to purchase any of the product, e.g.,
product added to
the shopping cart, the system may determine if the product is available at the
current retailer
location and/or via on-line purchase and, if so, the customer information is
gathered (similar
to the manner described above whereby the recap and purchasing data points are
linked to the
customer identifier) and any payment, delivery, etc. information is capture
either via use of
the device 20' or at a POS device as shown in Figs. 12 and 13.
In connection with a purchase of a product, the customer may be issued a print
receipt
and/or a digital receipt as further illustrated in Fig. 13. Any product
related references, such
as user manuals, how to videos, or the like, can also be provided digitally to
the customer
with the purchase of a product. More particularly, the digital receipt, an
example of which is
illustrated in Fig. 14, may include a recap of the purchase 1402, an ad
circular 1404 with
recommendations for (and links to purchase) additional product related to the
purchase,
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related to calendar dates (e.g., Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc.), and/or
related to a life event
of the customer (e.g., moving boxes), a means 1406 for a customer to provide
feedback with
respect to the process, information 1408 for returning/exchanging the process,
links 1410 to
product detail information, user's manuals, how-to videos, warranty
information, protections
agreements, etc., and links 1412 to social networks (e.g., to share the
purchase with a friend).
When a customer ultimately purchases a product that was shown to the customer
by a
sales associate as described above, the purchase is preferably tracked back to
the recap and
the associate that sent the recap is provided with a paid commission. To this
end, the recap is
preferably also linked to a sales associate ID whereby, when a given customer
purchases an
item, e.g., a product is scanned at the POS or purchased online by a known
customer, the
system will determine if the product is linked to a particular recap for that
customer and, if
so, will determine from the sales associate ID also linked to that recap which
sales associate
is to be paid the commission.
In certain circumstances it is contemplated that a recap might not lead to a
purchase
of a product that was actually shown to a customer by a sales associate but
might instead lead
to a purchase of a related product, e.g., a product that is displayed as a
recommendation in
the recap email and/or on a webpage that displays a product shown to the
customer during
their visit to the retail establishment, etc. In the event that a customer
purchases such a
related product, a partial commission may be paid to the sales associate. By
way of non-
limiting example, a sales associate may show a customer lawn mowers 1, 2, and
3 during
their visit but the customer ultimately purchases lawn mower 4. If the
customer was exposed
to lawn mower 4 as a result of lawn mower 4 being related to any of lawn
mowers 1, 2, or 3,
e.g., the customer saw lawn mower 4 as a recommendation presented in a
carousel displayed
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in the recap email, in a product detail page for any of items 1, 2, or 3,
etc., which
recommendations may appear under the heading "people who viewed product X
bought
product Y," the sales associate will be paid a partial commission or spiff
since the customer
didn't buy the exact same product the sale associate presented but did buy
something in same
"line" or same "division" as the product(s) the customer was shown. While
described in the
context of "people who viewed X, also purchased Y," it will be appreciated
that related
products may also be presented as listing of known accessories for a product
shown to a
customer, e.g., presented under a heading "attachments to go with this
product," or the like.
To provide sales commissions in this manner, it will be appreciated that the
database will
additionally maintain links between the sales associate ID, the recap, and
products known to
be related to the products within the recap.
Yet further, it is contemplated that a commission may be provided to the sales
associate that performed the initial product review with the customer in the
event that the
customer returns to the store and a different sales associate finalizes the
purchase of a
product previously shown to the customer. For example, a circumstance may
arise where
sales associate 1 sends the recap email with the list of products shown to the
customer yet,
when the customer returns to the store (or goes to a different store within
the retail network),
sales associate 1 is not working and sales associate 2 meets with the customer
and asks who
they worked with previously. Because sales associate 1 is not in the store,
sales associate 2
pulls up the "lead" or recap and helps the customer make a purchase. In such a
case, a partial
commission or spiff may still be provided to sales associate 1 (since they
entered the recap)
while a full commission may be provided to sales associate 2 (who made the
sale).
As described previously, when the customer makes a purchase of a product, the
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customer will be provided 218 with a digital receipt of the purchase, e.g., in
an email, via the
recap app, or the like. The digital receipt will additionally include a
described incentive, e.g.,
a coupon which is available for immediate use, that is selected particularly
for that customer,
i.e., a personalized incentive. For example, a message may be provided with
the digital
receipt which states: "Thank you for being a valued rewards member. To make
sure you get
the most out of your benefits, we have auto-loaded the following coupon(s) to
your rewards
account. All you have to do is go the store and give your account number,
email, or mobile
number at the time of checkout - and see all the coupons applied to your
purchase." Because
the incentive will be automatically linked to the customer, when a product or
products
associated with the provided incentive is purchased by the customer (whether
online or at the
POS), the SKU or UPC code of the product or products being purchased will be
compared
against a list of incentives authorized for that particular consumer and an
appropriate
discount or reward - if applicable - will then be automatically applied to the
purchase. At this
time, the incentive may be considered "redeemed" and, once redeemed, the
customer's
information and incentive information is used to update the database. In this
manner,
multiple redemptions of an incentive is avoided while accurate data is
produced for
customers illustrating which customers or groups of customers are redeeming
which
incentives.
To provide personalized incentives, the system utilizes an engine that
determines
which offers/coupons should be provided to a given customer given certain
information
about that customer as noted above. More particularly, the information that is
preferably
provided to the engine includes, but need not be limited to, one or more of:
information
gathered for the customer during their recap experience; profitability of the
customer;
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demographics, preferences, and interests for the customer; past purchasing
history for the
customer; browsing/viewing behaviors of the customer; previous spending and
shopping
frequency history for the customer; life stages for the customer; items
scanned by the
customer via use of a mobile app; proximity of the customer to a store within
the retail
network; and past incentive redemption history of the customer. The engine
considers such
information 220 against a database of available coupons/offers 222, using
appropriate
business rules 224 (e.g., by providing weights to the various data points
collected and
weights to the various coupons/offers), to select which offers are most
relevant to a given
customer, i.e., to select which offers should be provided to a given customer.
In addition, the
business rules used to select which offers to provide to a given customer may
additionally
consider data points such as minimum purchasing thresholds applicable to a
given incentive,
the number of incentives that can be redeemed in a single purchase, which
incentives can be
stacked, and/or whether loyalty rewards would be more effective for the
customer than
providing a discount coupon as an incentive. By way of example, a loyalty
reward may be a
reward wherein X number of points are earned for every $1.00 spent (which
points may be
multiplied for one or more tiers of bonus members) whereupon, when shopping in
a store or
online, a customer need only scan their loyalty card, provide a PIN, their
phone number,
email address, or the like as appropriate - all of which are "customer IDs" -
to receive a
discount worth $1.00 in value for every Y number of points the customer elects
to redeem.
Personalized incentives may further be provided to customers based on
additional triggers
226, such as calendar dates or the like.
It is further contemplated that the ability to receive such personalized
awards may
also be limited to select customers, e.g., customers having a history of high
spending (e.g.,
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have a previous purchasing history over a given dollar amount) and/or are high
margin
shoppers and/or are high frequency shoppers and/or have a history of using
coupons. Thus,
members meeting any such criteria may be provided with an invite to join the
subject
rewards program.
It is additionally contemplated that a customer that participates in the recap
experience may be provided with a follow-up communication, such as a
sweepstakes entry or
the like (which may be sent with a recap, a digital receipt, or otherwise), by
which the system
can obtain further data points with respect to a life event of the customer.
For example, if a
customer has indicated (as described previously) that they intend to move, the
follow-up
communication can seek to find where the customer is moving to, what type of
home they
are they are moving from and into, when they are moving, etc. With these
additional data
points, the system can then send targeted messages and/or offers to the
customer as
appropriate. Specifically, these data points can trigger the sending of
targeted messages
related to the locale into which the user is moving (e.g., stores located
nearby, information
generally relating to the area such as school information, tasks to be
performed to when
leaving their current home and upon arriving at their new home, and the like),
offers for
products the customer might need to assist in the move, might need in
establishing a new
household, and/or might otherwise need at their new locale given various
conditions such as
weather conditions at the new locale or the like (which communications would
be sent at the
appropriate time given their indicated move date), etc. Thus, data points
collected in this
manner can trigger the sending of relevant information/instructions, offers,
incentives, and
the like as shown in Fig. 16 based upon the perceived customer mindset/focus
at various
times during the course of any indicated life event as shown by in Fig. 15. As
discussed
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previously, data points collected via any such additional exchanges with the
customer will
allow the system to maintain an ongoing dialog with the customer whereby the
system may
continually adjust to the needs and requirements of the customer.
From the foregoing it will be additionally appreciated that the recaps and any
purchases resulting therefrom may remain accessible to customers (e.g., to
allow a customer
to review their "stuff," access product warranties or user's manuals, etc.),
may be integrated
into other functional components provided by the system (e.g., to provide a
customer with
reminders that parts for purchased product need to be replaced or repaired),
etc., and/or be
viewed by sales associates (e.g., to review commissions earned, to send follow-
ups, etc) as
needed.
Although the above describes various concepts for using data points collected
during
an in-store product shopping experience, it is to be appreciated that data
points can be
collected by sales associates during other customer experiences, such as
during a service
center visit, during an in-home service visit, during a conversation with a
customer care
technician, etc. Similarly, it will be appreciated that such data points can
be added to a recap
and/or be the subject of their own recap. Such recaps can then be used to
collect further data
points and to incentivize the customer in the manners that were also described
above, i.e. to
maintain an on-going dialog with the customer. It will also be appreciated
that service
technicians, customer care representatives, etc. can be rewarded for
generating business via
use of such a recap process in the same or similar manners as described above.
Considering Figs. 17 and 18, an example method for collecting data points
during a
service center visit is illustrated. In the illustrated example, when a
customer visits 1702 the
service center, e.g., a vehicle repair center, data points related to the
visit are collected from
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the customer 1704. Such data points may include information about the customer
(name,
contact information such as email, phone number, etc, and the like as
discussed above),
service(s) being requested, the product(s) to be serviced, product(s) that the
customer would
like to purchase in connection with the service(s), etc. While not required,
when the
performance of any requested services will take longer than a given time to
perform, e.g.,
more than three hours, a service tracker system 1706 can be invoked which will
function to
provide service related updates to the customer via one or more of the contact
channels
provided by the system. For example, when a service technician completes each
of the
requested service tasks, the service technician can use their device 20' to
update a recap app
which update can then trigger the retailer system 68 to issue an email alert,
sms message, or
the like to inform the customer as to the current status of the requested
services, e.g., vehicle
diagnostics completed, service started. Before any such status messages are
sent to the
customer, permission for the sending of such status messages 1708 may be
obtained from the
customer. The sending of status messages in this manner may also be performed
for any
service call and need not be limited to only those that will take longer than
a given time.
Furthermore, the sales associate(s) involved with the service center visit
should be made
known to the customer and should be associated with any service recap that
will be created as
a result of this customer visit for the reasons discussed previously.
In the event that additional problems that might need further servicing are
uncovered
during the requested repair services 1710, such further data points may be
captured for
inclusion in the recap via use of the app on device 20'. In connection with
the capturing of
such data points, the retailer system 68 may respond by causing a
communication to be sent
to the customer 1712 to inform the customer of the uncovered issues. The
customer may
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respond to the communication by requesting that any further needed service(s)
be performed
whereupon the steps above described will be repeated.
When no further related services are required, the data points captured by the
sales
associate related to the requested services may be placed into a recap which
is to be sent to
the customer 1716 as described above. For example, the recap may list the
services
performed, the products replaced/repaired, further services that may need to
be performed,
further product that may need to be purchased, and the like. The recap may
also include
links to related products/services, links for coupons or other incentives, as
well as a link to a
"virtual glove box" by which the customer can access, via the on-line channel,
all of the prior
services and other information related to product that has received service.
The recap may
additionally include a digital receipt in lieu of or together with a
conventional print receipt.
Still further, the recap may provide the customer with the ability to rate
their experience.
Thus, the recap again provides a means to capture additional data points from
the customer to
thereby enhance and maintain an on-going relationship with the customer.
In certain circumstances, the customer may pre-arrange their service visit as
illustrated in Fig. 18. To this end, the customer may access via their device
20 a scheduler
1802A-D which provides user interface elements by which the customer provides
data points
related to the product(s) to be serviced and the service(s) requested. In the
exemplary
instance where a customer desires to schedule a car repair service, the data
points collected
from the customer may include, without limitation, customer information 1804,
vehicle
information 1806, and a selection of service(s) 1808 to be performed on the
vehicle. In
connection with the scheduling of the service(s), the user interface may
function to inform
the customer of the nearest service center 1810 (considering a provided zip
code, location
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data taken from a network or device, and/or the like) and the normal operating
hours of the
service center to thereby allow the user to better select preferences for an
appointment 1812A
and an appointment time and date 1812B. Considering the data points provided
about the
product to be repaired, e.g., the vehicle, the system may additionally present
to the customer
services suggestions 1814 for that product (e.g., considering its age, usages,
etc.). Upon
completion of the service request booking, the data points collected will be
provided to the
retail system server 68 whereupon the collected data points will be available
for the various
uses in keeping with the disclosure set forth above. A confirmation of the
service request
booking 1814 may also be provided to the customer at this time.
Turning now to Fig. 19, an exemplary customer interaction diagram is
illustrated
which depicts the various interaction points with the customer during the
processes described
above, particularly as concerns a customer, in-store, vehicle repair service
visit. As will be
appreciated from the descriptions above, in this exemplary context, the vendor
will have
access to the customer via use of multiple different channels each of which
provides the
vendor with the ability to collect still further data points from the customer
and/or to
maintain an on-going dialog with the customer. For example, and without
limitation, such
channels may include a channel that uses the above described mobile app 1902
(used to
collect customer information, collect product information, collect service
information,
provide notifications, provide history information, provide access to other
channels, and/or
the like), sales associate operated in-store app or other program 1904 (used
to collect product
viewing information, collect product purchase information, collect product
repair
information, provide history information, provide product purchasing
recommendations,
provide service recommendations, provide notifications, provide access to
other channels,
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and/or the like), website 1906 (used to collect customer information, provide
history
information, provide reminders, provide offers, provide notifications, provide
access to other
channels, and/or the like), SMS messaging services 1908 (used to provide
reminders, provide
notices, provide access to other channels, and/or the like), email messaging
services 1910
(used to provide recaps, provide reminders, provide notifications, provide
offers, provide
access to other channels, and/or the like), and social networking services
1912 (used to
facilitate exchanges of information between members, provide notifications,
provide offers,
provide reminders, provide access to other channels and/or the like).
To maintain an on-going dialog with the customer via use of the website
channel
1906, the vendor may utilize the website channel to, as noted above, provide
the customer
with access to history information, offerings, and/or the like as shown in
Fig. 20. In keeping
with the example of a vehicle service related interaction between the customer
and the
vendor, which example is not intended to be limiting, the vendor may provide
for the
customer via one or more web pages 2002A-2002C of the website channel
information about
the product 2004 that was (or will be) serviced, service history and product
health related
information 2006A and 2006B (e.g., determined using, for example, past service
history,
product age, product usage, etc.), links to other channels 2008 (e.g., to
social networks),
offering and/or incentives for other products related to the product that was
serviced 2010,
and a further information gathering and/or exchange section 2012 (e.g., used
to access a
community, experts, polls, manuals, service repair scheduler, etc.). It will
be appreciated that
these exemplary web pages may also present information, etc. that is related
to products that
the customer has purchased from the vendor or has viewed in-store as described
above. For
example, if the customer purchased snow tires in the past from the vendor,
reminders could
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be posted to the web page to instruct the customer to change or replace the
tires when the
season turns. As such, it will be understood that the information presented
via the website
channel need not be limited to information that is related to service(s)
performed. It will also
be appreciated that such a website channel could also be used in connection
with an in-home
repair service interaction between the customer and the vendor which is
described in greater
detail below.
Considering Fig. 21, an example method for collecting data points during an in-
home
service visit is illustrated. In the illustrated example, when a service
technician visits 2104
the home of a customer in response to a service request 2102, data points
related to the
service call are collected for use as described above. Such data points may
include
information about the customer (name, contact information such as email, phone
number, etc,
and the like - which may be captured during the visit and/or during the
request for service),
service(s) being requested, the product(s) to be serviced, product(s) that the
customer may
need to purchase in connection with the service(s), etc. By way of further
example, when the
service technician evaluates the product to be repaired, the service
technician may determine
that the product is capable of being repaired or is incapable of being repair.
When the
product is capable of being repaired, the service technician will proceed to
repair the product
2106 and capture the related information as described previously for use in
preparing a recap.
In connection with such repair, the service technician may additionally
determine that the
product is likely to fail again, e.g., it is old, 2108 and such additional
information, e.g.,
information related to a possible future purchasing/sales opportunity, would
likewise be
captured for use in preparing a recap. When the product is incapable of being
repaired 2010,
a determination is made that the customer is likely to need to get a
replacement for the
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product and such infomiation is again captured for use in preparing a recap.
To this end, the
service technician may ask the customer additional questions 2111 which
questions may be
similar to the survey questions described previously with respect to Fig. 6
and the answers to
which would be used to evaluate the life event related status of the customer
for the purposes
that were also previously described, e.g., to issue automated duress emails or
the like.
Upon completing the requested service call, the service technician may then
ask the
customer if they would like the service technician to perform a complimentary
assessment of
other products they have in their home 2112. If the customer agrees, then
infomiation related
to the assessment is captured for use in preparing the recap 2114. Such
information may
included information related to the products reviewed, their status, and
information related to
future purchasing/sales opportunities. The information could be captured via
manual
inspection and/or via use of a diagnostic service associated with a given
appliance, such as
the diagnostic services offered with various Kenmore brand appliances.
Furthermore, in the
event that any product might need further servicing or replacement, the
service technician
may utilize an appropriate app provided on their device 20' to facilitate, via
interactions with
the system server 68, the scheduling of any such needed service or the
purchase of any such
needed replacement product. The service technician may also use this
opportunity to offer
other home related services to the customer, e.g., carpet cleaning, upholstery
cleaning, etc.
Upon completion of the visit, any service related and/or purchasing related
activities -
whether associated with the service that was scheduled or for additional
product/services that
were otherwise assessed/offered - will be summarized for the customer in the
recap as
described previously. As also described previously, this recap may include
digital copies of
any receipts, estimates, related opportunities, links to surveys, etc. without
limitation. Thus,
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as illustrated in Fig. 22, the in-home service call provides an opportunity to
touch the
consumer via multiple channels in much the same way as the in-store service
visit does as
described in connection with Fig. 19.
Turning now to Fig. 23, an example method for collecting data points during a
customer care call is illustrated. In the illustrated example, when a customer
calls a customer
care representative (or otherwise talks to a customer care representative via
on-line chat,
email exchange, in person, etc.) to discuss a complaint 2302, to discuss a
service request
2304, to discuss a product 2306, etc., data points related to the customer
care call are
collected 2308 for use in providing a recap 2310 as described previously.
Again, such data
points may include information about the customer (name, contact infoimation
such as email,
phone number, etc, and the like), service(s) being requested, product(s) that
the customer is
searching for, etc. Furtheimore, in connection with the sending of the recap
to the customer,
which includes inforniation relevant to the exchange with the customer care
representative,
as illustrated in Figs. 24 - 26, the customer may be prompted, e.g., via a
request for
feedback, to provide additional data points which would be usable to maintain
an on-going
dialog with the customer as described above.
While various concepts have been described in detail, it will be appreciated
by those
skilled in the art that modifications and alternatives to those concepts could
be developed in
light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. For example, those of skill
in the art will
appreciate that the ordering of the steps described herein and illustrated in
the figures can be
modified without departing from the scope of the invention claimed
hereinafter. Similarly,
those of skill the art will appreciate that certain of the steps described
herein may be
considered to be optional. Yet further, while various aspects of the invention
have been
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WO 2013/062864 PCT/US2012/061021
described in the context of functional modules and components, it is to be
understood that,
unless otherwise stated to the contrary, one or more of the described
functions and/or features
may be integrated in a single physical device and/or a software module, or one
or more
functions and/or features may be implemented in separate physical devices or
software
modules. It will also be appreciated that a detailed discussion of the actual
implementation
of the modules used to perform the various described functions is not
necessary for an
enabling understanding of the invention. Rather, the actual implementation of
such modules
would be well within the routine skill of an engineer, given the disclosure
herein of the
attributes, functionality, and inter-relationship of the various functional
modules in the
system. Therefore, a person knowledgeable in the art, applying ordinary skill,
will be able to
practice the invention set forth in the claims without undue experimentation.
It will be
additionally appreciated that the particular concepts disclosed are meant to
be illustrative
only and not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given
the full breadth of
the appended claims and any equivalents thereof.
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