Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATED TARGETED POLLING VIA AN
E-COMMERCE PROMOTIONS PLATFORM
FIELD
[0001] Certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to e-commerce platforms
and e-
commerce plafform implementation tools. More specifically, certain embodiments
of the
disclosure relate to methods and systems that support automated, targeted
polling of
consumers via an e-commerce promotions platform for administering e-commerce
promotions, such as, for example, sweepstakes, contests, giveaways, and/or
instant
wins.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Various organizations use polling as a means to gather information
about a
wide variety of questions and topics. Individuals to be polled may be selected
from
various lists (e.g., mailing lists, membership lists, voter records,
government tax
records) and may be polled using electronic (e.g., email, telephone),
conventional paper
mail, or face-to-face approaches. Typical techniques of polling consumers are
costly
and time consuming, and require that the polling entity contact the
individual(s) to be
polled via one of the above means. Conventional approaches are typically
intrusive,
particularly if the sponsor of the poll wishes to have poll results for a
narrowly defined
demographic, due to the need to carefully qualify the potential respondents.
[0003] Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional
approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison
of such
systems with some aspects of the present disclosure as set forth in the
remainder of the
present application with reference to the drawings.
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BRIEF SUMMARY
[0004] A system and/or method supporting automated, targeted polling of
consumers
via an e-commerce promotions platform for administering e-commerce promotions,
substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of
the figures,
as set forth more completely in the claims.
[0005] Various advantages, aspects and novel features of the present
disclosure, as
well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be more fully
understood from
the following description and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary computer network in which a
representative embodiment of the present disclosure may be practiced.
[0007] FIGs. 2A-2D illustrate a flow diagram of an example method of operating
an e-
commerce promotions platform that supports automated, targeted polling of a
plurality
of consumers, and more specifically, the actions involved in the creation of a
poll, in
accordance with an representative embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0008] FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate a flow diagram of an example method of operating
an e-
commerce promotions platform that supports automated, targeted polling of a
plurality
of consumers, and more specifically, the actions involved in the polling of a
participant
in a promotional activity on an e-commerce promotions platform, in accordance
with an
representative embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0009] FIG. 4 is an illustration of a screen image showing an example polls
tab web
page, in accordance with the present disclosure.
[0010] FIG. 5 is an illustration of a screen image showing another example
polls tab
web page, in accordance with the present disclosure.
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[0011] FIG. 6 is an illustration of a screen image showing an example poll
creation
pop-up window, in accordance with the present disclosure.
[0012] FIG. 7 is an illustration of a screen image showing another example
poll
creation pop-up window, in accordance with the present disclosure.
[0013] FIG. 8 illustrates an example chart of analytics information showing
two rows
of information for two promotional activities, in accordance with the present
disclosure.
[0014] FIG. 9 is an illustration of an example chart showing information for a
poll
question, in accordance with the present disclosure.
[0015] FIG. 10 is an illustration of an example table showing information
about a
sweepstakes type promotional activity, in accordance with the present
disclosure.
[0016] FIG. 11 is an illustration of an example chart showing the questions
presented
to a poll participant and the corresponding responses, including a participant
identifier,
in accordance with the present disclosure.
[0017] FIG. 12 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method a method of
operating
an e-commerce promotions platform that supports automated targeted polling of
a
plurality of consumers, in accordance with an example embodiment of the
disclosure.
[0018] FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a personal electronic device
that may
correspond to, for example, the electronic devices shown in FIG. 1, in
accordance with
a representative embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] Certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to e-commerce platforms
and e-
commerce plafform implementation tools. More specifically, certain embodiments
of the
disclosure relate to methods and systems that support automated, targeted
polling of
consumers via an e-commerce promotions plafform for administering e-commerce
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_
promotions, such as, for example, sweepstakes, contests, giveaways, and/or
instant
wins.
[0020] In accordance with an example embodiment of the disclosure, an
administration tool (herein referred to as an "Awesome Tool", an
"Administration Tool",
an "AT," or a "campaign management tool") may be provided for administering e-
commerce promotions, such as sweepstakes, contests, giveaways, and/or instant
wins.
The Administration Tool may provide a novel production flow enabling the
automation of
sweepstakes, contests, giveaways, and/or instant wins with complex social
interaction
and the associated legal rules development for these promotions.
Such an
administration tool may include functionality that supports the automated
identification
and targeted polling of consumers as part of process of qualifying for and/or
participating in e-commerce promotional activities such as, for example,
sweepstakes,
contests, giveaways, and/or instant wins.
[0021] The terms "user," "end-user," "customer," and "consumer" may be used
herein
to refer to a potential or existing purchaser of products and/or services of a
business or
merchant.
[0022] The term "e-commerce" may be used herein to refer to business or
commerce
that is transacted electronically, as over the Internet. The term "social e-
commerce"
may be used herein to refer to e-commerce in which consumers interact with
other
consumers socially as part of e-commerce activities. Merchants or businesses
may
take part in social e-commerce by engaging consumers in various activities
including,
by way of example and not limitation, email messaging, text messaging, games,
and
posting or monitoring of activities and information exchanged on social
networking
platforms (e.g., Facebook ) and/or merchant supported social networks.
[0023] The term "social network" may be used herein to refer to a network of
family,
friends, colleagues, and other personal contacts, or to an online community of
such
individuals who use a website or other technologies to communicate with each
other,
share information, resources, etc. The term "social graph" may be used herein
to refer
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CA 02898218 2015-07-23
to a representation of the personal relationships or connections between
individuals in a
population. The term "social signal" may be used herein to refer to an
expression by a
user of a relationship with or feeling about a person, product, or thing. In
the context of
the present disclosure, the terms "social signal" and "social signal
information" refer to a
relationship with or feeling about a product.
[0024] The terms "like," "want," "have" or "own," and "recommend" may be used
to
refer to particular social signals that may be represented on a web page in
association
with a product, and may be selected by a consumer to represent their
relationship with
or feeling about the product.
[0025] The term "channel" in the present context may refer to various means of
communicating such as, for example, online communication (e.g., Internet-
based),
mobile communication (e.g., wireless communication such as cellular or Wi-Fi),
telephone communication, and in-store communication.
[0026] The terms "merchant" and "sponsoring merchant/merchants." may be used
herein to refer to the owner and/or operator of a business enterprise that
either operates
an e-commerce promotions platform system as described herein, or enters into
an
agreement with another to operate or provide services of such an e-commerce
promotions platform on their behalf.
[0027] The term "poll sponsor" may be used here to refer to an individual or
entity that
arranges for the polling of the users of an e-commerce platform in accordance
with the
present disclosure.
[0028] The term "loyalty program" may be used herein to refer to a structured
marketing effort that rewards, and therefore encourages, loyal buying behavior
that is
potentially beneficial to the business or firm operating or sponsoring the
loyalty program.
The term "member" may be used herein to refer to those consumers that have
provided
personal information to an operator or sponsor of a loyalty program in order
to gain
access to benefits provided by the loyalty program.
CA 02898218 2015-07-23
[0029] The term "follow" may be used herein to refer to a user request to be
kept
informed about a particular person, place, or thing.
[0030] The term "share" may be used herein to refer to a user request to
communicate information about what is being viewed by a user to members of the
user's family, friends, or social network.
[0031] The term "campaign" may be used herein to refer to an action, or a
series of
actions taken to accomplish a particular purpose or goal. In the context of
the present
disclosure, the term "campaign" may be used herein to more specifically refer
to the one
or more actions taken to put into place, engage consumer participants in, and
operate
one or more of a contest, a sweepstake, a giveaway, or an instant win.
[0032] The term "tag" may be used herein to refer to a label (e.g., a string
of
characters) attached to or associated with someone or something for the
purpose of
identification or to give other information (e.g., characteristics of the
person or thing,
category to which the person or thing belongs, a relationship to other persons
or things).
[0033] As utilized herein, the terms "exemplary" or "example" means serving as
a
non-limiting example, instance, or illustration.
As utilized herein, the term "e.g."
introduces a list of one or more non-limiting examples, instances, or
illustrations.
[0034] Some representative embodiments of the present disclosure may have an
integrated social media functionality that allows consumers to communicate
product,
service, manufacturing, sales, and other information with others, and to
search for
products of interest, poll friends, family, and others, recommend products and
receive
product recommendations, and plan for and participate in events in their lives
and the
lives of others.
[0035] A representative embodiment of the present disclosure may employ an
automated process for inserting targeted questions into a high volume assembly
of
active promotions and receive data after a defined term of engagement. In some
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CA 02898218 2015-07-23
representative embodiments, such automated polling may be performed by a first
party
operating a promotions platform, for a second party, for a fee.
[0036] An individual, corporate or non-profit entity, or other customer
wishing to
perform a poll of a population of individuals may gain access to a
representative
embodiment of the present disclosure via, for example, a web site on the
Internet or
other communication network. The web site may act as a portal for accessing a
tool for
managing an e-commerce promotions platform used to create, schedule, and
manage
e-commerce promotional activities such as, by way of example and not
limitation,
contests, sweepstakes, giveaways, and instant wins.
In some representative
embodiment of the disclosure, the participants in the promotional activities
may be
members of a loyalty program of a merchant or sponsor of the promotions
plafform,
which may have access to personal information about, by way of example and not
limitation, the interests, preferences, purchase history, social network, and
other
aspects of the participants.
[0037] The promotions plafform may include a means to access functionality
that
permits the prospective poll sponsor/customer of the promotions plafform to
specify one
or more questions to be used for polling, and to associate one or more tags
with each of
the questions. A representative embodiment of the present disclosure may
permit the
customer of the promotions plafform to search for appropriate "tags" using
keywords or
categories related to the products or subjects with which the questions for
the poll may
be related or associated.
[0038] The promotions platform may have a number of promotional activities
that are
active/live or scheduled, and a representative embodiment of the present
invention may
identify, to the customer of the promotions platform, how many promotional
activities are
available that are suitable for polling, and how many may be related to the
categories
and/or tags identified by the customer of the platform. For the purposes of
this
disclosure, a suitable promotional activity may be one that involves polling
as a part of
qualification for, or participation in a promotional activity. A
representative embodiment
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of the present disclosure may permit the customer of the promotions platform
to view
information for each of the suitable promotional activities related to the
identified
keywords, tags, or categories, which may include, by way of example and not
limitation,
the number and demographics of the participants for each of the identified
promotional
activities, the dates of operation of the promotional activities, and various
other
information. The customer of the promotional plafform may then select one or
more
suitable promotional activities through which to poll participants, and may
choose to
specify additional details for particular demographic characteristics that are
desired in
participants to be polled. In addition, the poll sponsor/customer of the
promotional
plafform may specify, for example, the maximum number of responses that are to
be
collected, and a deadline date for delivery to the poll sponsor/customer of
the
promotions platform of the responses collected by the promotional platform
from the
participants in the selected promotional activity/activities.
[0039] In embodiments in which polling is provided as a paid service, the poll
sponsor/customer of the promotions plafform may be provided with information
about
the expected cost of the results of the polling specified by the poll sponsor,
and may
specify a means of payment for the polling results and designate the recipient
of the
results of the polling activity. The poll sponsor/customer of the promotions
plafform may
then request that the polling of participants be scheduled.
[0040] In a representative embodiment of the present disclosure, the
question(s)
provided by the poll sponsor may then be selectively included in polls
presented as a
condition of participation in the selected promotional activities, or as part
of the
promotional activities, and participant responses to the particular
question(s) of the poll
sponsor may be collected for delivery to the poll sponsor when a maximum
specified
number of responses are received, or a deadline for delivery of the responses
occurs.
In some representative embodiments of the disclosure, the poll
sponsor/customer of the
promotions platform may be sent email notifying them of the completion of a
polling
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activity, which may include a link to permit them to retrieve and/or view the
results of the
polling activity from the promotions platform.
[0041] In the above manner, a representative embodiment of the present
disclosure
provides a mechanism to automatically poll consumers in a targeted, yet non-
intrusive
manner as part of another activity, and produce results quickly and at low
cost, without
the need to develop a polling plan and secure required resources for each
desired poll.
Because in some representative embodiments of the disclosure, personal
information
about the polled participants is known, a representative embodiment of the
present
disclosure provides the options needed to get deeper insights around the
demographics
of who answered and how they answered, without revealing to the respondents
the
source of the particular poll questions of the poll sponsor.
[0042] An administration tool may be essential to the management of
promotional
activities such as, for example, sweepstakes, contests, giveaways, and/or
instant wins.
Additional information about examples of such promotional activities on an e-
commerce
platform may be found in, for example, U.S. Patent Application No. 13/956,978,
entitled
"Contests and Sweepstakes," filed August 1, 2013, the complete subject matter
of which
is hereby incorporated herein, by reference, in its entirety. In accordance
with an
example embodiment of the disclosure, a suitable e-commerce promotions
platform
may provide a selection of a plurality of interactions in any combination,
thereby
enabling a novel production flow and user experience. One such example of a
suitable
promotional platform and administration tool is described in U.S. Patent
Application No.
14/321,450, entitled "Methods and Systems for an E-Commerce Promotions
Platform,"
filed July 1, 2014, the complete subject matter of which is hereby
incorporated herein by
reference, in its entirety. An administration tool may automate the
development process
for complex interactions by, e.g., providing analytics as well as a
streamlined production
path to reduce cost and errors associated with production and deployment of
sweepstakes, contests, giveaways, and/or instant wins. In accordance with an
example
embodiment of the disclosure, the administration tool may be implemented as a
web
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based solution that streamlines the production path, approval process, and
moves to
publishing sweepstakes, contests, giveaways, and/or instant wins directly from
within
the administration tool.
[0043] In accordance with yet another example embodiment of the disclosure,
the
administration tool may automate the creation process of sweepstakes,
contests,
giveaways, and/or instant wins by implementing one or more functionalities.
For
example, the administration tool may perform auto generation of legal rules in
the
administration tool and allowing for savings of up to 6 hours each day across
multiple
resources on a business operations team. In addition, the administration tool
may
produce copy for social interactions may be auto-generated to reduce human
error and
sweepstakes, contests, giveaways, and/or instant wins set-up issues. This may
prevent
instances where business, legal, and engineering teams are spending time to
figure out
the best way to update a wrong copy of information on a live sweepstakes,
contests,
giveaways, and/or instant wins promotion. The administration tool may also
produce
"help" text for each social interaction may be auto generated, which may
eliminate the
need to copy/paste and hence saving time while reducing the margin for error.
The
administration tool may include functionality to clone a sweepstakes, a
contest, a
giveaway, and/or an instant wins promotion for a later re-launch. More
specifically, with
a few clicks, the administration tool may enable a previously run promotion to
be
reused.
In addition, the administration tool may support recurring launches of
sweepstakes, contests, instant wins and giveaways. Based on a launch cadence,
a
promotion may, for example, be set up to launch each day, or consecutively for
a
number of days, without intervention. In this regard, the need to clone a
promotion from
a previous day and launch it again with date changes for the next n days (e.g.
for a
promotion lifetime) may be eliminated. In some instances, "display logic"
capability may
also be added to this administration tool functionality.
[0044] In accordance with an example embodiment of the disclosure, the
administration tool may integrate social interactions with sweepstakes,
contests,
CA 02898218 2015-07-23
giveaways, and/or instant wins promotions, and lower the cost of development
from that
of conventional techniques. The administration tool may be externalized and
provide a
friendly, web-based user interface and easy method for anyone wishing to act
as a
sponsor to create a promotion. The administration tool may take a limited
amount of
time (e.g., just a few minutes) to fill out screen of information of a web-
based interface,
and may provide a flow of screens that allow for approval and publishing to,
e.g., a live
promotions application.
[0045] A representative embodiment of the present disclosure may compare
information about promotion participants against one or more conditions, and
may issue
notifications to the participants regarding their completion of tax related
forms (e.g., U.S.
Internal Revenue Service Form W-9, or other government reporting forms, or
requirements) to enable their participation in a promotion.
[0046] A representative embodiment of the present disclosure may incorporate
logic
to manage the flow/ordering of actions to be performed by various
organizations (e.g.,
operations, creative, legal , marketing, and analytics) in the setup of a
promotional
activity (e.g., a contest, sweepstakes), to insure that the involvement of any
particular
organization is not requested until all requirements (e.g., conditions,
information
developed/available, documents prepared, work completed) needed by that
organization have been met and all management approvals secured.
[0047] A representative embodiment of the present disclosure provides an
interface
to systems separate from and external to the promotion plafform, to permit
those
external systems to employ the functionality of the promotions platform.
[0048] Additional functionalities and screenshots associated with the
particular
aspects of an administration tool that are related to automated, targeted
polling of
potential respondents as part of promotional activities are disclosed herein
in reference
to the accompanying figures.
[0049] FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary computer network 100 in which
a
representative embodiment of the present disclosure may be practiced. The
following
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discloses various example systems and methods for, by way of example and not
limitation, operating an e-commerce promotions platform for administering e-
commerce
promotions, such as sweepstakes, contests, giveaways, and/or instant wins,
including
functionality to perform automatic, targeted polling of users.
[0050] Referring now to FIG. 1, a processing device 20", illustrated in the
exemplary
form of a mobile communication device, a processing device 20', illustrated in
the
exemplary form of a computer system, and a processing device 20 illustrated in
schematic form, are shown. Each of these devices 20, 20', 20" are provided
with
executable instructions to, for example, provide a means for a customer, e.g.,
a user, a
customer or consumer, etc., or a sales associate, a customer service agent,
and/or
others to access a host system 68 and, among other things, be connected to a
content
management system, an electronic publication system, a hosted social
networking site,
a user profile, a store directory, and/or a sales associate. Generally, the
computer
executable instructions reside in program modules which may include routines,
programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular
tasks or
implement particular abstract data types. Accordingly, the processing devices
20, 20',
20" illustrated in FIG. 1 may be embodied in any device having the ability to
execute
instructions such as, by way of example, a personal computer, mainframe
computer,
personal-digital assistant ("PDA"), cellular telephone, tablet, e-reader,
smart phone, or
the like. Furthermore, while described and illustrated in the context of a
single
processing device 20, 20', 20", the various tasks described hereinafter may be
practiced in a distributed environment having multiple processing devices
linked via a
local or wide-area network whereby the executable instructions may be
associated with
and/or executed by one or more of multiple processing devices.
[0051] For performing the various tasks in accordance with the executable
instructions, the example processing device 20 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 bus
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CA 02898218 2015-07-23
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 computer-
readable media
allow for the nonvolatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data
structures,
program modules and other data for the processing device 20. Other types of
non-
transitory computer-readable media that can store data and/or 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.
[0052] A number of program modules may be stored in one or more of the
memory/media devices.
For example, a basic input/output system (BIOS) 44,
containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between
elements within
the processing device 20, such as during start-up, may be stored in ROM 28.
Similarly,
the RAM 30, hard drive 38, and/or peripheral memory devices may be used to
store
computer-executable instructions comprising an operating system 46, one or
more
applications programs 48 (such as a Web browser), other program modules 50,
and/or
program data 52. Still further, computer-executable instructions may be
downloaded to
one or more of the computing devices as needed, for example via a network
connection. Such computer-executable instructions may also support automated,
targeted polling of users of various elements of the computer network 100 such
as, for
example, the processing devices 20, 20', 20" shown in Fig. 1.
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[0053] To allow a user to enter commands and information into the processing
device
20, input devices such as a 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, touchpad, touch screen, etc. These and other input
devices
are typically connected to the processing unit 22 by means of an interface 58
which, in
turn, is 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, for
example, speakers, cameras, printers, or other suitable device.
[0054] As noted, the processing device 20 may also utilize logical connections
to one
or more remote processing devices, such as the host system 68 having
associated data
repository 68A. In this regard, while the host system 68 has been illustrated
in the
exemplary form of a computer, the host system 68 may, like processing device
20, be
any type of device having processing capabilities. Again, the host system 68
need not
be implemented as a single device but may be implemented in a manner such that
the
tasks performed by the host system 68 are distributed amongst a plurality of
processing
devices/databases located at different geographical locations and linked
through a
communication network. Additionally, the host system 68 may have logical
connections
to other third party systems via a network 12, such as, for example, the
Internet, LAN,
MAN, WAN, cellular network, cloud network, enterprise network, virtual private
network,
wired and/or wireless network, or other suitable network, and via such
connections, will
be associated with data repositories that are associated with 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
goods and/or
services, systems of shipping/delivery companies, media content providers,
document
storage systems, etc.
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I CA 02898218 2015-07-23
[0055] For performing tasks as needed, the host system 68 may include many or
all
of the elements described above relative to the processing devices 20, 20',
20". In
addition, the host system 68 would generally include executable instructions
for, among
other things, performing automated and targeted polling; identifying and
recommending
product items, coordinating storage and retrieval of documents; maintaining
social
network storage of a shopping list; receiving a location of a customer via a
mobile
device; maintaining maps and layouts of buildings and geographic areas. The
host
system 68 may include executable instructions for calculating directions or
routes within
buildings and geographic areas; searching, retrieving, and analyzing web-based
content; managing operating rules and communication with user devices used by
participants in a multiplayer consumer game, for receiving a request for a
service call
center connection from either a customer or a sales associate. The host system
68 ma
also include executable instructions to perform routing of a received request
via a
distributed mobile video call center; providing a service call infrastructure
for providing
the requestor with a distributed customer service experience, and for an e-
commerce
promotions plafform for administering e-commerce promotions, such as
sweepstakes,
contests, giveaways, and/or instant wins.
[0056] Communications between the processing devices 20, 20', 20" and the host
system 68 may be exchanged via a further processing device, such as a network
router
(not shown), that is responsible for network routing. Communications with the
network
router may be performed via a network interface component 73. Thus, within
such a
networked environment, e.g., the Internet, World Wide Web, LAN, cloud, or
other like
type of wired or wireless network, program modules depicted relative to the
processing
device 20, or portions thereof, may be stored in the non-transitory computer-
readable
memory storage device(s) of the host system 68 and processing devices 20, 20'
and
20".
[0057] FIGS. 2A-2D illustrate a flow diagram of an example method of operating
an e-
commerce promotions platform that supports automated, targeted polling of a
plurality
CA 02898218 2015-07-23
of consumers, and more specifically, the actions involved in the creation of a
poll, in
accordance with an representative embodiment of the present disclosure. The
actions
illustrated in FIGs. 2A-2D may be performed, at least in part by, for example,
the
elements of a computer network system such as the computer network 100
illustrated in
FIG. 1. In a representative embodiment of the present disclosure, the e-
commerce
promotions platform may use a set of business rules of the operator of the
plafform, to
enforce a particular flow of information and accountability.
[0058] The method of FIGs. 2A-2D begins at block 202 of FIG. 2A. At block 202,
a
visitor to a web site of an e-commerce promotions plafform may be directed to
an initial
or "landing page" having functionality permitting a visitor to "login" or to
create a new
user account. Next, a block 204, a determination may be made as to whether the
visitor
entered information for "login," or requested the creation of a "new account."
If the
visitor entered information for "login," control passes to block 206, where
such "login"
information is received, and where the information for "login" is analyzed to
determine
whether the web site visitor is known to the system performing the method of
FIGs. 2A-
2D. If the visitor requested the creation of a "new account," the system then,
at block
208, establishes a new account on the e-commerce promotions plafform. Via
either
path, the method then proceeds at block 210, at which a menu may be displayed
containing an option to create a sponsored poll.
[0059] At block 210, the method determines whether the user selected the menu
option to create a sponsored poll. If the visitor did not select the menu
option to create
a sponsored poll, but instead chose another menu option, the method of FIG. 2A
passes control to block 214, where the system performing the method of FIGs.
2A-2D
performs whatever operations are needed to perform the selected menu option.
Examples of some possible menu options are described in, for example, U.S.
Patent
Application No. 14/321,450, entitled "Methods and Systems for an E-Commerce
Promotions Plafform," filed July 1, 2014, the complete subject matter of which
is hereby
incorporated herein, by reference, in its entirety. lf, however, the visitor
did select the
16
CA 02898218 2015-07-23
menu option to create a sponsored poll, then at block 216, the system may
display a
screen for and receive information from the visitor (now a prospective poll
sponsor),
related to products and/or subjects about which the poll sponsor wishes to
poll, and the
method continues at block 218 of FIG. 2B. Such information may be in the form
of, by
way of example and not limitation, relevant keywords associated with the
product or
subject of interest to the poll sponsor.
[0060] At block 218 of FIG. 2B, the system performing the method may display
information identifying categories and/or tags related to products and/or
subjects of
based on, for example, the keyword information provided by the poll sponsor.
Changes
to the keyword information may be dynamically updated by the system as the
poll
sponsor explores various choices of keywords, to identify suitable categories
and tags.
Next, at block 220, information identifying categories and/or tags selected by
the poll
sponsor may be received by the system, and at block 222, information
identifying
active/live promotional activities running on the e-commerce promotions
platform may
be displayed, where the promotional activities identified are based upon the
categories
and/or tags selected by the poll sponsor. Additional information about each
identified
promotional activity may be shown including, by way of example and not
limitation, the
number of participants for each promotional activity, information identifying
the
demographics of the participants, the time period during which the promotional
activity
is running and other details. A check may be made, as shown at block 224, to
determine whether any of the information related to the keywords, categories,
and/or
tags related to the products or subjects of interest have been edited/changed.
If such
changes are made by the poll sponsor, the method of FIG. 2B returns to block
216 of
FIG. 2A, and the identified promotional activities may be dynamically updated
according
to any changes in keywords, categories and/or tags selected by the poll
sponsor. If the,
at block 224, it is determined that the poll sponsor has not changed the
information
related to the keywords, categories, and/or tags related to the products or
subjects of
interest, then control passes to block 226, described below.
17
CA 02898218 2015-07-23
[0061] At block 226 of FIG. 2B, the method receives information identifying
one or
more promotional activities selected for polling by the poll sponsor from the
list
displayed at block 222. Next, at block 228, the method of FIG. 2B directs the
system to
display additional details of the information about the promotional activities
selected by
the poll sponsor. Such information may include, by way of example and not
limitation,
the actual or estimated number of participants for each selected promotional
activity, the
demographics at which the respective promotional activity is targeted, the
starting and
ending dates and times of operation of the respective promotional activity,
the type of
prize or reward to be awarded, and the average cash value (ACV) of the prize
or
reward. Then, at block 230, the poll sponsor may choose to refine the
demographics of
the target participants for the polls to be run. lf, at block 230, the poll
sponsor choose to
adjust parameters or characteristics of the demographics such as, for example,
to
further limit polling to a subset of the participants expected to take part in
a particular
sponsor-selected promotional activity, they may make such adjustments, at
block 232,
and the method of FIG. 2B may return to block 228 to display updated details
of the
information about the promotional activities selected by the poll sponsor. If
the poll
sponsor accepts the demographics of the target participants of any of the
selected
promotional activities, the poll sponsor need not make any adjustments, and
control
may then pass to block 232 of FIG. 2C.
[0062] At block 232 of FIG. 2C, the method processes the information for the
selected
promotional activities, and any adjustment to the target participant
demographics, to
enable polling of the target participants. Then, at block 234, the system may
receive
information identifying one or more poll questions, from the poll sponsor. In
some
representative embodiments of the present disclosure, a collection of possible
poll
questions may be made available to the poll sponsor from which the poll
sponsor may
select suitable questions for their use and/or customization. The poll sponsor
may also
be provided with the functionality necessary to create their own poll
questions, in the
form of text, video, audio, and/or any other suitable media form, and may
provide the
poll sponsor with the tools to define one or more possible responses to be
offered to the
18
CA 02898218 2015-07-23
target participant for selection in responding to the presented questions.
Next, at block
236, the system may receive tag information from the poll sponsor, and may
associate
the received tag information with one or more poll questions provided or
chosen by the
poll sponsor. The system may then, at block 238 of FIG. 2C, receive from the
poll
sponsor, a value identifying the maximum number of poll responses to be
collected for
delivery to the poll sponsor, and at block 240, receive from the poll sponsor,
a deadline
or delivery date by which the responses collected from the polled participants
are to be
provided to the poll sponsor. The method of FIGS. 2A-2D then continues at
block 242 of
FIG. 2D.
[0063] At block 242 of FIG. 2D, the method may determine a price, to the poll
sponsor, of the responses to be collected for the poll question(s) of the poll
sponsor. In
some representative embodiments of the present disclosure, the pricing of
responses
may, by way of example and not limitation, be a fixed amount per response; may
be set
according to a sliding scale in which the response price changes with the
number of
responses collected, according to the number of polls sponsored, according to
the
particular promotional activities selected for polling by the poll sponsor;
according to the
demographics of the poll respondents or the target participants of the
promotional
activity, to name only a few approaches. In addition, some representative
embodiments
of the present disclosure may place the limited number of polling
opportunities up for bid
to potential poll sponsors, and let market demand define a response price
based on the
value of the response to the community of potential poll sponsors.
[0064] Next, at block 244 of FIG. 2D, the method may determine a total cost of
the
polling requested by a poll sponsor. The calculation of the total cost may be
based, by
way of example and not limitation, on a per response price, determined as
described
above with respect to block 242, and the maximum number responses to be
collected
for delivery to the poll sponsor. The system performing the method may then,
at block
246, request approval of the total cost of the polling specified by the poll
sponsor, and
19
* CA 02898218 2015-07-23
may determine, at block 248, whether the poll sponsor has given approved of
the total
cost of polling.
[0065] lf, at block 248, it is determined that the poll sponsor has not
approved the
total cost of polling, a determination may be made, at block 250, as to
whether the poll
sponsor has requested to edit/change any of the parameters of the polling to
be
performed. Such changes may include, for example, modifying the number of
responses to be collected, the number of promotional activities to be used for
polling,
the number of questions submitted by the poll sponsor for use in polling
target
participants, the duration of the polling, the yearly polling revenue for the
poll sponsor,
and the target demographics of the promotional activities selected for polling
by the poll
sponsor. If the poll sponsor chooses to change any of the polling parameters,
the
method of FIGS. 2A-2D continues at block 216, described above. If the poll
sponsor, at
block 248, does not approved the total cost of polling, and at block 250, does
not
choose to modify the parameters of the polling, the method of FIGs. 2A-2D
ends. lf,
however, at block 248, the poll sponsor does approve of the total cost of
polling, the
method of FIG. 2D, at block 252, receives information from the poll sponsor
identifying
the means of payment to be used to cover the total cost of polling, and at
block 254, the
polling specified by the poll sponsor is scheduled on the e-commerce
promotions
platform of the present disclosure. The method of FIG. 2D continues at block
202 of
FIG. 2A, to permit the specification, by the poll sponsor, of an additional
poll.
[0066] FIGs. 3A-3C illustrate a flow diagram of an example method of operating
an e-
commerce promotions platform that supports automated, targeted polling of a
plurality
of consumers, and more specifically, the actions involved in the polling of a
participant
in a promotional activity on an e-commerce promotions platform, in accordance
with an
representative embodiment of the present disclosure. The actions illustrated
in FIGS.
3A-3C may be performed, at least in part by, for example, the elements of a
computer
network system such as the computer network 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. In a
representative embodiment of the present disclosure, the e-commerce promotions
CA 02898218 2015-07-23
plafform may use a set of business rules of the operator of the platform, to
enforce a
particular flow of information and accountability.
[0067] The method of FIGS. 3A-3C begins at block 302 of FIG. 3A. At block 302,
a
visitor to a web site of an e-commerce platform may be directed to an initial
or "landing
page" having functionality permitting a visitor to "login" or to create a new
user account.
Next, a block 304, a determination may be made as to whether the visitor
entered
information for "login," or requested the creation of a "new account." If the
visitor
entered information for "login," control passes to block 306, where such
"login"
information is received, and where the information for "login" is analyzed to
determine
whether the web site visitor is known to the system performing the method of
FIGS. 3A-
3C. If the visitor requested the creation of a "new account," the system then,
at block
308, establishes a new account on the e-commerce platform. Via either path,
the
method then proceeds at block 310, at which point a menu may be displayed
containing
an option to participate in a promotional activity such, by way of example and
not
limitation, a contest, a sweepstakes, a giveaway, or an instant win.
[0068] At block 310, the method determines whether the user selected the menu
option to participate in a promotional activity such as the examples described
above. If
the visitor did not select the menu option to participate in a promotional
activity, but
instead chose another menu option, the method of FIG. 3A passes control to
block 314,
where the system performing the method of FIGs. 3A-3C performs whatever
operations
are needed to perform the selected menu option. Examples of some possible menu
options are described in, for example, U.S. Patent Application No. 13/956,978,
entitled
"Contests and Sweepstakes," filed August 1, 2013, the complete subject matter
of which
is hereby incorporated herein, by reference, in its entirety. lf, however, the
visitor did
select the menu option to participate in a promotional activity, then at block
316, the
system may access personal information for the user including, by way of
example and
not limitation, user preferences (e.g., product, brand, style, color, size,
designer,
merchant location), purchase history information, social networks, social
networks,
21
, CA 02898218 2015-07-23
social graph, family status, merchant affinity information, merchant loyalty
program
information, life stage, residence address, hobbies, and interests, to name
only a few
types. Next, at block 318, the method of FIG. 3A may display a menu showing,
among
other things, what promotional activities are available to the user. Such a
menu may,
for example, be configured according to various elements of the personal
information
accessed at block 316. The method of FIGs. 3A-3C then continues at block 320
of FIG.
3B.
[0069] At block 320 of FIG. 3B, the system performing the method may receive a
request from the user to participate in a selected promotional activity that
may include,
by way of example and not limitation, a contest, a sweepstakes, a giveaway, or
an
instant win. The method may then, at block 322, make a determination of
whether
qualification for participation or other aspects of the promotional activity
selected by the
user, involves polling of the user. If the promotional activity selected by
the user does
not involve polling, the method proceeds to block 330, where the method makes
a
record to not include a poll-sponsor supplied poll question when this
participant is
polled. The method then continues at block 332, described below. If however,
at block
322, it is determined that the promotional activity selected by the user does
involve
polling, then the method passes control to block 324, where the method
determines
whether the poll sponsor's selected combination of polling conditions match
the
promotional activity chosen by participant and/or the participant's
demographics. As
discussed above, in a representative embodiment of the present disclosure, the
polling
conditions selected by the sponsor may include conditions related to the
promotional
activity such as, for example, the target demographics of the promotional
activity, and
the demographic information of the user/participant in the promotional
activity. If, at
block 326, it is found that the method, at block 324, determined that a match
exists, then
the method of FIG. 3B makes a record to include a poll-sponsor supplied poll
question
when this participant is polled. The method then continues at block 332. At
block 332,
the method enables collection of responses to the poll question(s) of this
poll of the poll
sponsor, and the method of FIGS. 3A-3C continues at block 302 of FIG. 3A.
22
1 CA 02898218 2015-07-23
[0070] The portion of the method of FIGs. 3A-3C shown in FIG. 3C may be
realized
as a background or monitoring process to track the polling actions associated
with a
number of promotional activities. It may be processed, for example, as a
separate
thread or process, or may be otherwise suitably implemented. The actions of
the
method show in FIG. 3C may be performed in parallel with the actions shown in
the
methods illustrated in FIGs. 2A-2D and FIGs. 3A-3B. The method portion shown
in FIG.
3C assumes that a list of active polls is maintained by the system of the
present
disclosure, that new active polls are added when a poll sponsor creates a new
poll or
activates an earlier-defined poll, and that polls are deleted when the polling
for that poll
is completed. The method of FIG. 3C begins at block 334, where the method
begins
the monitoring of polling actions with the first active poll in the system of
the present
disclosure. Next, at block 336, the method of FIG. 3C determines whether
maximum
number of responses specified by the sponsor of the current poll have been
collected.
If the maximum number of responses specified by the sponsor of the current
poll have
not yet been collected, the method continues at block 338, where a
determination is
made as to whether the results deadline/delivery date, specified by the poll
sponsor,
has been reached. lf, at block 338, it is determined that the results
deadline/delivery
date has not been reached, then control of the method passes to block 348,
where the
method of FIG. 3C moves on to check the status the next active poll. The
method then
continues at block 336, as described above. However, if at block 338, it is
determined
that the results deadline/delivery date has been reached, the method continues
at block
340, described below.
[0071] At block 340 of FIG. 3C, the current poll is marked as inactive, as
either the
deadline for delivery of results has passed and collected responses must be
sent to the
sponsor of the current poll, or the maximum number of responses, as specified
by the
poll sponsor, has been collected. Next, at block 342, the method stops
including poll
question for the current poll in polls of participants meeting the sponsor-
specified
conditions. The method then moves to block 344, at which point the system
delivers the
responses collected for the current poll to a recipient designated by the
sponsor of the
23
- CA 02898218 2015-07-23
e
current poll. Next, at block 346, the system charges the sponsor of the
current poll for
the total cost of the polling activity, using the payment information provided
during
creation of the current poll. Then, at block 348, the method of FIG. 3C moves
on to
check the status the next active poll, repeating the actions while active
polls exist.
[0072] FIG. 4 is an illustration of a screen image showing an example polls
tab web
page 400, in accordance with the present disclosure. The illustration of FIG.
4 includes
a "Categories" portion 405 with a pull-down list 410 for selecting a "Poll
class" of
"Interest" or "Profile" (not shown), a pull-down list 420 for selecting
various values for
filtering the resulting information, and a scrollable list of categories of
products 430,
which may be used in identifying currently active polls. The number of active
polls
matching the filter parameters may be shown by an indicator 440. Check boxes
460
may be used to further filter the results of the search in order to limit the
display to those
actives polls having questions in the indicated format (e.g., "With images,"
"With text,"
"With videos," or "Write answer."
[0073] FIG. 5 is an illustration of a screen image showing another example
polls tab
web page 500, in accordance with the present disclosure. The illustration of
FIG. 5
includes a "Categories" portion with a pull-down list for selecting polls of
class type
"Interest" or "Profile" (not shown), a pull-down list for selecting various
values for filtering
the resulting information, and a scrollable list of categories of products
530, which may
be used in identifying currently active polls, like the similar element shown
above in
regard to FIG. 4. In the illustration of FIG. 5, the "Appliances" category 510
has been
selected, and the number of active polls matching the illustrated filter
parameters is
shown as 65 active polls, by the indicator 540. The example of FIG. 5 also
includes
check boxes that may be used to select further filtering of the results of the
search in
order to limit the display to those actives polls having questions in the
indicated format
(e.g., "With images," "With text," "With videos," or "Write answer," as in
FIG. 4. As
illustrated in FIG. 5, a list of stock questions 570 that may be provided by
the system of
the present disclosure, is shown. Additional user interface elements are also
included
24
- CA 02898218 2015-07-23
...
to permit the user to display additional pages of questions, should the number
of stock
questions exceed one screen, and to display additional information about any
question,
or to modify any of the questions shown.
[0074] FIG. 6 is an illustration of a screen image showing an example poll
creation
pop-up window 600, in accordance with the present disclosure. The illustration
of FIG.
6 includes a poll class pull-down list 680 that permits the creator of the
poll to select a
poll class of either "Interest" or "Profile" (not shown), and a question title
field 681 for
entry of the title of the poll question. The question creation pop-up window
600 also
includes a category ID field 682 for identification of the poll category, and
a poll status
pull-down list 683, to permit the setting/review of the status of the poll.
The illustration
of FIG. 6 also shows a question type portion 684, including a pull-down list
enabling
selection of single response or multiple-choice type questions, and a question
format
pull-down list, to enable the selection of the format of the question as
"text," "image,"
and "video." The example of FIG. 6 shows one poll response choice field 685 to
permit
the entry of the response choice for use in responding to the question of the
poll.
"Submit" and "Cancel" command buttons are provided to enable the user to enter
the
information for the poll, or to discard the entries and end the creation of
the poll.
[0075] FIG. 7 is an illustration of a screen image showing another example
poll
creation pop-up window 700, in accordance with the present disclosure. As
shown in
FIG. 6, the illustration of FIG. 7 includes a poll class pull-down list 780
that permits the
creator of the poll to select a poll class of either "Interest" or "Profile"
(not shown), and a
question title field 781 for entry of the title of the poll question. The
question creation
pop-up window 700 also includes a category ID field 782 for identification of
the poll
category, and a poll status pull-down list 783, to permit the setting/viewing
of the status
of the poll. The illustration of FIG. 7 also shows a question type portion
784, including a
pull-down list enabling selection of single response or multiple-choice type
questions,
and a question format pull-down list, to enable the selection of the format of
the
question, as in FIG. 6. The example of FIG. 7 shows multiple instances of
choice field
- CA 02898218 2015-07-23
685 that permit the entry of various response choices and related parameters,
for use in
entering the possible responses to the questions of the poll. "Submit" and
"Cancel"
command buttons are also provided to enable the user to enter the information
for the
poll, or to discard the entries and end the creation of the poll.
[0076] FIG. 8 illustrates an example chart 800 of analytics information
showing two
rows of information for two promotional activities, in accordance with the
present
disclosure.
[0077] FIG. 9 is an illustration of an example chart 900 showing information
for a poll
question, in accordance with the present disclosure. The chart identifies the
question
asked, and the answer options available to the respondents. The chart of FIG.
9 also
shows the number of participants that selected each of/responded with the
illustrated
answer options, and the corresponding percentage of the respondents by answer
choice.
[0078] FIG. 10 is an illustration of an example table showing information
about a
sweepstakes type promotional activity, in accordance with the present
disclosure. The
table of FIG. 10 includes the name of the sweepstakes promotional activity
(i.e., "Bike
Month Bike Giveaway," the start and end dates of the promotional activity, the
total
number of participant entries, and the total number of unique sweepstakes
entrants.
[0079] FIG. 11 is an illustration of a example chart showing the questions
presented
to a poll participant and the corresponding responses, including a participant
identifier,
in accordance with the present disclosure.
[0080] FIG. 12 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method a method of
operating
an e-commerce promotions platform that supports automated targeted polling of
a
plurality of consumers, in accordance with an example embodiment of the
present
disclosure. The actions of the method of FIG. 12 may be performed by a system
such
as, for example, the suitable elements of the computer network 100 of FIG. 1.
The
method of FIG. 12 begins at block 1202, where the system provides a first set
of
questions comprising one or more questions. Next, at block 1204, the method
may
26
CA 02898218 2015-07-23
-
receive, from a poll sponsor, information representative of a consumer
demographic,
and information identifying a second set of questions comprising one or more
questions
chosen by the poll sponsor. Then, at block 1206, the method may receive a
request to
participate in a promotional activity supported by the computer system, from a
communication device of a first consumer of the plurality of consumers. At
block 1208,
the method may, in response to receiving the request to participate, select
one or more
particular questions from the second set of questions, where the selection of
the one or
more particular questions is performed according to personal information of
the first
consumer accessed by the computer system. Then, at block 2110, the method of
FIG.
12 may form a third set of questions from the first set of questions and the
one or more
particular questions, such that the third set of questions includes the one or
more
particular questions. Next, at block 1212, the method may direct the system to
present
the questions of the third set of questions to the first consumer via the
communication
device of the first consumer. At block 1214, the method may collect, via the
communication device of the first consumer, any responses of the first
consumer to the
questions of the third set of questions. Finally, at block 1216, the method of
FIG. 12
may deliver, to a recipient identified to the computer system by the poll
sponsor, only
responses of the first consumer to the one or more particular questions.
[0081] FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a personal electronic device
1300 that
may correspond to, for example, the electronic devices 20', 20', 20" shown in
FIG. 1, in
accordance with a representative embodiment of the present disclosure. The
personal
electronic device 1300 may correspond to electronic user devices such as, by
way of
example and not limitation, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a cellular
phone, a media
player, a handheld personal computer, a laptop, a notebook computer, a net
book
computer, a desktop computer, a television, or any other suitable electronic
device
having the functionality discussed herein.
[0082] As shown in FIG. 13, the personal electronic device 1300 includes a
processor
1310, an RF transceiver A 1302, an RF transceiver B 1303, a wired interface
1304, a
27
- CA 02898218 2015-07-23
_
display device 1320, a user input device 1330, an audio interface 1340, one or
more
accelerometers, gyroscopes, or compasses 1345, a memory 1350, near field
communication (NFC)/radio frequency identification (RFID) interface 1355, and
an
image capture/optical scanning device 1360. The processor 1310 may be, for
example,
a suitable microprocessor or microcomputer having sufficient computing power
to
control the personal electronic device 1300, and is operably coupled to the RF
transceiver A 1302, the RF transceiver B 1303, and the wired interface 1304.
The RF
transceiver A 1302 and RF transceiver B 1303 may comprise any necessary
circuitry,
logic, and software/firmware for wireless communication using any of, for
example, the
cellular, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (e.g., IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), Zigbee, WiMAX, Near
Field
Communication (NFC), radio frequency identifier (RFID), or any other wireless
network
air interface standard known now or in the future. The wired interface 604 may
comprise any necessary circuitry, logic, and software/firmware for wired
communication
over any of, for example, an Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus, FireWire (IEEE
1394) or
other wired networks known now or in the future.
[0083] The processor 1310 is also operably coupled to the memory 1350, which
may
be used for non-transitory storage of executable program instructions,
parameters, and
data for management and control of any of the circuitry of the personal
electronic device
1300. The processor 1310 is also operably coupled to the display device 1320,
which
may comprise, for example, one or more LED, OLED, LCD, or other suitable form
of
visual display capable of presenting text and/or graphics, and may comprise
any
circuitry, logic, or software/firmware to support, for example, a graphical
user interface
(GUI). The processor 1310 is operably coupled to the user input device 1330,
which
may comprise, for example, suitable switches, buttons, or touch sensitive
surfaces to
enable user control and operation of the personal electronic device 1300, and
may
comprise any necessary circuitry, logic, and software/firmware to allow the
user input
device 1330 to perform those functions. In a representative embodiment of the
present
invention, the user input device 1330 may, for example, be include a touch
sensitive
surface at the viewing side of the display device 1320, enabling a user to use
the touch
28
CA 02898218 2015-07-23
sensitive surface of the display device to enter user inputs and respond to
information
displayed on the display device 1320.
[0084] The processor 1310 is also operably coupled to the audio interface
1340,
which comprises any necessary circuitry, logic, and software to interface a
microphone
1305 and a speaker 1306 to the processor 1310. In some representative
embodiments
of the present invention, the processor 1310 may be operably coupled to a
NFC/RFID
interface 1355 that may be used to communicate with, by way of example and not
limitation, NFC/RFID-enabled electronic shelf labels (ESLs), credit and
identification
cards and badges, tags, keychain fobs, and any other devices having NFC and/or
RFID
communication capability. In addition, the processor 1310 is operably coupled
to an
image capture/optical scanning device 1360 that may include, by way of example
and
not limitation, a monochrome or color digital imaging device, a digital
camera, an
infrared receiver, and/or a scanner capable of detecting light signals
representative of
bar codes (e.g., UPC), two-dimensional codes (e.g., a QR code), images, or
other forms
of optical information known now or in the future.
[0085] Aspects of the present disclosure may be seen in a method of operating
an e-
commerce promotions plafform that supports automated targeted polling of a
plurality of
consumers. Such a method may comprise, in a computer system configured to
manage
a promotional activity on an e-commerce plafform that communicatively couples
to a
respective communication device of each of a plurality of users, providing a
first set of
questions comprising one or more questions, and receiving, from a poll
sponsor,
information representative of a consumer demographic, and information
identifying a
second set of questions comprising one or more questions chosen by the poll
sponsor.
The method may also comprise receiving a request to participate in a
promotional
activity supported by the computer system, from a communication device of a
first
consumer of the plurality of consumers; and in response to receiving the
request to
participate, selecting one or more particular questions from the second set of
questions,
wherein the selection of the one or more particular questions is performed
according to
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_
personal information of the first consumer accessed by the computer system.
The
method may further comprise forming a third set of questions from the first
set of
questions and the one or more particular questions, such that the third set of
questions
includes the one or more particular questions; and presenting the questions of
the third
set of questions to the first consumer via the communication device of the
first
consumer. Such a method may comprise collecting, via the communication device
of
the first consumer, any responses of the first consumer to the questions of
the third set
of questions; and delivering, to a recipient identified to the computer system
by the poll
sponsor, only responses of the first consumer to the one or more particular
questions.
[0086] In various representative embodiments of the present disclosure, a
consumer
response to the third set of questions may be a condition of participation in
the
promotional activity; the promotional activity may be one of a contest, a
sweepstakes,
an instant win, and a give-away; and personal information of the first
consumer may be
stored by the computer system as part of membership in a loyalty program of a
sponsor
of the promotional activity. The one or more particular questions may be
selected
according to personal information of the first consumer accessed by the
computer
system in response to the request to participate in the promotional activity,
and the
questions of the first set of questions may be provided by the operator of the
computer
system. The information representative of a consumer demographic may comprise
one
or more characteristics common to a group of consumers, and may comprise
information identifying a particular promotional activity targeted to a group
of consumers
having certain common characteristics specified by the poll sponsor.
[0087] Additional aspects of the present disclosure may be observed in a non-
transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon, one or more code
sections
each comprising a plurality of instructions executable by at least one
processor, the
instructions for causing the at least one processor to perform actions of the
method
described above.
CA 02898218 2015-07-23
[0088] Further aspects of the present disclosure may be found in system for
operating an e-commerce promotions platform that supports automated targeted
polling
of a plurality of consumers, in which the system comprises a computer system
comprising at least one processor that, during operation, manages a
promotional
activity on an e-commerce platform that communicatively couples to a
respective
communication device of each of a plurality of users. In such a system, the at
least one
processor may be operable to at least perform the actions of the method
described
above.
[0089] Accordingly, aspects of the disclosure may be realized in hardware,
software,
firmware or a combination thereof. The present disclosure may be realized in a
centralized fashion in at least one computer system or in a distributed
fashion where
different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems.
Any
kind of computer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the
methods
described herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware, software and
firmware
may be a general-purpose computer system with a computer program that, when
being
loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the
methods
described herein.
[0090] One embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented as a board
level product, as a single chip, application specific integrated circuit
(ASIC), or with
varying levels integrated on a single chip with other portions of the system
as separate
components. The degree of integration of the system will primarily be
determined by
speed and cost considerations. Because of the sophisticated nature of modern
processors, it is possible to utilize a commercially available processor,
which may be
implemented external to an ASIC implementation of the present system.
Alternatively, if
the processor is available as an ASIC core or logic block, then the
commercially
available processor may be implemented as part of an ASIC device with various
functions implemented as firmware.
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. CA 02898218 2015-07-23
[0091] The present disclosure may also be embedded in a computer program
product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the
methods
described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry
out
these methods. Computer program in the present context may mean, for example,
any
expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions
intended to cause
a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular
function
either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to
another language,
code or notation; b) reproduction in a different material form. However, other
meanings
of computer program within the understanding of those skilled in the art are
also
contemplated by the present disclosure.
[0092] While the disclosure has described certain embodiments, it will be
understood
by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents
may be
substituted without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In
addition,
many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to
the
teachings of the present disclosure without departing from its scope.
Therefore, it is
intended that the present disclosure not be limited to the particular
embodiments
disclosed, but that the present disclosure will include all embodiments
falling within the
scope of the appended claims.
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