Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
CA 02408669 2002-11-12
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BUSINESS-TO-EMPLOYEE INTERACTIVE REWARD AND
REDEMPTION SYSTEM & METHOD
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to a reward and redemption program. More
particularly, the present invention relates to a reward and redemption program
implemented by a reward and redemption system that is linked via a
communication
network with merchant retail purchasing systems and with employee service and
incentive/engagement systems implemented to support Employee Relationship
Management (ERM) programs within business organizations. The merchant retail
purchasing systems include point-of sale computer systems of the type used in
retail
stores to perform sales transactions and allow for reward issuance and
redemption;
on-line interactive web sites that provide personal computer users interactive
reward
and redemption capabilities resulting from on-line purchases; and on-line W
ternet
and Intranet web sites administered by business organizations that provide
interactive award and redemption to their employees for achievement of goals
and
behaviors contributing to the success of that business. The present invention
is a
complete reward and redemption program and system that combines a consumer
loyalty program operable in retail stores and/or on-line Internet shopping
sites with
web-based employee engagement and reward systems administered within business
entities. Consumer loyalty is built through providing each customer with
points for
transactions that occur in-store at specified retailer locations and/or for
transactions
that occur on-line at specific merchant web sites. Employees recognized by
peers or
supervisors for achieving special goals or for exhibiting desired behaviors
are
rewarded by receiving points of the same currency and value as those awarded
in the
retail and e-commerce shopping network. A common account with a common point
currency is provided for an individual who transacts in the e-commerce domain,
the
retail in-store domain and who may also participate in an employee engagement
program offered by the individual's employer. By combining the consumer
loyalty
program with an employee engagement program, the participating retail stores
and
Internet e-commerce sites acquire new customers and increase revenues driven
by
employees seeking either to redeem their points earned in the incentive
program,
and/or from employees desiring to add to their engagement program account
balance
by earning additional point awards on their consumer purchases. Likewise,
consumers participating in the loyalty program who become employees of
businesses or organizations participating in the engagement program may
combine
the points earned in the retail network with those offered by the employee
engagement program, and may redeem those points within the engagement
program's reward system.
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BACKGROUND
Traditionally, in a retail environment, retailers and manufacturers build
customer loyalty to goods and services offered fox sale through advertising
and
coupons. Many manufacturers distribute coupons for their products, either
through
the mail, by printing them in newspapers or magazines, or enclosing them in
similar
or related product packages. Presently, there are point-of sale systems which
assist
manufacturers with coupon distribution by printing redeemable coupons at the
point-
of sale terminal for immediate delivery to the customer. These systems are
designed
specifically for putting discount coupons for selected products in the hands
of a
customer who uses some competing product Another type of loyalty reward
program
is one administered through the use of a credit instrument as disclosed in
U.S. Patent
No. 5,025, 372 to Burton. In that system, a credit instrument is provided and
bonus
credit value is awarded based on a formula in which a price paid for
merchandise is a
parameter. Thus, upon each purchase of certain items, credit value is awarded
and
accumulated. The participants in the program can use the credit value
accumulated
to make purchases with the credit instrument.
With the advent of electronic commerce made possible by the rapid
expansion of Internet/World Wide Web and browser technologies, another type of
award program has emerged and is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,774,70 to
Storey.
The Storey patent discloses a fully interactive on-line frequency and award
redemption program. The system disclosed in the Storey patent provides on-line
access to product information, allows for product purchases using an
electronic
ordering form and provides award and redemption options using an on-line
electronic redemption order form. As a result of the introduction of on-line
frequency and award redemption programs, merchants that also have electronic
storefronts and utilize traditional point-of sale type loyalty programs such
as those
disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,941,090 to McCarthy, U.S. Patent No. 5,923,016
to
Fredregill et. al. and U.S. Patent No. 5,025, 372 to Burton are seeking ways
to attract
traffic and build customer loyalty to their electronic storefronts. Many of
these
merchants have established a presence in the physical marketplace with, their
retail
outlets, and are implementing commerce web sites on the Internet to augment
and/or
replace their physical retail outlets. A need exists for a single loyalty
program with
the capability to span both domains, such that a retailer participating in
such a
program has a competitive advantage in both the electronic commerce and the
retail
marketplace environments. This system should provide incentives to customers
for
items and services purchased at the point-of sale and on-line at interactive
web sites.
It must also provide incentives to customers for other types of activities for
which
awards are earned. Standalone employee engagement programs offering point
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rewards for special achievements and behaviors will be enhanced by enabling
the
exchange (fungibility) of points with the retail loyalty network, in either
the in-store
retail domain or in the e-commerce storefront domain, or both. Conversely,
loyalty
points earned by a consumer in the in-store retail domain or the e-commerce
storefront domain may be redeemed for awards offered by the employee
incentives
program .
The perceived value of point rewards offered by employee incentive
programs will be increased by virtue of the increased number of options and
opportunities for earning and redeeming points in the retail/e-commerce
network.
The additional opportunities for earning points will enable the employee and
the
consumer to acquire meaningful rewards in a compressed time period, and can be
leveraged as a recruiting tool to attract potential employees to a business
organization.
SUMMARY
The present invention provides a computer implemented real-time
transaction point accumulation system in which an award program participant
earns
and accumulates points immediately in a centralized data storage for
transactions at
any one of a plurality of point servers networked to a host incentive award
system.
The point accumulation servers may be comprised of at least one in-store
service
system, including a point-of sale system, at least one on-line interactive
consumer
web site server and an interactive employee engagement and incentive web site
server. The host incentive award system includes at least a host processor,
and
centralized data storage electrically coupled to the host processor. The
centralized
data storage includes a plurality of award program participant records, and
each of
the award program participant records includes at least a program participant
point
balance. The host communicator is electrically coupled to the host processor
and
receives requests for the award program participant records from the point
servers
and transmits at least the point balance to the point servers. The in-store
system
server, consumer web site server and employee engagement and incentive web
site
server each processes transactions to determine points earned on the
transactions.
These point servers cause the point balance stored in the centralized data
storage to
be immediately updated by transmitting in real-time at the conclusion of each
transaction the points earned to the host processor. The points earned for
each
transaction are added to the point balance stored within each participant
record to
create an updated point balance in the participant record stored in the
centralized
data storage.
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The system's online interactive consumer web site server is comprised of at
least a web site server, web site data storage that is electrically coupled to
the web
site server and a web site communicator electrically coupled to the web site
processor. The web site communicator transmits requests for award program
participant account data from the centralized data storage and retrieves from
the
centralized data storage award program participant account data which includes
at
least an award point balance and stores the data in temporary data storage for
use by
the web site server. The interactive web site calculates the points earned for
each
award and transmits the points earned in real-time at the conclusion of a
transaction
to the host processor. The points earned for each transaction are added to the
point
balance stored in each program participant record to create an updated point
balance
in the program participant records stored in the centralized data storage.
The interactive employee engagement and incentive web site server provides
individuals within an organization with the ability to be awarded points
immediately
in the centralized data storage for achieving goals and exhibiting behavior
deemed
desirable to the organization. The web site server includes a web site
processor, web
site data storage electrically coupled to the web site processor, and a data
input
device electrically coupled to the web site processor for interactive
communication
with the web site processor. The interactive employee engagement and incentive
web site server interactively awards points to an organization nominee member
upon
the request of an organization nominator as an incentive. The points awarded
are
immediately transmitted to the centralized data storage and added to the
points
previously stored in the organization nominee member record to create an
updated
organization member account point balance that is 'immediately available for
, redemption in exchange for products and services at participating retailer
systems
networked to the host incentive award system. It is to be understood that a
program
participant record and an organization nominee record may be the same record
in
one embodiment. In an alternative embodiment, a program participant record and
an
organization nominee record axe two separate records that are linked to allow
for
immediate access to points in either account. The web site server includes the
ability to notify the organization nominee member of the incentive and points
awarded via email, inner-office mail, or U.S. or private mail. The
organization
server awards behavior currency to an organization nominee member at the
request
of an organization nominator member as an award for the nominee exhibiting
certain
behavior that the organization encourages. The orgaW zation nominee member and
the organization nominator member are both employees of the organization.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention may be more completely understood in consideration of the
following detailed description of the invention in connection with the
accompanying
drawing, which are incorporated in and constitutes a part of tlus
specification, in
which:
FIG. 1 is a networking diagram illustrating the various computer components
of the system in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 is a functional diagram illustrating system functions of an Internet e-
commerce system;
FIGs. 3a, 3b and 3c are flow charts depicting the logical flow of an in-store
points redemption system in accordance With the principles of the invention;
FIGs. 4a, 4b is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the on-line
enrollment process of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is flow charts depicting the logical flow of the shopping functions
within the interactive web site portion of the system in accordance with the
principles of the invention;
FIGS. 6a, 6b and 6c is a flow chart depicting the logical flow of the purchase
finalization function within the interactive web site portion of the system in
accordance with the principles of the invention;
FIGS. 7a and 7b are flow charts depicting the logical flow of the self service
ERM enrollment process;
FIGS. 8a, 8b and 8c are flow charts depicting the logical flow of a peer-to-
peer recognition process;
FIG. 9 is a flow chart representing the certificate review process for peer-to-
peer recognitions;
FIG. 10 is a flow chart describing the process for the entry of peer-to-peer
recognition awards criteria;
FIGS. l la and l 1b are flow charts describing the administrative process for
setup of the peer-to-peer recognition sweepstakes;
FIG. 12 illustrates the administrative processes involved in configuring
program criteria and budget information for the manager's discretionary
recognition
process;
FIG. 13a, 13b, 13c, and 13d are flow charts depicting the Manager's
Discretionary Recognition process; and
FIGS. 14a, 14b, 14c and 14d are flow charts depicting the logical flow of the
processes comprising the employee suggestion module of the ERM program.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
System Overview
The principles of the present invention provide for a combined computer
implemented on-line electronic consumer transaction and employee
engagement/incentives point accumulation system in which a consumer and/or an
employee of a business organization earns points which are immediately
reflected in
a central location regardless of where the points are earned. The system that
implements the present invention spans the physical and Internet domains by
providing a system where a consumer may earn points on transactions occurring
in a
retailer's store, at a retailer's Internet based web site storefront, and from
individuals
or organizations in recognition of certain behaviors. The points earned from
individuals or organizations in the embodiment described herein are from peers
and/or supervisors at an award earner's place of employment in recognition of
certain behaviors or events. The system allows points earned on transactions
in any
of these three domains to be immediately reflected in centralized data
storage. Use
of the invention provides a plurality of different retailers which have
established a
presence in the physical marketplace to enhance their presence and consumer
loyalty
by providing a means for rewards to be earned in both the physical and
Internet
domains. The invention also provides retailers and other employers with a
means of
providing incentive point awards to employees with the points being of the
same,
common currency as those exchanged in the two loyalty domain thereby enhancing
the value of points issued within all three domains. The rewards earned in all
three
domains are all maintained on one system. No distinction is drawn between
rewards
earned in a central host system domain in comparison to rewards earned in the
others. The system provides merchants and employers with the ability to
develop
consumer loyalty and enhanced employee relationships beyond what could be
achieved solely in their respective domains. Participating merchants and
organizations may fall into one of several categories: (1) electronic commerce
interactive web site only, (2) physical store locations) only, (3) a physical
store
locations) and an electronic commerce interactive web site on the Internet
commerce, (4) employee engagement/incentives program only, or (5) any
combination of (1) through (4). Supported by a network of non-competing retail
partners in both the physical and Internet domains, use of the invention
allows
retailers to increase revenues and profitability by assisting in the retention
of loyal
shoppers and acquiring new customers. Retail partners are offered additional
opportunity to acquire new customers by virtue of employee
engagement/incentives
participants seeking to redeem points issued by their employer in the retail
domains.
The combined loyalty and employee engagement/incentives program implemented
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by a preferred embodiment of the system constructed according to the
principles of
the present invention, spans the physical and computer network domain,
including
both Intranet and Internet domains. Transactions that occur in the physical
domain
take place in retail outlets, typically at point-of sale devices. Transactions
occurring
in computer network domain take place via personal computers, via Internet or
Intranet connections to a retailer's interactive e-commerce web site or an
employee
engagement/incentives program interactive web site. Users may access both the
retailer interactive web site stored on the retailer's web commerce server,
and the
employee engagementlincentives program interactive web site stored on the
engagement/incentive program server by the public Internet. The employee
engagement/incentive program server may also be accessed by users via a
corporate
Intranet or private network. It is to be understood that retail outlets are
meant to
include any establishment from which a consumer may purchase goods or
services,
including stores, service establishments, catalog outlets and mail order
houses. It is
also to be understood that an interactive web site includes any Internet based
virtual
store from which a consumer may purchase goods or services. In the physical
domain, system fiu~ctionality in each retail outlet is implemented by the in-
store
system controller, system functionality is also implemented in the physical
domain
by the point-of sale device, such as a cash register, or through a service
desk work
station. The service desk is one point of entry into the system through which
a
customer may enroll in the program, redeem points for certificates, transfer
points
from one account to another, or have certain administrative functions
performed. In
the Intranet and Internet domains, system functionality is implemented by the
web
server processor.
To participate in either the loyalty or employee incentives program in either
the physical or the Intranet and Internet domains, the consumer must be
identified by
a unique account identification number. A unique identification number is
assigned
to a consumer participant during enrollment. There is no required enrollment
period
which must pass before a consumer may participate in the loyalty program.
Consumers may enroll in the program through various methods, including a paper
enrollment form provided at participating merchant locations, or via an
electronic
enrollinent form on the interactive web site of a retail merchant or via a
program
host web site maintained by the loyalty program administrator. Employees may
enroll via the interactive web site of an organization that is a member of the
employee engagement/incentives program.. It is to be understood that the
employee/
incentives web site functionality is accessible only to employees of the
business
entity having implemented the program, but may be accessed from either the
private
company Intranet or from the public Internet domains.
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Although enrollment in the loyalty program or the employee engagement
incentives program may be accomplished in various ways, the most common way
consumer enrollinent information is captured in the physical domain is by use
of
paper enrollment forms. When the customer completes a paper form, he or she is
provided with a point accumulation card that is instantly usable at any one of
the
plurality of retail stores networked to the program administrator's host
system. The
account number identified on that card is also immediately accepted by any
electronic commerce merchant participating in the program having a web site on
the
Internet. The merchant sends the paper forms to a data entry vendor, where
they are
converted to electronic form. The electronic data is then forwarded to the
program
administrator host system and added to the centralized customer database
within the
host system. Another source for enrollment data includes information gathered
via
applications for affinity credit cards. Enrollment data would be captured in
electronic form and forwarded to the program administrator host system for
entry
into the central customer database.
Program enrollment data may also be captured over the Internet. If the
consumer has already provided name and demographic data to the electronic
commerce merchant for billing or shipping purposes, that information can be
used
by the electronic commerce merchant to populate the fields of an electronic
enrollment form. If that information is not available, the participating
electronic
commerce merchant may provide electronic forms on their web site. The program
administrator host system may also provide these electronic forms which may be
accessed through the program administrator's loyalty program e-commerce web
site.
It is to be understood that the enrollment form could be accessed from the
homepage
within either the program administrator's loyalty program e-commerce web site
or a
participating merchant web site, or from other pages within either site. Point
of
entry is not important as long as the appropriate information is gathered. The
user
interface simply presents an electronic form and prompts the consumer to enter
the
information requested on the form. Upon completion of the form, or if the
consumer
information was obtained from existing data, the data is transmitted to the
program
administrator host system, and checked against various edit roles for
validity. If the
data passes the edit checks, the on-line point server within the program
administrator
host system creates a new account and assigns a unique account number to that
account. Successful receipt of the enrollment data may also trigger an
electronic
response which may include transmitting an email message to the customer
advising
them of successful receipt of enrollment data and / or transmitting the
program
account number, which can be used immediately, in either the physical or
Internet
domains for transactions during the consumer visit to a participating retailer
outlet or
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retailer web site. The email message also informs the customer that the
loyalty
program card being mailed will enable the customer to earn and redeem points
in
either environment. Employee engagement/incentive program enrollment may be
captured by the employee incentives program host system via public Internet
private
Intranet or Extranet connection in a method similar to that described above
for
participating electronic commerce merchants. Employee profile information may
be
entered into the system by the employee, a supervisor, a human resources
administrator or automatically via an incoming interface from internal human
resources or other systems. The system may assign a new account number
automatically when the profile data has been entered and validated as
described
above, or the employee may be prompted to enter an account number to
accommodate the situation where the employee has already enrolled as a loyalty
program participant within the retail domain. Another embodiment of the
invention
would allow an existing account number to be linked to the new incentives
account
number such that transactions occurnng in the physical or Internet domains of
the
loyalty program or information submitted via the Intranet or Internet domain
in the
employee engagement/incentive program may be linked to create a common
account. Successful enrollment in the employee incentives program may also
trigger
an email to the employee with a description of the program benefits,
fungibility of
the currency, etc.
Consumers that enroll in the loyalty or the employee engagement/incentives
programs are assigned a unique account number and provided with a permanent
point accumulation card identifying that account for use in the physical
domain at
retail stores and service outlets whose point-of sale equipment is programmed
to
read the account number from the point accumulation card. The point
accumulation
card may be a card having a read only magnetic stripe or bar-code positioned
on the
card. The bar-code or magnetic stripe includes data representing the customers
account number. Upon activation of the customer's point accumulation program
account, use of the point accumulation card prompts the system to search for
the
customer's point accumulation account. The card number, which is preferably
sixteen digits, includes a persistent six digit ISO (International Standards
Organization) number and a check digit.
Generally, the combined loyalty/employee engagement/incentive program
implemented with the system works as follows. In the physical domain, each
time a
customer shops at a retailer store, during check-out or payment for items
purchased,
the customer's point accumulation card is swiped or scanned through a point-of
sale
device magnetic card reader or barcode scanner. The device that reads account
data
from the point accumulation card is part of the system. The system reads the
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customer account number which is encoded on the magnetic stripe or bar-code
and
sends a request for retrieval of the customer point balance which is linked to
the
customer account number. The system also includes the ability to handle late
card
presentation at the point-of sale and an alternate form of account
identification, such
as a credit card or driver license number. If alternate account identification
is
presented by the customer, the system includes a mechanism to identify the
customer and the customer account number from the alternate account
identification
information processed by the system so that a request for retrieval of the
customer
point balance can be completed. One mechanism that can be used to identify the
customer is to link the alternate identification (such as credit card
information) to the
customer primary account number. When such a link has been established, the
host
system processes the alternate identification sent by the point-of sale device
and
locates the customer account by way of the link between the account number and
alternate identification. The host system then sends the primary account
number and
account information to the point-of sale device.
Following the request for customer account information, the program
administration host system sends at least the customer's current accumulated
point
balance from a centralized host system data base. The data received is stored
at the
point-of sale device in temporary data storage and is displayed in real-time
to the
point-of sale device. Similarly, in the Internet/electronic commerce domain, a
customer may make purchases through the web sites ofparticipating retailers.
The
retailer web site, having an interactive homepage, is networked to the host
system
via a direct connection to the on-line point server or via the program
administrator
loyalty program e-commerce web server. The retailer web site server queries
the on-
line point server and retrieves the customer reward account point balance from
the
host system database.
Consumer transactions that occur via the Internet domain in the combined
loyalty/employee engagement/incentive assumes that a consumer has a device for
accessing the Internet, for example a personal computer with browser software,
WebTv, mobile phone having Internet access capabilities, PDA having Internet
access capabilities, etc. When a consumer accesses the Internet, that consumer
may
enter the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) address of the participating retailer
electronic commerce web site and initiate the process to display contents of
that
"page" on their personal computer. The content corresponding to the primary
URL
is typically referred to as the "homepage" of that web site, which presents
the user
with information and a menu of features, displayed either as images or text
having
corresponding link to a new "page" of information. When an individual
participating in the combined loyalty/employee engagement/incentive program
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accesses the web server of a participating retailer or employer organization,
the
system provides the customer with an option to identify themselves as a
participant
in the loyalty program (at the web site of a participating retailer or the web
site of the
loyalty program administrator) or a participant in the employee
engagement/incentive program (via an Intranet or Internet connection to the
employee incentives program host system.). In one embodiment, a customer may
identify themselves by entering their loyalty program account number. It is to
be
understood that use of the account number is only one method of identifying a
participating customer or employee and that the step of identifying a customer
or
employee is not to be limited to the use of the customer account munber.
Identifiers
such as employee ID#, social security number of credit card numbers may also
be
used.
If the loyalty customer is linked to the participating retailers web site via
the
loyalty program administrator's e-commerce web site, the loyalty program
account
number may be passed to the participating retailer's web site electronically.
Tlus
omits the need to re-enter the loyalty program account number after it has
been
entered once at the program administrator's web site. The loyalty program
account
number may also originate from enrollment at any physical store location, the
program call center, an affinity card or another participating electronic
commerce
web site. The account number may also originate from the employee
engagement/incentives program. If the customer enters an account number after
accessing the participating retailers web site, the number is verified against
a check
digit routine to validate correct entry and held in temporary storage for use
in
identifying that customer as a loyalty program participant. The account number
may
be verified against the central database from any point in the on-line
consumer
transaction process flow. The customer record stored at the central database
is also
accessible via the award program account identification number. This
information
may be used to customize the content and the "look and feel" of the web site
for the
customer. If the user accessing the web site does not enter an account number,
or
does not have a loyalty program account number, an option to enroll in the
program
and obtain an account number is offered to the user.
An additional feature that the system provides in the W ternet domain is to
allow retailers to separately capture and store information about a user
within their
web site. This explicit information typically includes customer name and
demographics, preferences, billing and shipping addresses, credit card data,
user
identification number, PIN number, etc. This data may also be used to help
personalize the web site. Some of the explicit information captured can be
used for
alternate identification purposes if the customer does not know the award
program
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account number. For example, a credit card number can be used instead of the
program customer award account number. The system includes a mechanism to
identify the customer and the customer account number from the credit card
number
processed by the system so that a request for retrieval of the customer point
balance
can be completed. One mechanism that can be used to identify the customer is
to
link the alternate identification (such as credit card number) to the customer
primary
account number. When such a link is established, the host system processes the
alternate identification sent by the web site server and locates the customer
account
by way of the link between the customer primary account number and alternate
identification. The host system then sends the customer record information
associated with the customer primary account number to the participating
retailer
web site.
Customers may earn points based on the pre-tax non-exempt purchase total
for purchases conducted in at participating retailer stores/outlets and on-
line through
participating retailer web sites. The points that may be earned include
"regular"
points and "bonus" points. Any points earned, regular or bonus, are added to
the
customer's current point balance stored in a centralized host system data base
in real-
time.
In the preferred embodiment of the retail loyalty program, customers earn
"regular" points based on the pretax dollar amount ofthe current sales
transaction,
less any exempt items. "Bonus" points are extra points that may be earned by
the
customer on the purchase of specially promoted items on the retailer web site
or
throughout the retailer outlet. Bonus points typically have a pre-set value
defined on
the item stored in the item master file. In the Internet domain, the master
file is
stored on the web site server. In the physical domain, the master file is
stored within
the in-store controller. For example, if a specific manufacturer of mobile
phone
cigarette lighter adapters for use with a specific mobile phone has seventy
five bonus
points attached to it in the master file, a customer will be awarded seventy
five
points upon purchase of the item. Bonus points may also be awarded in a
variable
pricing scheme. One example of a variable points award pricing scheme is in
the
context of items that have variable prices based on the amount purchased or
weight,
such as fruits, candies, vegetables and meats which may award 50 points for
each
pound of an item purchased. "Bonus" points may be sponsored by the
participating
retailer, manufacturer or the program coordinator. The amount of "regular"
points
that may be earned on a sales transaction is dependent on the dollar amount of
the
transaction, whereby the calculation of "regular" points is skewed on a
sliding scale
to favor customers making purchases that total a larger dollar amount. An
example
of the manner in which regular points are awarded is shown below in Table 1.
Not
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all consumer products are eligible for point accumulation. For example, exempt
items which in some jurisdictions may be items such as tobacco and alcohol do
not
generate points when purchased.
As shown in Table 1 below, in one embodiment, the system is configured so
that it has two "breakpoints" fox point calculations. A breakpoint is the
minimum
purchase amount required to begin earning points. The first breakpoint in the
embodiment illustrated is ten dollars ($10). The second breakpoint is twenty
five
dollars ($25). Twenty five dollars ($25) is an amount just above the current
average
transaction amount which triggers a higher point issuance rate. All cent
amounts are
truncated when calculating points. Although transactions less than the ten
dollar
($10.00) minimum are not eligible for regular points, bonus points are awarded
for
any bonus items purchased even if the transaction amount is less than ten
dollars
($10.00). At any given time, the average store may feature several hundred
bonus
items. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the number of
points, the
various break points and the bonus items are representative of one preferred
embodiment by a system implementing the principles of the present invention.
Other point amounts, dollar amounts and products might be used and should not
be
construed as limitations of the present invention.
TABLE 1
Example
Points are calculated based on the following criteria:
Minimum purchase $10
First break point 5 points per dollar > $10
Second break point 10 points per dollar > $25
PurchaseFirst Break PointsSecond Break Total Regular
Points Points
Amount Awaxded Awarded Awarded
$5.00 0 0 0
$10.00 5 points 0 5 points
$15.21 6 x 5 points 0 30 points
$25.00 15 x 5 points 1 x 10 points 85 points
$30.99 15 x 5 points 6 x 10 points 135 points
The example shown above in Table 1 illustrates the manner in which points
are accumulated in one embodiment. In the above example, the amount of the
customer's purchase must be at least ten dollars ($10) in order for a customer
to earn
any regular points. If the purchase price of all items purchased is greater
than or
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equal to ten dollars ($10), the customer will earn five points per dollar
amount
purchased up to, but not including the second break point at twenty five
dollars
($25). Once the total purchase value reaches twenty five dollars ($25), in
addition to
the five points being earned for each dollar between $10 and $25, the customer
earns
ten points for each dollar beginning with the twenty fifth dollars ($25) .
As shown in Table 1, if the purchase amount is equal to five dollars ($5.00),
no points axe awarded. If the purchase amount is at least equal to ten dollars
($10.00), five points are awarded. No points are awarded for purchases that
are less
than ten dollars. If the purchase amount equals fifteen dollars and twenty one
cents
($15.21), thirty (30) points are awarded: five points are awarded for the
first ten
dollars ($10) and five points for each dollar above ten dollars ($10) for a
total of 30
points. No points are awarded for the twenty one cents because all cent
amounts are
truncated when calculating points. If the purchase amount is equal to thirty
dollars
and ninety nine cents ($30.99) , one hundred thirty five (135) points are
awarded.
Five points are awarded for the first ten dollars ($10) and for each dollar
above ten
dollars ($10) for a total of seventy five points. The seventy five points axe
characterized as first break points. Because the total purchase amount is
greater than
twenty five dollars ($25) the customer earns second break points which are ten
points for the first twenty five dollars ($25) and for each dollar above
twenty five
dollars ($25) for a total of 60 points. No points are awarded for the ninety
nine
cents. The total points earned for a purchase that totals thirty dollars and
ninety-nine
cents ($30.99) as shown above in table 1, is one hundred thirty five points
(135) by
virtue of combining the first and second chance break points.
Customers may redeem the points earned when purchasing a redeemable
item in a number of ways, including gift certificates and/or catalog items at
the
retailer service desk, or at the time of such purchases for both on-line and
in-store
purchases. On-line redemptions occur through a participating retailer's
interactive
web site and in-store redemptions occur through a point-of sale device.
However, in
some embodiments of the system, a customer may not be allowed to redeem points
earned on a redeemable item until certain information has been input into the
system. For example, a retailer may want demographic information input into
the
customer record of each customer prior to allowing each customer to redeem
points
in the program. The retailer could implement this requirement by placing a
block on
each customer's redemption of points until the demographic information has
been
input into the customer record. In the physical domain, a customer would be
directed to the retailer service desk so that the customer profile data
required could
be input and stored in the customer record at the host system. In the Internet
domain, the web site server queries the customer for the customer profile
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information. In one embodiment, entry of the requisite profile data is used as
a
prerequisite to the customer using the account, hi this embodiment, upon entry
of
the requisite consumer profile data, the web site server analyzes the consumer
transaction point data to determine if the data representative of the consumer
transaction point balance is greater than or equal to a cash credit point
balance. In
other embodiments, the web site server analyzes the consumer transaction point
data
after the account has been established and prior to entry of the requisite
profile data.
Where the consumer transaction point balance is greater than or equal to the
cash
credit point balance, the consumer is provided with an option to immediately
reduce
the price of a redeemable transaction item by a specified amount.
The redemption of points at the service desk for catalog items, certificates,
and certificates for travel-related rewards that may be redeemed at a variety
of point
levels, are validated against the customer account at the centralized host
system
database, and the customer's point balance reflected in the account is debited
in real-
time upon redemption of points for certificates or catalog items.
The redemption of points during conclusion of on-line purchases or at check-
out for purchases occurring in a retail store, in one embodiment, occurs
against all
items purchased. In this embodiment points are redeemed against the overall
purchase price of a customer's transaction. Redemption of points reduces the
cost of
all items purchased during an online visit or at the end of the checlc-out
process for
purchases occurnng in a retail store. In another embodiment, the redemption of
points during conclusion of on-line purchases or at check-out for purchases
occurring in a retail store may only occur for items that are specifically
designated as
redeemable. Ttems are designated as redeemable by the retailer. A customer who
purchases an item designated as redeemable will be notified of the item's
eligibility
for redemption by the retailer. In some embodiments, depending upon
capabilities
of the web site server and point-of sale systems, the retailer system may
notify the
customer of the item's eligibility for redemption after the item has been
input into
the retailer system as one being purchased. If the customer decides to redeem
the
item eligible for redemption, points will be debited from the customer's
account
point balance and the customer will receive a reduction in the price of the
item being
purchased immediately. The system also includes the ability to reflect
additional
reductions in the price of items purchased by customers participating in the
loyalty
program. Such reductions are determined by the individual participating
retailers.
Fox example, all customers that enter their account numbers into the retailer
system
during transactions can be given cents off discounts of any amount for a
transaction
item identified by the retailer. This additional reduction in price can be
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separately or in combination with the price reduction that is provided by the
redemption of points on selected redeemable items.
An example of the additional reduction in price utilized in combination with
a standard point redemption can be visualized on a redeemable item priced at
two
dollars ($2.00). If the retailer desires to give away the redeemable item at
no cost to
the consumer, the retailer may assign an additional reduction amount of eighty
cents
to the redeemable item. When a customer presents the award account number card
along with the purchase of the item, they would get an eighty cent discount
and if
they choose to redeem the item, they could exchange 750 points for a reduction
of
$1.20 and get the item for free. In this scenario, the additional discount is
not
dependent upon whether the customer redeems points for a reduction in price.
Any
customer that participates in the program and enters an account number into
the
retailer system during the purchase of products or services would get the
reduction in
price. It is also contemplated that the additional discount could be dependent
on
redemption of points. Wherein, the additional reduction in price of eighty
cents will
not occur unless the customer elects to redeem points for an initial reduction
in
price.
In the physical domain, during customer check-out at the point-of sale
device, the system prints on the sales receipt bonus item descriptions and the
corresponding bonus points earned for all bonus items purchased during the
customer's visit to the retailer. Redemptions taken by the customer at the
point-of
sale are also printed on the receipt. When the customer completes all
transactions,
the system calculates and prints on the customer receipt the total points
earned for
those transactions and the new account point balance which reflects alI points
earned
and redeemed during the present visit to the retailer. The system also
transmits a
message carrying the total points earned in the transaction by point category
and the
total points redeemed in the current transaction to the centralized host
system
database at the completion of a transaction so that the customer account can
be
updated. At the retailer's option, the system allows for the retailer to
create a
transaction log file that is configured to capture and upload information
about
customer transactions at various levels of detail for data analysis. The
transaction
log file is generated at both types of retailer systems for transactions
occurring on-
line and in-store.
The employee engagement/incentives program integrated within the
combined program may encompass multiple functions. First is the ability to
issue
congratulatory certificates and real-time point rewards to employees in
recognition
of positive behavior and achievement of goals or events. In order to capture
and
measure these behaviors, the program and system includes an interactive
application
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for peers, supervisors and trainers to enter data pertaining to an employee
profile.
The interactive application validates that the desired behavior or goal has
been
reached. The behaviors may include high performance, completion of online or
offline training courses, completion of a specific work goal, employee
referrals,
exemplary attendance, or a special effort expended to solve a problem or
acquire a
new client. Events such as a service anniversary may also trigger the issuance
of
rewards. Upon confirmation of the engagement event or behavior, the employee
engagement/incentives application will format and transmit a point issuance
transaction to the online point server hosted by the program administrator,
and the
account will be credited in real-time. The online point server will return to
the
employee incentives program host the new balance of the individual's account,
which may reflect transactions conducted in the other retail loyalty domains.
In the
preferred embodiment, the employee incentives system may also generate an
email
to the employee and other individuals as desired, with an electronic copy of
the
recognition certificate suitable for printing, along with confirmation of the
number
of points earned and the new point balance. The preferred embodiment may also
trigger an email to the employee's supervisor or the human resources
representative
apprising them of the recognition if the recognition was submitted from a peer
or
another co-worker. Another feature of the preferred embodiment allows the
employee being recognized to receive an entry in a sweepstakes for a large
reward or
prize to be awarded at selected intervals.
Another example of an employee engagement event that may be designated
as a trigger for the issuance of recognition and point awards to an employee
is the
employee's service anniversary. The employee service anniversary feature is a
batch
software routine that may scan the employee database at certain scheduled
intervals
and extract a list of the records of any employees who appear to have
surpassed a
service anniversary, such as 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, etc. This list is then
reviewed
by the human resource representative responsible for the group under review.
Under
some circumstances, the human resource representative may need to adjust the
anniversary dates. For example, if the employee has been on a leave of absence
that
it not considered as service time, the service anniversary is extended to the
appropriate date reflecting the leave of absence. The human resources
representative
user also has the ability to approve or not approve the issuance of the reward
for
each employee on the list. Once the review and adjustment of the list is
complete,
the user submits the batch, which in turn triggers email recognition to the
employee
with a link to a rewards page, and a real-time point issuance transaction to
the online
point server for each employee on the list for the appropriate number of award
points
to be issued for that particular event. The points posted to the employee's
central
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account are accessible to all systems in any of the domains having access to
the
online point server. The employee engagement/incentives system could also
format
and send email to each of the employees being recognized for a service
anniversary,
with an electronic certificate and a notice of the number of points posted to
their
account in recognition of their achievement.
Another major function of the employee incentives program within the
combined program is the ability to redeem the points earned in either domain
for
rewards displayed on the employee incentives program site's redemption
page(s).
The redemption pages) is similar to an e-commerce shopping site - a catalog of
items available for redemption is displayed, including the number of points
required
to redeem each item. A plurality of methods for product searches is offered -
the
employee may search by category, by item, or by keyword. If the employee
chooses
to initiate a search, search criteria is entered and transmitted to the web
server and
the results of the search are returned to the client workstation. The employee
has the
option of selecting one of the products from the list of products located to
view the
product details.
Upon completion of shopping, the user elects to finalize the purchase and
engages a fmalization of purchase routine. The account point balance available
to
the employee may be validated in a number of ways. The first method involves a
two-phased transaction. In the first phase, the balance may be retrieved upon
entry to
the finalization routine and stored in local memory. The finalization routine
then
calculates and displays the total number of points required for redemption.
The
employee incentives web application then compares the total number of points
required against the account balance previously stored in memory. If the
account
point balance is less than the amount required to complete the transaction, an
error
message is displayed, and the routine prompts the employee to either remove
items
from the shopping cart to reduce the point amount required for redemption, or
to exit
the redemption entirely. If the account point balance is greater than or equal
to the
number of points required to redeem, the second phase of the transaction is
initiated
and a point debit transaction is transmitted electronically in real-time to
the online
point server at the program administrator host site, and the employee account
balance is reduced by the corresponding number of points. The web application
displays the new point balance to the employee. A second method for validating
the
account balance and debiting the account balance utilizes a single-phased
transaction
approach. A balance inquiry is not utilized. When the number of points
required for
redemption has been calculated, a point debit authorization request is sent
electronically, in real-time from the employee incentives web site to the
online point
server. The web site must wait for the response from the online point server.
In this
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method, the online point server performs the comparison of the account balance
to
the point redemption request. If the account balance is greater than or equal
to the
number of points required to purchase the items, an approval message is
returned to
the web server and displayed by the client device and along with the new
account
point balance. The incentives web application captures the product order
information and transmits it to the order fulfillment entity, either an
internal or
external system. The redemption transaction is concluded. The employee
incentives
web server, in conjunction with the order fulfillment system, provides an
interface
for the employee to view the fulfillment status of the order. The order
fulfillinent
system manages the fulfillment process throughout its lifecycle.
A link to the program administrator's e-commerce site offers additional
rewards eligible for redemption by the employee. Additional links to e-
commerce
sites participating in the loyalty program may also be displayed on the
engagement
program redemption page, thus driving customer traffic to those sites. The
employee engagement/incentives program may be extended to the in-store retail
domain.
A third major function of the employee incentives interactive site is the
ability to offer employee self services, such as the ability to update address
and
demographics information, supervisor name, benefits information and requests.
This
information is stored in a database accessible by the incentives program
application,
and security protected such that an employee must enter an identifier and
password
to access the information.
A fourth major function of the employee incentives application is the ability
of a supervisor or administrator to create templates for recognition or award
certificates in electronic form. A variety of templates may be created
depending on
the behavior being recognized and the originator of the recognition, For
example, a
template may be created for a peer-to-peer recognition, while other templates
may be
created for a supervisor recognitions, completion of training, employee
referrals, etc.
These templates are stored on the employee engagement/incentives program
database and accessible by those individuals desiring to issue a reward
recognition.
Supervisor and administrative functions also encompass access to reports
detailing
the recognitions sent and received by individuals and by groups.
Employee Engagement slid Incentive Award System Overview
The interactive employee engagement and incentive web site server provides
an employee engagement award system networked to the central host incentive
award system, enabling that same consumer to earn and accumulate points in his
or
her role as an employee. An important component of the employee engagement
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program is the concept of "employee self service" as related to the capture
and
maintenance of employee data. A challenging aspect of employee engagement
programs is the timely acquisition of employee data such as.home address,
email
address, phone numbers, supervisor, benefit options selected, payroll
information,
etc. Typically this information may reside on different databases with
different
database keys, in different departments within an organization and possibly in
different geographical locations, possibly lacking linkage between these data
stores.
More and more employees today are both capable and willing to maintain their
profiles directly via a realtime "self service" model enabled by Internet
technologies.
The "self service" enrollment model for employee engagement programs is less
costly for the organization implementing the program, engages the employee
directly, and provides more accurate employee data. The trend in today's
workplace
are (1) more employees have online access, (2) more employees work from home
with access to the organization's central systems, (3) more employees work on
a
contractual basis, and (4) more employees willing to "self service" their
profile
information via Internet connections. This concept should be directly
extensible to
maintaining their employee profile via the Internet.
Given that an employee is enrolled in the engagement/incentive program,
point-based awards are issued by the employer in recognition of goals
achieved,
certain events and/or for behavior exhibited by the employee which provides
benefit
to the employer. Employee engagement/incentive programs utilizing point-based
awards may include any or all of the following functional components: (1) Peer-
to-
peer recognition, (2) Manager-to-employee recognition, (3) Employee referral
programs, (4) Service anniversary rewards, (5) Training recognition, (6)
Online peer
and supervisor performance reviews, (7) Suggestion program, (~) Travel "best-
practices" recognition, (9) Employee discounts, (10) Employee Surveys and (I
l) Job
Certification testing. Note that an organization may present a customized set
of
ERM services to the participant based on criteria such as the participant's
profile,
department, operating group, geography, etc. For example, employees within one
department of an organization may have access to peer-to-peer recognition,
while
employees of another department may not have access to that module.
In the retail domain, the participating retailer systems include at least one
in-
store system, which includes point-of sale systems, and at Ieast one on-line
interactive web site that offers goods and/or services to consumers. The
business
organizations participating in affiliated employee engagement/incentives
programs
provide systems including at least an interactive web site accessible
internally via
workstations connected by the company's local area network or infra-network,
or
externally via any device with Internet access and browser functionality.
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The points earned are transmitted in real-time to the host processor and
added to points previously earned that are stored in the centralized data
storage of
the host system. In either the consumer loyalty domain or the employee
engagement/incentives domain, the updated or previous point balance may be
used
to immediately reduce the price of select items purchased by a consumer. The
point
balance (or a portion of the point balance) may also be redeemed for
merchandise
offered as rewards on the employee incentives/engagement program interactive
web
page. The system spans both the physical and Internet domains to provide
retailers
that participate in a loyalty award program with the ability to augment their
physical
retail outlets with web sites, thereby providing the competitive advantage of
reaching additional customers. The system further spans the Internet domain
for
companies offering an employee incentives program, thus adding value to both
the
consumer loyalty and employee incentives program domain though a common point
rewards currency.
The system which implements principles of the present invention is
comprised of (1) participating retailer systems, and (2) employee engagement
systems hosted by participating business organizations, both of which are
networked to (3) an incentive award program coordinator host system. The
participating retailer systems include at least one in-store system and at
least one on-
line interactive web site. The in-store system has a local processor, local
data
storage electrically coupled to the local processor, data input means
electrically
coupled to the local processor for receiving a consumer account number, and a
local
communicator electrically coupled to the local processor for transmitting
requests
for consumer account data. The on-line interactive web site has a web server
processor, web server data storage electrically coupled to the web server
processor,
data input electrically coupled to the web server processor, and web server
communicator electrically coupled to said web server processor for
transmitting
requests for consumer account data. The employee engagement/incentives program
system includes an online interactive web site with a web server processor,
web
server data storage electrically couples to the web server processor, data
input
electrically coupled to the web server processor, and web server communicator
electrically coupled to said web server processor for transmitting requests
for
employee account data. The system also consists of employee and supervisor
workstations on the organization's private network with connectivity to the
interactive web site. The employee incentives program system also provides for
connectivity to the interactive web site from Internet access devices, such as
personal computers with browsers, connecting via the public Internet. This web
site
system also includes an email system with capability to send email to devices
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within the company Intranet or to devices outside the company Intranet with
access
to Internet mail servers. The employee incentives web site may also include
access
to an order fulfillment system, either internal or external to the company
domain
which provides order management capability for redemption rewards offered by
the
program.
The program admiiustrator host system has an on-line point server that
functions as a host processor, a loyalty program e-commerce web server, a host
processor web server, a host database electrically coupled to the host
processor and a
host communicator electrically coupled to the on-line point server fox
receiving
requests for the consumer account data from the participating retailer
systems. The
host database includes a plurality of consumer records and merchant records,
wherein each consumer record includes at least the consumer award account
point
total for the participating consumer. The host communicator, which includes a
web
server gateway and the program administrator web server allows for access to
the
on-line point server via the Internet, transmits the consumer account data to
either of
the participating retailer systems which directs the consumer account data
transmitted to a display and to data storage. The participating retailer
system
processes each consumer transaction during the consumer's visit to the
retailer outlet
or a retailer's web site to determine whether points are to be awarded. The
participating retailer system immediately updates the total number of
transaction
points stored in the retailer web site server data storage or local data
storage by
adding any points awarded to the customer during their visit to the retailer
outlet or
the retailer's web site. Within the retail domain, the participating retailer
system
queries the data representing the updated total number of transaction points
following data entry of redeemable items into the system to determine whether
the
total number of points earned by the consumer is high enough to allow for an
immediate price reduction on a redeemable item. The system allows for
immediate
reduction of said purchase price of said redeemable item purchased and an
immediate reduction of said updated point balance when points are redeemed to
reduce said purchase price of said redeemable item purchased. The reduced
updated
point balance, or if no points are redeemed, the updated point balance, is
immediately transmitted and stored in the host system database to replace the
previous transaction point total. The new point balance being immediately
available
for use for any subsequent on-line or in-store transactions.
Within the employee engagement/incentives program domain, the interactive
web site processes requests from an employee's peers or supervisors) for award
certificates and point currency awards. These requests for recognition
certificates
may originate from any one of the engagement program components, e.g. peer or
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manager recognition, completion of training programs, submission of
suggestions,
etc. The requests may also be generated automatically by the system based on
anniversary dates or other criteria. Regardless of the source of the
recognition
request, point issuance awards generated by the incentives program web server
are
credited to the individual's account at the overall program host system
database.
The updated point balance is immediately available for redemption in any of
the
three domains: in-store retail, Internet e-commerce, or employee incentives
web site
(Internet or Internet).
Detailed Functional Description
FIG, l, shows a diagram of an embodiment of the computer implemented
consumer transaction point accumulation system. The system includes retailer
systems comprised of an in-store system 10 in communication with a retailer
host 30
and a merchant web site server 50 in communication with a consumer Internet
access device 60. The system also includes a program coordinator host system
40.
The in-store system 10 is comprised of a general retailer point-of sale device
12 that
includes a magnetic card reader and/or bar code scanner. It has on-line
connectivity
to both the program coordinator host system 40 and the retailer host system
30. The
point of sale device 12 is electrically coupled to an in-store controller 14
that is
electrically coupled to an in-store system communicator 18. In other
embodiments,
the system does not include an in-store system communicator 18 and the in-
store
system controller 14 performs the function of transmitting and receiving
communications from the program coordinator host system 40. The program
coordinator host system 40 is comprised of an on-line point server 42, a
central
database host system 44, a loyalty program e-commerce web server 46 and a web
server gateway 48. The in-store system 10 may also include a networked
workstation 16 that is utilized at the retailer service desk. The in-store
system
communicator 18 and the service desk work station 16 routes the transactions
of the
in-store system to and from the program administrator host system 40 via a
communication network. The transactions being routed between the in-store
system
10 and the host system 40 occur in real-time.
The ERM system 70 consists of a web application server 72 coupled to a
employee database 76, accessible by PC based workstations with browser
software,
or by any device enabled to access the Internet such as a PDA, Web TV, etc.
These
devices may be local to the ERM web server 72 and connected via a local axea
network 74, remote to the ERM web server with access via an Extranet
connection
54, 62, or remote to the ERM server with access via the public Internet 58,
64.
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The in-store system's retailer host system 30 is electrically coupled to the
in-
store system controller 14. The retailer host system 30 facilitates
centralized setup
of program data related to bonus and point-of sale redeemable items. The
retailer
host system 30 transmits the set-up details for bonus and point-of sale
redemption
items to the point of sale devices at each retailer outlet through the in-
store system
controller 14. Although the majority of the setup data is received in batch
from the
retailer host system 30, which may be off site, it may be necessary for store
personnel to correct and/or modify set-up details downloaded from the host. A
mechanism to read and change item level point parameters is thus a requirement
at
retailer level. Such changes are usually performed by accessing the in-store
system
controller 14 database. The retailer host system 30 also provides the retailer
with the
ability to batch upload customer activity shopping data for analysis.
In the present embodiment, the merchant web site server 50 has a web server
processor, web server data storage electrically coupled to the web server
processor,
data input electrically coupled to the web server processor for receiving data
transmissions form the consumer Internet access device 60. The merchant web
site
server 50 also includes a web server communicator that controls communications
over the Internet between the web server and the consumer Internet device 60
and
communications over the Internet between the web server and the program
coordinator host system 40. Additionally, the web server communicator may
offer
communication to the retailer host system 30. It is to be understood that the
merchant web site server disclosed in the present embodiment may have
alternative
configurations in other embodiments. The configuration of the merchant web
site
server 50 disclosed in the present invention is not intended to limit the
myriad of
different configurations the merchant web site server 50 may be implemented
with.
The service desk work station 16 comprises a personal computer running a
software application that allows a retailer to access the program coordinator
host
system 40. The retailer may access the application controlling the system and
perform a number of functions depending on the levels of security attached to
the
function and the retailer employee's security clearance level. The functions
available
for access from the service desk work station 16 include: balance inquiry,
transfer
points, point balance adjustments, point refund, certificate issuance,
merchandise
order, add/change alternate identification, cancel/reissue customer card,
enter
enrollment data, and modify enrollment data. The service desk workstation 16
also
transmits information regarding new customer enrollment changes to the central
database host system 44. Alternatively, the service desk work station 16 could
access a central database host system via the Internet or an Intranet.
Similarly, a
retailer may access the application controlling the system via the Internet
through
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use of a consumer Internet access device 60. That connection may be achieved
through the loyalty program e-commerce web server 46 or the program
administrator
host system web server gateway 48. If the application controlling the system
is
accessed, the retailer may perform a number of fiulctions depending on the
level of
security attached to the fvmction and the retailer employee's security
clearance level.
The functions available to a retailer accessing the system via the Internet
include:
balance inquiry, transfer points, point balance adjustments, point refund,
merchandise order, add/change alternate identification, cancel customer
account,
enter enrollment data and modify enrollment data.
The balancing inquiry function provides the customer with a current account
balance. The transfer points function allows the retailer to assist customers
in
consolidating points between two customer accounts. The point balance
adjustments
function provides retailer personnel with the ability to make corrections to
the
customer's point balance in the customer's account. The point refund function
provides the retailer with a mechanism to recover points issued on merchandise
returns.
The certificate issuance function allows the retailer to issue certificates to
the
program customers to be used at participating retailers. The certificates are
printed
with pre-assigned serial numbers in specific dollar amounts. When certificates
axe
physically distributed to retailers, the host system 40 logs the serial
numbers sent to
each store and flags each certificate with a status "D" indicating that the
certificate is
distributed and eligible for issuance. At the time of issuance, the
certificate serial
number is entered at the service desk work-station 16 and verified through the
on-
line point server 42 to determine the status and value of the certificate. In
order to be
issued, the status flag for the certificate number being issued must be in the
"D" state
on the on-line point server 42. When the certificate is issued, the customer
account
is debited by the number of points necessary to purchase the certificate and
the status
flag for the certificate is changed to "I" on the on-line point server 42
indicating the
certificate has been issued. The status flag assists with assuring that the
certificates
are used only once for face value.
When a certificate is being returned for redemption in exchange for a
reduction in the price of a transaction (for example a $10 certificate for a
reduction
of $10 off the price of merchandise), the cashier or customer must input the
serial
number of the certificate into the participating retailer system 10, 50.
Following
entry of the serial number, participating retailer system I0, 50, which is
electrically
coupled to the on-Iine point server 42, sends a request to the on-Iine point
server 42
to determine whether the certificate presented is an issued and
redeemable/valid
certificate. The on-line point server 42 validates the certificate by
indicating that the
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status of the certificate is ("I") issued and outstanding and that the
certificate has not
been previously redeemed. The retailer may redeem the certificate once an
approval
message is sent to the participating retailer system by the on-line point
server 42.
The retailer may then reduce the amount due on a purchase by the face value of
the
certificate. A certificate that is redeemed has its status in the on-line
point server 42
immediately changed to ("R"). The redeemed status takes the certificate out of
circulation and prevents the certificate from being used again.
The merchandise order function provides the retailer with the ability to
assist
the customer in redeeming points for catalog items. When the customer seeks to
purchase catalog items, the customer account is verified through the on-line
point
server 42 to insure that the customer has a sufficient point total in order to
redeem a
specified catalog item. If the customer account has sufficient points, the
point total
is debited in real-time by the number of points necessary for purchase of the
selected
catalog item. The add/change alternate identification function allows for
substitute
identification numbers to be set up and modified. The canceled/reissued
customer
card function allows a retailer to close an existing customer account and
transfer the
points and customer information to a new customer account. The enter
enrollment
data function allows the store to enter demographic information for new
program
participants into the central data base host system 44. The modify enrollinent
data
function allows the store to change demographic information for participating
customers.
The in-store system controller 14 communicates directly with the in-store
system point-of sale devices I2 and transmits data files that define the items
for sale
at the retailer outlet as being bonus, exempt or redeemable. Bonus item,
redemption
item and exempt item data is transmitted from the retailer host system 30 to
data
storage files within the in-store system controller 14 for updating the in-
store system
controller data files relating to bonus, redemption and other system data. The
in-
store system controller 14 may also perform end-of the-day processing at the
local
level which transmits daily totals to the on-line point server 42 for
reconciliation.
Upon receiving acknowledgment from the on-line point server 42 that the totals
record was successfully received, the system controller 10 may extract
customer
activity and upload customer files to the central data base host system 44.
This
function also advances the in-store business date.
The on-line point server 42 serves all requests for point balances, updates
and
redemptions in both the physical and Internet domains. The on-line point
server 42
maintains a customer file that includes a plurality of consumer records for
each
customer participating in the point-accumulation system program. The customer
account f 1e also includes a plurality of merchant records for each of the
plurality of
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non-competing retail merchants that support the program. Each customer record
has
the customer account data for each participating customer which includes data
fields
for storing at least the customer account number, the customer's total
accumulated
point value and customer profile information. The merchant records include at
least
~ transaction activity information.
The on-line point server 42 stores detailed point activity data for a current
business day in a transaction log file. The on-line point server 42 also
extracts and
transfers all relevant data to the central database host system 44 for batch
updating
on a nightly basis. The on-line point server 42 maintains each transaction log
file
until the operational database 44 server returns a renewal file to the on-line
point
server 42 at which point the on-line point server executes a renewal process
which
updates the on-line customer database and purges the corresponding transaction
log
file.
The operational database host system 44 also serves as a master data
repository to service all non-real-time requirements for data (i.e., help
desk,
accounting, reporting, etc.) in support of the on-line point server 42, in
both the
physical and Internet domains. In addition, the operational database host
system 44
services all requests from the in-store service desk and the retailer web
commerce
server to add and modify customer demographic data. On a nightly basis, the
operational database host system 44 receives the transaction log file extract
file from
the on-line point server 42, updates the appropriate tables on the operational
database host system 44 and creates a renewal file. The renewal file is
transferred to
the on-line point server 42 to facilitate synchronization of the two-customer
databases within the program coordinator host system 40. The system includes
the
capability to perform a full file audit to make sure that the two-customer
databases
are synchronized.
The retailer host system 30 and the merchant web site server 50 is where a
majority of the setup data regarding bonus, redeemable and exempt items is
entered.
In the present embodiment, the retailer host system 30 transmits such setup
data to
the in-store system controller 14 at each retailer outlet for use during
consumer
transactions. In another embodiment, the retailer host system 30 transmits
such
setup data to the merchant web site server 50 for use during consumer
transactions.
The retailer host system 30 and the merchant web site server 50 perform at
least the
following item setup functions: exempt item setup, bonus item setup and daily
item
setup processing. The merchant web site server 50 also performs the function
of on-
line interactive redemption setup. The retailer host system 30 also performs
the
functions of in-store redemption item setup. The retailer host system 30 also
receives the transactional log files from the in-store system controller 14
and service
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desk 16. The retailer host system 30 may also receive transactional log files
from
the merchant web server 50. Some transactional log files may also be
transmitted to
the program administrator host system 40.
The exempt item setup function defines the items and departments where the
program points camiot be awarded. Information regarding exempt items is
maintained on the merchant web site server 50 and the retailer host system 30.
In
the present embodiment, for the in-store system transactions in the retailer
outlet,
this information has to be downloaded from the host system 30 to the in-store
system controller 14 database. In another embodiment, the retailer host system
30
transmits information regarding exempt items to the merchant web site server
50 for
use during consumer transactions. Although it is not a requirement, in this
particular
embodiment, bonus item setup processing assigns a positive point value to an
item
and may also assign a start/stop date that defines the period during which an
item
maintains bonus status. Bonus item setup processing also identifies the
sponsor of
the bonus points -- the retailer / merchant, the program coordinator, and
manufacturer. This information is maintained on the merchant web site server
50
and the retailer host system 30. Information regarding exempt items is also
downloaded to the in-store system controller 14 database for use at each
individual
retailer outlets. The redemption item setup function assigns a negative point
and
dollar value to an item and a start/stop date that defines the period during
which an
item maintains redemption status. In this particular embodiment, the point
value for
redeeming a redemption item is -750 points. The reduction of the price of the
redeemable item is -$ I.20, assuming the item purchased has a price that is
greater
than or equal to $1.20. This information is maintained on the merchant web
server
50 and the retailer host system 30. For the in-store system transactions in
the retailer
outlet, this information has to be downloaded into the in-store system
controller 14
from the retailer host system 30. The retailer host system 30 also performs
end-of
day processing which extracts all customer activity from each store by
retrieving the
transaction log files from each in-store system controller 14 and service desk
16 at
each retailer location. These files of daily activity are uploaded to the
retailer's host
30 and/or to the central database host system 44. It is to be understood that
the
loyalty program e-commerce Web server 46 may also perform end of the day
processing in a manner similar to that of the retailer host system 30. The
retailer
host system 30 and the loyalty program e-commerce web server 46 also provides
for
batch communications of collected data to the host system 40.
Processing of transactions that occur in either the physical or Internet
domain
may be performed in two modes, one-phased or two-phased. Both modes of
processing, one-phased and two-phased, occur in the Internet and physical
domains
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on the in-store system 10 and web site server 50. A one-phased transaction is
one in
which the in-store system or web site server 50 communicates once with the
host
system during the customer's transactions. The one-phased communication is the
request and authorization for a point update transaction where the opportunity
for
point redemption is not selected. A two-phased transaction is where there is
an
automatic balance inquiry at the beginning of the transaction and a point
update at
the end of the transaction.
Fig. 2 illustrates the numerous functions that can be performed by the system
through the on-line interactive web site 200 of a merchant. The enrollment
function
202 (further described in Fig. 4) is typically performed through the use of
electronic
forms on the interactive merchant web site 50, or on the loyalty program
e-commerce web server 46. The web site user interface simply presents an
electronic form, and prompts the consumer to enter the information requested
on the
form. Upon completion of the form, or if the consumer information was obtained
from existing data, the data is transmitted to the program administrator, and
checked
against various edit rules for validity. If the data passes the edit checks,
the central
data base host system creates a new account and assigns a unique account
number to
that account. In the present embodiment, the creation of the new account may
also
trigger a card fulfillment process 204 implemented by the program
administrator.
This process physically extracts and matches a loyalty program card (typically
plastic) with the correct account number assigned to the customer. The card is
inserted into a mailing piece with other program materials and sent to the
customer
via the postal service. It is to be understood that the card fulfillment
process may
occur at any time during or after the enrollment process and may be triggered
by a
number of different functions or events.
Transactions through the merchant web site on the present invention also
provide the program participants with the ability to view their individual
loyalty
account information through a view account information fixnction 206. Within
the
view account information function, there are a plurality of optional methods
of
viewing account information. One method is a "Balance" option. The "Balance"
option formats a point balance inquiry transaction and transmits that request
to the
program administrator host system for processing. The program administrator
host
system would query the point balance associated with that account and return
that
information to the customer, via the merchant web site which displays the
account
balance to the consumer. Another method is the "Account" option which
similarly
formats a request for consumer loyalty program account information, and
transmits
the request to the program administrator host system. The on-line point server
42
and the operational database host system 44 within the program administrator
host
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system 40 processes the information retrieved via the web server gateway 48,
which
may include the enrollment data, the status of the account, and any other
information
deemed relevant to the account - lifetime points earned, etc. A further method
is the
"History" option which queries the program administrator host system and
displays
at the web site a transaction history for the requesting consumer account,
describing
recent transactions for the consumer account in summary form. The history
description may include transactions conducted via the Internet as well as
commerce
transacted via the physical domain in retail network of stores at the point-of
sale
device or service desk. For each loyalty transaction, the information provided
may
include the date and time of the transaction, name of the merchant, purchase
amount,
and points issued and/or redeemed. Another optional method is the menu option
called "What's this?", or "About (loyalty program name)." This option, if
selected,
transfers the user to a page with content describing the features and
benefits, terms
and conditions, and any other relevant information pertaining to the loyalty
program.
This could be a page within the merchant's web site, or a link to the loyalty
programs
e-commerce web server. Program participants are also provided with an option
to
view the status of their orders by selecting a view order status icon 207.
The primary function of the merchant web site 200, is the product Shopping /
Searching function 208. Electronic commerce merchants maintain a master file
of
products available for purchase, and the electronic commerce application
resident on
the merchant web site provides an interactive homepage with several options
for
viewing and searching product information. The interactive homepage may
display
products alphabetically, by category or manufacturer, or the homepage could
offer a
search feature allowing the customer to find information based on various
criteria,
such as price, product manufacturer, product subcategory, SKU #, size, color,
keyword, etc. Note that this function could be accessed in various ways from
the
homepage of the interactive homepage, depending on the business requirements
and
the merchant's preferences. Regardless of what method the user utilizes to
locate a
particular product, an option to view a detailed description of the product is
typically
available 210. If the merchant offers bonus points for purchase of the item,
that
information would also be displayed in the detailed view of the product.
Similarly,
if a special discount is available on that product in exchange for the
redemption of
points, that information may also be displayed, along with event information,
such
as the effective dates of the special offer.
If the consumer visiting an interactive homepage on a merchant web site
decides to purchase a product, an electronic "order form" may be displayed to
gather
the additional details of the order, such as quantity of items, size, color,
etc. When
the order form is complete, the user interface provides an option, via a
visual control,
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to move the designated items to a storage area of memory known as the
"shopping
cart" 212. The "shopping cart" function displays the designated items
currently
placed in the "shopping cart", along with pricing information for each
designated
item. Bonus points may also be attached to each designated item placed in the
"shopping cart". A running monetary cost subtotal may also be maintained and
displayed for each designated item. In one embodiment, an additional function,
caused by placing an item in the "shopping cart", is the triggering of an
electronic
point balance request to the program administrator host system, which in turn
retrieves and transmits information representative of the point balance back
to the
homepage where it is displayed to the consumer on his or her personal computer
via
the merchant web site. This provides the consumer with information useful in
making purchase and redemption decisions. The consumer can determine if a
sufficient point balance is available to purchase a particular product
outright through
redemption of, or if a partial discount in exchange for a point redemption
makes the
proposed purchase feasible. Note that the point balance inquiry function could
be
triggered by other events in the shopping process, such as when a category or
brand
is selected or when a consumer logs onto the merchant web site server 50 or
onto the
loyalty program e-commerce web server 46. Note that the timing of balance
inquiries performed by the balance inquiry function is not critical, as long
as it is
performed prior to the process invoked to finalize the purchase. Note that
this point
balance would include any points earned at other participating merchant
partners in
either the electronic commerce domain, or in the physical store domain. After
the
item has been moved to the shopping cart 212, the user is normally provided
with
the options to continue viewing the products available, view the contents of
the
shopping cart 2I4 and alter the content of the shopping cart 226. As the user
continues to shop, the preferred embodiment displays the beginning point
balance
and a running summary of the total bonus points and "regular" points
accumulated in
the current transaction, and the projected new balance if the consumer
purchases the
items currently in the shopping cart. As the contents of the shopping cart are
modified, the point information is updated to reflect those changes 22~.
A unique feature provided by the on-line interactive web site of the present
invention is the function that provides the merchant homepage manager with the
option to alert a consumer visitor of the web site that is not identified as a
program
participant of the rewards available to him or her should they choose to
participate in
the loyalty program. The alert could be in the form of a message reflecting
the
number of points that could be earned on that product or a special discount
available
only to program participants. Another example might include merchant partner
offers available only to members at other participating program merchants. The
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merchant partner offers advertised could be other electronic commerce
merchants,
physical retail merchants, or both.
The shopping cart view of the user interface typically displays a visual
control to provide the user with a means of indicating they are ready to place
an
order and finalize the purchase 216. When the user completes that action,
typically
by clicking the button presented on the user interface, the web site processor
calculates and displays the total monetary amount due, including sales tax due
and
shipping charges. Prior to adding the shipping charges into the amount due,
the
customer is prompted to select the method of shipment, and once selected, the
shipping charges are displayed and added to the total monetary amount due.
Information representative of a summary of total points earned in the order is
also
displayed. A portion of the user interface displays an additional electronic
form that
provides the customer with an option to redeem points in exchange for a
discount on
the order. The redemption of points is not necessarily related to any specific
item
within the order. It is to be understood that various methods and rules for
redeeming
points may apply, at the discretion of the program administrator and the
merchant.
Information representative of the number of points needed to pay for the order
in
total, may also be available to the user. Also, information representative of
a
minimum point redemption amount may be specified, along with information
representative of the fixed increments of points available for redemption. For
example, the merchant may specify a 5000 point minimum redemption and may also
specify that points are redeemable in blocks of 5000 points, up to the total
amount
due for the order. When the customer enters the number of points to redeem
into the
form, that amount is checked against the point balance previously retrieved.
If the
point balance was unavailable, the customer is not allowed to redeem points.
If the
customer has a sufficient point balance to honor the redemption request, a
debit to
the point account is prepared for transmission to the program administrator
host
system by the web site processor, and the total amount due is updated to
reflect the
reduced monetary amount due. If the customer does not have a sufficient point
balance to honor the request, the user is informed of that condition and
provided the
opportunity to redeem a lesser number of points, or to proceed with finalizing
the
order without a point redemption. At this point, the merchant web site
processor
prepares and displays a point update message. The point update message informs
the user that information representative of point credits, point debits, bonus
points,
merchant ID number and customer ID number is complete and ready to send to the
program administrator host, pending positive approval of the transaction by
the
payment authorization service.
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Once the combination of points and currency has been determined, the
merchant web site processor prepares an electronic payment authorization
message
that includes information representative of the dollar amount due for
transmission to
the credit or debit authorization service with whom the merchant has a
contract fox
service. The user's credit card information may be extracted from a profile
held by
the merchant. If such information is extracted, the customer is provided with
an
opportunity to validate that credit card number, or to enter in a different
credit card
number. Note that this profile may also include additional billing and
shipping
information that may be displayed by default on the electronic form, and
altered by
the user. If a profile for a user is not available, a form is presented to
accept input of
credit card information, and that information is validated by the merchant's
electronic commerce application. The billing and shipping information may also
be
collected via a form if unavailable via a profile. Once the credit card
information,
billing and shipping information is complete, a payment authorization request
218 is
transmitted electronically to the credit/debit authorization service and
validated by
that system. The merchant electronic commerce application processes that
response,
and if the response was positive, proceeds with processing of loyalty point
information by way of issuing and/or redeeming points 220, 222 and product
ordering 224. If the payment authorization was negative, the user is informed
of this
condition and provided an opportunity to enter a different credit card number
or to
exit or postpone the transaction. Note that as part of the finalization
process, the
merchant also may invoke authentication routines to validate the purchase
against
shipping and/or billing information.
If the electronic payment authorization process resulted in a positive
response, the merchant web site processor transmits the point transaction
information to the program administrator host system. The host system will
update
the customer profile in the central database host system and respond to the
merchant
web site processor. The merchant web site processor may cause the display of a
summary of the point activity to the customer following point balance update,
the
summary includes information representative of the beginning point balance,
regular
points earned, bonus points earned, points redeemed and the new point balance.
As
the consumer account information stored in the central database host system is
updated with this information, note that this updated consumer account
information
is immediately available to all other retailer systems in both the physical
and Internet
domains for participating merchants having retailer systems networked to the
host
system. An acknowledgment from the program administrator host system is not
necessary for the web site processor to proceed with subsequent processing,
and
those skilled in the art will recognize that if the connection to the program
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administrator host system is unavailable for any reason, the transaction may
be
temporarily stored in web site server data storage until the connection is
available, at
which time the point update message may be re-transmitted.
To complete the order process, the merchant may also transmit the complete
order to the supplier or suppliers, and manage the merchandise fulfillment
process
throughout the lifecycle of that process. The merchant may also fulfill the
order
from internal inventory. In the preferred embodiment, the product order 224 is
automatically transmitted electronically to the order fulfillment entity,
which could
be an internal or external system. If the vendor is external, one method of
communicating this information in the present embodiment is via a standard EDI
(electronic data interchange) process; alternatively, the method of
communicating
this information may be through batch processing or manually via other methods
such as fax, email, or by printing a paper order and mailing it via the postal
system.
Once these product order processes are complete, the current transaction is
complete,
and the user may be returned to whatever page within the web site the merchant
has
programmed the web site processor to return the user to.
Integration of the loyalty program into the on-line interactive web site
requires functionality to assign the rules for issuance of points, and a
mechanism to
assign bonus points to particular items, to particular purchase levels, to
combinations
of items, and so on 234. A merchant having an on-line interactive web site
typically
has a system to manage the content of the site 23~, promotional offers 236,
advertisements and to maintain the item catalog 230 as items are added,
changed or
deleted 232, and to manage pricing of those items. Assignment of bonus points
is
integrated into the item and event maintenance process. The point redemption
rules
are also defined by functionality performed by the web site processor, i.e.
the
minimum number of points to be redeemed, increments of points which may be
redeemed, etc. Bonus points and special point redemption offers may also be
grouped into a promotion entity and the active dates of that promotion must
also be
defined within this application.
Referring to FIG. 3, an overview of an embodiment of the computer
implemented transaction point accumulation system wherein both the Internet
and
physical domain sides of the consumer transaction point accumulation system is
shown, the physical processing illustrated is in two phased mode. In the
physical
domain, the point accumulation system's processing begins when a customer at
the
point-of sale device for a retailer begins to purchase retailer products or
services. At
the staxt of the transaction 300, the retailer outlet cashier enters the
customer's
account number into the in-store system's point-of sale device by way of a
magnetic
stripe card reader, keyboard or any other data input device used in
conjunction with
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the point-of sale device 302. Following input of the customer's account
number, the
in-store system controller 14 requests the customer's current point balance
304 from
the host system 40 database 304. The host system 40 processes the request and
locates a customer's account record stored within the host system 40 database
and
sends the account record back to the point-of sale device 306 through the in-
store
system controller 14. The customer record that is sent back to the point-of
sale
device 12 includes at least the customer's current accumulated point balance.
The
request for data by the in-store system 10 from the host system 40 and the
transmission of customer account data from the host system 40 to the in-store
system
10 both occur real-time so that the point-of sale device 12 may save the
customer's
current accumulated point balance and account number in temporary data storage
within the point-of sale device 12 pending entry of a redeemable item 308. The
customer point balance is also temporarily stored in the controller 14 so that
points
accumulated throughout the customer's transaction may be, updated more quickly
by
updating the point balance being temporarily stored in the controller 14.
Following the capture of the customer's account record, referring to FIG. 3,
the cashier enters an item number for an item being purchased by the customer
via a
scanner or keypad 310, 312 causing the point-of sale device 12 to communicate
with
the system controller 14 requesting the controller 14 to look up the item
number of
the item being purchased on a master item file within the in-store system
controller
14 database 314. All items of possible purchase should be stored in the master
item
file where they are cross referenced with an item number and a status label.
The
status label for each item stored within the in-store system database is
either exempt,
redeemable, bonus or no status. First, the system checks to see if the item
the
customer seeks to purchase has exempt status 316. If the status is exempt, no
points
can be awarded for the purchase of that particular item 318. The system then
returns
the point-of sale device process back to the item entry state 310 so that the
retailer
may enter the item number of the next item desired to be purchased. If the
item the
customer seeks to purchase is not referenced as exempt, the point-of sale
device
adds the price of the item to the accumulator tracking the eligible total for
calculation of "regular" points 320. Next, the system checks to see if the
item the
customer seeks to purchase has bonus status 322. If the item being purchased
has
bonus status 324, the system processes the item being purchased as a bonus
item and
adds bonus points to the customer accumulated point balance total stored in
temporary storage of the point of sale device. Next, the system returns the
point-of
sale device process back to the item entry state 310 so that the retailer may
enter the
item number of the next item desired to be purchased.
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If the item being purchased by a consumer does not have bonus status, the
system checks to see if the item has redeemable status 326. If the item does
not have
redeemable status, it has no status 328 and the system returns the point-of
sale
device process back to the item entry state 310 so that the retailer may enter
the item
number of the next item desired to be purchased. If the item has redeemable
status,
the system may notify the retailer of such status and prompt the cashier to
ask the
customer if he/she wishes to exchange points for a reduction in the price of
the item
purchased 330. In this embodiment, the customer may exchange 750 points for a
$1.20 reduction in the price of the redeemable item being purchased. If the
consumer declines to exchange points for $1.20 off the price of the redeemable
item
being purchased, the system returns the point-of sale device process back to
the item
entry state 310 so that the retailer may enter the item number of the next
item desired
to be purchased. If the customer desires to exchange 750 points for a $1.20
reduction in the price of the item purchased 332, the cashier enters a unique
code
into the point-of sale device corresponding to acceptance by the customer of
the
point exchange for a reduction in purchase price option. Following acceptance
of
the point exchange option by the customer, the point of sale device checks the
balance of the customer's point total being temporarily stored in the point-of
sale
device temporary data storage 334. Specifcally, in this particular invention,
the
system is checking to see if the customer account point total is greater than
or equal
to 750 points. If the point total is less than 750 points 334, the point-of
sale device
displays an error message to the retailer and voids out the 750 point exchange
option
338 and the system returns the point-of sale device process back to the item
entry
state 310 so that the retailer may enter the item number of the next item
desired to be
purchased. If the customer account point balance is greater than or equal to
750
points, the point-of sale device checks the in-store system controller data
base to
determine if the price of the item being purchased is greater than or equal to
$1.20
336. If the price of the item being purchased is less than $1.20, an error is
displayed
at the point-of sale device to the retailer and the system returns the point-
of sale
device process back to the item entry state 310 so that the clerk may enter
the item
number of the next item desired to be purchased 338. If the price of the item
being
purchased is greater than or equal to $1.20 340, the in-store system
controller returns
an item description to the point-of sale device and debits the customer
accumulated
point balance temporarily stored in the point-of sale device temporary storage
by
750 points 340. The point-of sale device prints a description of the item
redeemed
and/or the point amount debited from the consumer's accumulated account
balance
on the customer receipt 342. The in-store system controller also captures
redemption and bonus data in a log file 344. Then, the system returns the
point-of
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sale device process back to the item entry state 310 so that the clerk may
enter the
item number of the next item desired to be purchased.
If all customer transaction items have been purchased, the retailer may press
a total key 310, 312 in order to indicate that the customer's transaction is
complete.
Once the customer's transactions have been completed, the controller
calculates the
net points earned by the customer during the current sales visit 346. Next,
the
retailer determines whether the order is ready to tender 348. If the order is
not ready
to tender, the system allows for the return of the point-of sale device
process to the
item entry state 310 so that the retailer may enter data necessary to tender
the order.
If the order is ready to tender, the retailer tenders the order 350 and the
point-of sale
device calculates the total net points earned during the current sale's visit
and the
new account balance of points accumulated 352. The point of sale device also
sends
an update message to the host that includes the customer's points earned in
the
current transaction 352. The system host retrieves the point update
transaction and
returns an acknowledgment of receipt of the update message to the in-store
system
controller and point-of sale device 354. In either the one-phased or two-
phased
mode, following receipt of a point update response message from the host
system the
point-of sale device prints a receipt for the customer that includes the
beginning
point balance, the total points earned during the sales visit, the total
points
exchanged for price reductions during the sales visit and the new account
point
balance 356, which completes the transaction for that customer 358.
Refernng to FIG. 4, the enrollment process at the on-line interactive web site
is disclosed. Generally, the enrollment function is typically performed
through the
use of electronic forms on the interactive web site of the merchant, or on the
loyalty
program e-commerce web site of the program administrator host system. The
customer accesses the electronic forms following selecting a display at the
merchant
web site or at the web site of the program administrator which indicates that
the
consumer would like to open a loyalty award account. Next, merchant web site
user
interface simply presents an electronic form, and prompts the consumer to
enter the
information requested on the form. Upon completion of the form, or if the
consumer
information was obtained from existing data, the data is transmitted to the
program
administrator host system, and checked against various edit rules for
validity. If the
data passes the edit checks, the program administrator host system creates a
new
account and assigns a unique account number to that account.
The enrollment function is initiated at the on-line interactive web site of
the
merchant or on the loyalty program e-commerce web site of the program
administrator by selecting an icon identifying the enrollinent option 400.
Next, the
server for the on-line interactive web site of the merchant or of the loyalty
program
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e-commerce web site of the program administrator determines whether there is
customer data available 402. If enrollment has been initiated through the on-
line
interactive web site of the merchant, and the customer has already provided
name
and demographic data to the electronic commerce merchant for billing and/or
shipping purposes, that information can be retrieved from an existing merchant
customer data base 413 and used to populate the fields of an electronic form
automatically 404. If the customer has not previously provided name and
demographic data to the electronic commerce merchant or if enrollment has been
initiated through the loyalty program e-commerce web site of the program
administrator, there is no customer data available for retrieval. The customer
must
enter the data in electronic forms provided by the on-line interactive web
site of the
merchant or by the web site of the program administrator 411. The data entered
in
the electronic forms must then be saved 412 and stored in a merchant customer
database 413. Following automatic or manual completion of the electronic
enrollment form, the enrollment data entered is sent to the program
administrator
host database 406, where the information is processed for errors 408. If there
are
enrollment errors 410, the customer is presented the electronic enrollment
form 412
for additional data entry. If there were no enrollment errors, a new program
account
number is retrieved 414 from an account number database 418, thereby creating
a
new loyalty program account for a customer 420. The new account is maintained
and stored in the customer database at the central host database system 424.
Creation of the new account triggers a card fulfillment process automatically
implemented by the program administrator host system. This process physically
extracts and matches a loyalty program card (typically plastic) 426 with the
correct
account number assigned to the customer. The card is inserted into a mailing
piece
with other program materials 428 and sent to the customer via the postal
service 430.
Successful creation of a new loyalty account also triggers an electronic
response
(email) to the customer confirming the information received and the account
number
422. Next, the merchant web site processor or the program administrator
loyalty
program e-commerce web server processor returns the consumer to the calling
homepage 432.
Fig. 5 illustrates an overview of the process flow of the product shopping,
browsing and searching option functions provide for via a merchant on-line
interactive web site. From the merchant web site homepage 500 a consumer is
provided with the option of selecting a product by a plurality of methods 502,
including selecting product categories, searching for products by keyword
search or
item number search. Selecting products by use of the select product category
function 504 displays a list of products within a particular category and
provides for
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the option of selecting one of the products from the list displayed to view
the details
508 of the particular product. This function also allows for the consumer to
perform
an additional search for products by keyword or item number.
If the consumer chooses to search the interactive merchant web site by
keyword or item number, the appropriate search criteria must be entered into
the
appropriate search field and transmitted. The merchant web site processor
searches
an item master ftle for products satisfying the search criteria 512. If there
is a match
found for the search criteria 514, the merchant web site processor causes the
information located to be displayed on the consumer's Internet access device
514.
The consumer has the option of selecting one of the products from the list of
products located to view the product details 516. W addition to the items
located,
the consumer also has the ability to perform an additional search for products
by
keyword or item number.
If an item from the list of products that are displayed from a search by
keyword or category is selected 518, the interactive web site displays a
detailed
description of the item, including bonus points that may be awarded upon
purchase
of the item to consumers participating in the loyalty program. If the consumer
decides to purchase a product, the product will need to be moved into
temporary data
storage referred to as the "shopping cart" 520. Before items desired to be
purchased
can be moved into the "shopping cart", an electronic "order form" may be
displayed
to gather the additional details of the order, such as quantity of items,
size, color, etc.
When the electronics order form is complete 524, the user interface provides
an
option, via a visual control, to move the designated items to the "shopping
cart" 528.
The "shopping cart" view displays the items currently placed in the "shopping
cart",
along with pricing information 530. Bonus points are also attached to each
item
placed in the "shopping cart" and a running monetary cost subtotal may also
maintained and displayed. The action of placing an item in the "shopping cart"
may
trigger an electronic point balance request to the program administrator host
system,
which in turn retrieves 522 and transmits the point balance back to the
merchant web
site where it is displayed to the consumer on his or her Internet access
device via the
on-line interactive web site 526. Note that the balance inquiry function could
be
triggered by other events in the shopping process, such as when a category or
brand
is selected - the timing of the balance inquiry is not critical, as long as it
is
performed prior to the process being invoked to finalize the purchase. Note
that this
p~int balance would include any points earned at other participating partners
in
either the electronic commerce domain, or in the physical store domain. After
the
item has been moved to the "shopping cart" 528, the user is normally provided
with
the option to continue viewing the products available, view the contents of
the
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"shopping cart" 530 and alter the content of the "shopping cart" 530. As the
user
continues to shop, the preferred embodiment displays the beginning point
balance
and a running summary of the total "bonus" points and "regular" points
accumulated
in the current transaction, and the projected new balance if the consumer
purchases
the items currently in the "shopping cart" 530. As the contents of the
shopping cart
are modified, the point information is updated to reflect those changes.
Upon completion of shopping 532, the user elects to finalize the purchase
and engages a fmalization of purchase routine 534 that calculates and displays
the
total monetary amount due. The total amount due may or may not include sales
tax
due and shipping charges. A summary of total points earned in the order is
also
displayed. In one embodiment of the fmalization of purchase routine,
illustrated in
detail in Fig. 6, it begins within the shopping cart function 600. First, the
user is
provided with an opportunity to view the items identified for the shopping
cart and
the subtotal of the amount due 602. Next, the customer selects the shipping
method
and the shipping charges are calculated and displayed. If the customer
indicates that
they want to continue finalizing the order and make payment 604, the system
queries
the user whether they would like to redeem points in exchange for a discount
on the
purchase 606. If the customer indicates that they are not ready to finalize
the order
and make payment, the user is again provided with an opportunity to view the
items
identified for the shopping cart and the subtotal of the amount due 602. If
the
customer opts to redeem points in exchange for a discount 606, the customer is
prompted to enter the number of points to be redeemed and to initiate the
redemption
process 608. If the customer point balance is less than the number of points
requested to be redeemed 610, an error message is displayed to the customer
and the
routine reinitiates the query to the customer as to whether they would like to
redeem
points in exchange for a discount on the purchase 606. If the point balance is
greater
than or equal to the number of points requested to be redeemed 610, the system
prepares a debit command to the host database system to debit the customer
point
balance by the amount of points indicated and reduce the total amount due by
the
appropriate amount. Next, the tax, shipping charges, total amount due, total
points
earned and redeemed are calculated and displayed 618. Next the system queries
its
customer profile database 622 to determine if the customer's credit card,
billing /
shipping address information is available 620. If the customer's credit card
and
billing / shipping address information is not available, the system requests
and
accepts the credit card and billing information from the customer 626. If the
customer's credit card and billing / shipping address information is available
620, it
is retrieved from the customer profile database and validated by the customer
624.
At this step in the process, the customer is allowed to make changes to the
customer
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data retrieved if required. After the credit card, billing l shipping
information has
been entered 624, 626, a credit payment transaction is initiated and sent to
the credit
authorization networlc 628. The customer is also provided with a response from
the
credit authorization network. If the credit card transaction is not approved
630, the
customer is informed that payment authorization failed 632. The customer is
then
provided with an option to enter another credit card number 632. If the
customer
does not accept the option to pay with another credit card 634, the contents
in the
shopping basket are stored temporarily so that the customer may reengage the
transaction at a later date and then the transaction is terminated. If the
customer
enters and alternative credit card number 632 and accepts the option to pay
with
alternative credit card 634, that new credit card number is displayed along
with the
other billing and shipping information to the customer so that its accuracy
can be
validated 624. The system them steps through the same processing steps set
forth
above following validation of credit card information.
If the credit card transaction is approved 630 the merchant web site processor
transmits the updated consumer point transaction, including both the number of
points to be debited and points to be credited to the program administrator
host
system 640. Next, the merchant web site processor automatically transmits the
product order electronically to the order fulfillment entity, wluch could be
an
internal or external system 542. The merchant web site processor in
conjunction
with order processing system also manages and monitors the merchandise
fulfillment process throughout the lifecycle of that process. The program
administrator host system updates the consumer account information with the
updated point balance and consumer information and returns and acknowledgment
back to the interactive homepage 544. The interactive web site homepage may
then
display the customer's beginning balance, points earned, points redeemed and
the
new updated point balance following the transaction 646. The transaction is
then
concluded 648. At the time the consumer account information stored in the
program
administrator's host system central database is updated with this information,
the
points and all other consumer account information is immediately available to
all
other retailer systems networked to the program administrator host system in
both
the physical and Internet domains.
Refernng to Fig. 7A, an illustration of the process flow for the self service
enrollment and maintenance (ERM) module 700, illustrating the process flow for
an
employee participating in the employee service incentive/engagement program.
Note that the ERM module employee database is updated on a scheduled basis
with
new employees, employees who have left the company, changes in status, etc.
The
source of this information could be from a company payroll file or a human
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resources database. The self service process is initiated when the participant
accesses the web site home page from a browser with access to the ERM
interactive
web site 702, either from within the company premises via Intranet or Extranet
connection, or via the public Internet. Upon accessing the ERM interactive web
site,
the user is queried to determine whether they are enrolled in the employee
service
incentive/engagement program 706. An enrolled participant will enter a user ID
and
password in the form displayed as part of the ERM site home page to gain
access to
the site 750. A new employee, or an employee not previously enrolled in the
ERM
program will be offered access to the site via a visual "button" for "first
time users"
708.
When the user interactively notifies the system that it is a first time user
by
pressing the "first time user" button, a form is presented requesting basic
information 710. In the present embodiment, the form includes at least the
following fields for inclusion of information, first name, last name and the
last 4
digits of the employee's social security number. This information is used to
query
the ERM employee database to determine if a matching entry is located 712. If
a
matching entry is located in the ERM employee database 714, the user gains
entry to
a page on the site displaying an enrollment form. This form is pre-populated
with
any applicable information from the ERM database 716. This information may
include participant's status, such as full time employee versus contract
employee,
supervisor identity, operating group, title, salary and benefit information,
etc. The
participant may fill in any information missing from the profile on the form
718 and
interactively submits the completed form to the web server. Referring to Fig.
7B,
the web server application software validates the information submitted, and
checks
the information submitted for errors 722 and displays error messages if
invalid
information was entered and allows the participant to correct any incorrect or
missing data 724. When the data has been validated 720 and no errors are found
722, an account number is retrieved 726 from the ERM database 728 and assigned
to
the participant's account 726. The account number is also displayed to the
participant, and the participant may be encouraged to print the number. The
account
number may be used immediately within the ERM web site, or at any retail
entity in
the loyalty network affiliated with the employee service incentive/engagement
program. The enrollment data is saved 730 in the ERM program employee database
732 and is also forwarded to the program administrator host system 734 where
it is
store in a participant database 736. A confirmation email with the account
number
and ERM and or retail loyalty network program features may also be sent to the
participant 738. Optionally, the program administrator may issue a card
encoded
with the account number to participant 740, via an off line batch mode process
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wherein a mailing package having the card and other program materials enclosed
742 is sent to the employee via the postal service mailing process 744. The
email
message may also inform the customer that they have been enrolled in the
employee
service incentive/engagement program and that an employee service
incentive/engagement program card is being mailed to them that will enable the
customer to earn and redeem points in the employment or retail environments.
When the enrolled participant logs in 750, the user ID and password are
validated against the ERM program database 752. If the user ID and password
are
valid, a page with the current participant profile is populated automatically
from
information stored on the ERM employee database 754. The participant is able
to
review and modify the information from the ERM module database as necessary
(within the rules established by the module) 756 and submit for editing by the
web
application software 758. If the data is determined to be valid 760, the
modifications
to the information from the ERM module database are saved to the ERM employee
IS database 762 and forwarded to the program administrator host system 764.
Referring to Figure 8a-8c, an illustration of the peer to peer awards
recognition process flow is shown. The peer to peer awards recognition
component
of an employee engagement program provides participants with the ability to
recognize their peers for performance or behaviors. The system is web-enabled
in
that the software application supporting this functionality resides on a Web
Server
and is accessible by a computer or other device with browser capabilities,
over a
company's internal network, or the public Internet. The program participants
submitting the employee nominations (nominators) may either be peers of the
employee, or the supervisor of the employee. Both the nominator and nominee
may
instantly earn points and be eligible for sweepstakes prizes in the form of
additional
points. Both the nominator and nominee must be registered in the employee
engagement system database, and must have an account number in order to
receive
point awards. Nominators that are registered are thereby enrolled in the
employee
service incentive/engagement program to be eligible to nominate a peer for
recognition.
Enrolled participants have access to the web site and may enter nominations
on-line. A nomination begins by the user (nominator) logging into the system
with
their respective user B~ and password 780 and selecting the name of a single
peer
(the nominee) or the names of multiple peers that are to be nominated 782 from
the
ERM program database 784. If the nominee's profile is present on the database,
but
the nominee is not enrolled, the nominator may select the employee for a
nomination. A non-enrolled employee will not receive points or have a
confirmation
email sent to his or her supervisor unless the employee has a ERM program
account
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ID. Also, if the nominee is not enrolled, the system searches the employee
data
retrieved from the ERM program database 784 to determine if the nominee's e-
mail
address is available 788. If the Nominee's e-mail address is available, the
nominator
is given the option to send out a reminder email to the nominee to enroll in
the
program 790. If the nominee does not have an e-mail address available 788,
they
may be reminded to enroll in the employee service incentive/engagement program
by manual, non-electronic methods, such as first class mail 792 or
intercompany
mail. The employee information returned from the ERM database 784 and
displayed includes the supervisor information for viewing by the nominator. If
the
nominee is enrolled in the employee service incentive/engagement program, the
nominator is required to select a recognition category 796 and enter the
textual
description of the employee's accomplishment and recognition 798. The list of
recognition categories is stored as parameters in the ERM program database
Operating Group administrators have the ability to customize nomination
criteria
based on the receiver's Operating Group.
Once a nomination has been entered and submitted, a preview screen is
displayed and the nominator will be asked to verify the employee nomination
information for accuracy 800. If the information being verified is not valid
802, the
nominator enters the necessary corrections to the information 804. If the
information
being verified is valid 802, the employee nomination information is saved 806
in the
ERM program database 808. Upon a successful save to the database of the
nomination, as Fig. 8B illustrates, the system enters the nominee and/or the
nominator into a sweepstakes 809 and determines if the nominee is enrolled in
the
employee service incentive/engagement program. If the user is enrolled in the
employee service incentive/engagement program 810 a points issuance
transaction
for the nominee's account is sent to the central online point server 812 at
the
program coordinator host system 814, and the employee's central account will
be
updated real-time to reflect the points earned for the recognition. If the
program
coordinator host system updates the employee's central account, the host
system
automatically transmits a positive acknowledgment back to the ERM system 816.
The ERM system then determines whether there are additional point transactions
to
send to the central online point server at the program coordinator host system
818.
If additional point transactions are required as in the case of a team
nomination,
these additional points issuance transactions are transmitted to the nominees'
accounts residing at the central online point server 812. If there are no
additional
point transactions, point processing is completed 820. If the ERM system does
not
receive a transmission of positive acknowledgment from the host system 816,
the
ERM system attempts to resend data reflecting the points earned For the
recognition
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822 to the central online point server 812 at the program coordinator host
system
814, so that the employee's central account will be updated real-time to
reflect the
points earned for the recognition. Alternatively, the ERM system may queue the
transaction for store/forward batch processing at a later time 824.
Referring to Fig. 8C, the system sends an email to the employee, nominator
and supervisor advising of the recognition and to confirm the number of points
posted the nominee's account 826, 828. An electronic copy of the recognition
certificate is attached to the email 830, and the nominee may launch a
software
application from the email screen to view and/or print the recognition paper
certificate 834. The certificate includes all nomination information,
including the
category, the textual information entered by the nominee, and nominator
information. Referring to Fig. 8b, if the user is not enrolled in the employee
service
incentive/engagement program 810, as Fig. 8c illustrates, the system
determines
whether an employee email address is available 838. If an employee email
address
is available, the system sends an email to the employee, nominator and program
administrator advising of the recognition 840, 842, 844. Note that when the
employee is not enrolled in the program, the system sends a confirmation email
to
the administrator email box rather than to the supervisor. If an employee
email
address is available the user is advised of the recognition by manual, non-
electronic
methods, such as first class mail or intercompany mail.
There are three main functions encompassed by the electronic peer-to-peer
system: (1) Administrative functions, (2) Send a recognition, and (3) View
Recognition(s). The administrative functions of the peer-to-peer program
include (1)
add participant, (2) update participant profile, (3) review existing
certificates, (4)
process manual, non-electronic nominations for participants with no access to
the
system, (5) configure program parameters, and (6) sweepstakes setup winner
selection. The Add participant function is essentially the same as that
described in
the self service enrollment and profile maintenance, except that the process
is
performed by a program administrator or human resources representative. A user
of
this feature will have as a component of the form, a button to designate
whether or
not an employee is eligible to receive points as part of a recognition. The
Update
Participant Profile function is also the same as that described above under
self
service enrollment and profile maintenance, except that the process is
performed by
a program administrator or an resources representative. The Certificate Review
function is an administrative process that provides the administrator user
with the
ability to view a list of certificates by date range, nominator name and
nominee
name, based on parameter input provided by the user. The user specifies the
parameters and presses a "submit button" visible on the browser. A list of
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certificate awards is displayed. A certificate may be selected from the list,
in which
case an additional form will display the detailed certificate information.
The administrative process for the peer-to-peer recognition certificate review
function is illustrated in detail in Fig.9. The administrator logs into the
system using
their user ID and password 850. Next, the administrator retrieves the query
form for
awards criteria 852 from the ERM database 854. Next, the administrator selects
a
subset of certificates 856 from the certificates retrieved from the ERM
database
certificate table 858. The administrator is then presented with the option of
viewing
and printing the detail certificate information and read-only format 862 or
with a
option to add a nomination for non-electronic / paper based nominees 864. The
paper based award is then sent to the nominees 866.
Additional forms within the administrative function includes, Non-Electrouc
Participant Nominations, Program Parameter and Sweepstakes Setup and Winner
Selection. The Non-Electronic Participant Nominations form within the
administrative function provides the option to add a new nomination for those
participants who do not have web browsers and cannot access the engagement
program host application. The Program Parameter Configuration form is an
awards
criteria form that provides a user with the ability to enter the parameters
for the
program. Included are the nominator points to award, nominee points to award
and
enrollment points to award. The administrative process for the peer-to-peer
recognition awards criteria entry function is illustrated in detail in Fig.
10. The
administrator logs into the system using their user ID and password 870. Next,
the
administrator retrieves the query form for awards criteria entry 872 from the
ERM
Module database 874. Next, the administrator enters the criteria for awards
into the
awards criteria entry form 876. The criteria for awards includes, points to
award for
nominator, nominee, and enrollment into the program. The awards criteria
entered
into the awards criteria entry form is saved in the ERM database 878, 880.
The Sweepstakes Setup and Winner Selection form is provided to provide
the administrative user with the ability to specify the sweepstakes points to
award
and number of sweepstakes winners to select in the sweepstakes process, along
with
other rules that may apply to the Sweepstakes. The form also provides the
ability to
enter a date range for selection of prospective winners. After all the
required
parameters for the sweepstakes have been entered, the user confirms the
configuration and launches the winner selection process on the web server.
Tlus
process will randomly pick the number of winners designated and display a list
on
the screen and trigger the transmission of point issuance transactions to the
online
point server. When a successful response is received from the online point
server,
emails will be sent to the winners, the database will be updated and a
winner's report
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created. A form to go back and review any sweepstakes process winners is also
provided. The administrative process for the peer-to-peer recognition
sweepstakes
setup function is illustrated in detail in Fig. 11A. The administrator logs
into the
system using their user ID and password 884. The administrator then enters the
sweepstakes parameters 886, 888, including at least, specifying points to
award,
rules that may apply to sweepstakes, data range, number of winners. The
administrator then views and validates the sweepstakes parameters 890. Next,
the
administrator submits the parameters and launches the sweepstakes selection
process
892, which selects winners and displays the winners selected to the
administrator
894. The sweepstakes winners are then saved in data storage 896. Next, the
administrator formats point issuance transactions for sweepstakes winners and
nominators 898 by retrieving and processing data regarding awards criteria 900
and
sweepstakes winners 902. Next, a points issuance transaction for the
sweepstakes
winners and nominators is sent to the central online point server 904 database
at the
program coordinator host system 906, and the sweepstakes winners and
nominators
central account will be updated real-time to reflect the points earned for the
recognition. If the program coordinator host system updates the sweepstakes
winners and nominators central account, the host system automatically
transmits a
positive acknowledgment back to the ERM system 908. The ERM system then
determines whether there are additional winners of the sweepstakes 910. If
there are
additional winners 910 of the sweepstakes, the administrator formats point
issuance
transactions for sweepstakes winners and nominators 898 by retrieving and
processing data regarding awards criteria 900 and sweepstakes winners 902. If
there
are no additional winners 910 of the sweepstakes, the system sends e-mail to
the
winners of the sweepstakes 9I2. Sweepstakes winners nominators receive
confirmation e-mails 914 and the system creates sweepstakes winners report
916,
918. If the ERM system does not receive a transmission of positive
acknowledgment
from the host system 908, the ERM system attempts to resend data reflecting
the
points earned for the recognition 920 to the central online point server 904
at the
program coordinator host system 814, so that the sweepstakes winners and
nominators central accounts will be updated real-time to reflect the points
earned for
the recognition. Alternatively, the ERM system may queue the transaction for
store/forward batch processing at a later time 922.
A participant enrolled in the employee service incentive/engagement
program may access a page displaying all recognition nominations received or
sent.
By selecting a particular recognition from the list, the participant may view
the
details of the recognition, including an electronic copy of the certificate.
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An additional feature of the ERM program termed Manager's Discretionary
Awards allows a manager enrolled in the program to give an award recognition
to an
enrolled employee. A manager with responsibility for multiple projects or
campaigns is designated for each of those projects, and can award any amount
of
points within that budget. A manager may also award employees who are not
direct
reports. Similar to the peer-to-peer program, recognition categories may be
assigned
and custom descriptions may be entered by the manager. Points are awarded real-
time and participants are notified via email. A history of awards is
maintained by
project and budget and is available for viewing by the manager or
administrators.
Refernng to Fig. 12, the administrative steps involved in the process of
setting up program criteria and budget information for a manager recognition
module are disclosed. First, the administration team will enter the program
criteria
within the Campaign Detail screen 924. The program parameters include:
Beginning
date of program; Ending date of program; Maximum amount an employee may earn
within this campaign/program; Whether a selection of an Award Category will be
displayed to the manager, and secondly if it is required to be selected for
the award
to be given; Whether the option of adding a verbatim Award Description will be
displayed to the manager, and secondly if it is required to be populated for
the award
to be given. Next, the administration team will enter the budget information
associated to that program in the New Budget screen 926. This includes the
Client
Budget Description, as well as the expiration date of the budgetary funds. All
budgets will have a unique key for the budget, identified as "budget id." A
person
may have multiple budgets. A budget can only have one budget owner at any
given
time, however, the budget owner can be changed. For example, if a manager
leaves
and another manager is hired. The budget will be transferred to the new
manager as
the budget owner. The budget will have an assigned expiration date. Note that
funds may expire at the same time or after the ending date of the program.
Next, the
administration team will load the budget information into the system through
the
Budget Load screen 92$, which includes a batch file and online entry
applications.
In the batch file application, the administration team will select which
campaign/promotion will be updated and run a load process to automatically
load
the reporting id, manager id, and budget amount for each individual. Note: If
an
update of a budget is required, the administration team can update this
information
manually. In the online entry application, the administration team will have
the
ability to add the reporting id, manager id, and budget amount manually for a
given
campaign/promotion rather than using the batch file load process, as described
above.
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Fig. 13 illustrates the Manager's Discretionary Awards Process. A manager
logs on to the ERM application using his unique ERM ID and password 930 and
selects the option to enter the Manager's recognition module 931, also
referred to as
the Manager's Discretionary Awards module. The manager enters the assigned
budget ID 932, and access to the budget and to the application is validated.
The
system then determines whether the manager is authorized to distribute from
the
budget 934. Only those managers who have been given a budgeted amount to award
will have access to the Manager Recogivtion module and the associated toolkit,
also
referred to as the "distribution section". If the manager is not authorized to
distribute from the budget 935, the manager is prompted to select an
authorized
budget ID 935 and provided an opportunity to enter another budget ID number
933.
If the manager is authorized to distribute from the budget 934, the manager is
granted access to the manager recognition module (distribution section) 936.
Within
the "distribution" section, the manager is able to validate the following
attributes:
budget to allocate award; current amount available ; original budget amount;
amount
remaining, as well as the expiration date of the budget 937. Next, the manager
is
able to select any employee other than themselves for an award recognition 93~
and
to validate that the employee is enrolled in the ERM program. If the
employee's
profile is present on the database, but the employee is not enrolled 939, the
manager
may select the employee for a nomination. A non-enrolled employee will not
receive points or have a confirmation email sent to his or her supervisor
unless.the
employee has a ERM program account ID. Also, if the employee is not enrolled,
the
system searches the employee data retrieved from the ERM program database to
determine if the employee's e-mail address is available 940. If the employee's
e-mail
address is available, the manager is given the option to send out a reminder
email to
the employee to enroll in the program 941. If the employee does not have an e-
mail
address available 940, they may be reminded to enroll in the employee service
incentive/engagement program by manual, non-electronic methods, such as first
class mail or intercompany mail 942. After an employee has been selected for
an
award, the manager can select an award category, description of the award and
amount of the award 945. The manager can also enter a verbatim descripti~n of
what the person did to earn the award 946. The award category and description
are
based on parameters required by the client. Next, the manager will have the
opportunity to validate the information entered prior to awarding the employee
947.
The system also validates that the amount to be awarded to the employee is
less than
or equal to the remaining budget amount, and that the maximum payout amount
for
an employee has not been reached 94~. Next, the manager validates the
remaining
budget amount and maximum employee payout information 949. If this information
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is not valid, the manager enters corrections to the information 950 and then
is
provided with another opportunity to validate the information entered prior to
awarding the employee. Once the remaining budget amount and maximum
employee payout information is validated by the manager 949, points are
awarded to
S the employee via a process very similar to the process described above for
the peer-
to-peer recognition. First, the ERM database is updated with the recognition
information 951. Next, if the user is enrolled in the employee service
incentive/engagement program, a points issuance transaction for the employee
nominee account is sent to the central online point server 953 at the program
coordinator host system 954, and the employee central account will be updated
real-
time to reflect the points earned for the recognition. If the program
coordinator host
system updates the employee's central account, the host system automatically
transmits a positive acknowledgment back to the ERM system 955. The ERM
system then retrieves the project budget from the ERM database and adjusts the
project budget in accordance with the points issued to the employee nominee
956.
Next, the system sends an ernail to the employee and manager 957, 962
advising of the recognition and to confirm the number of points posted to the
nominee's account. An electronic copy of the recognition certificate is
attached to
the email 95~, and the employee nominee may launch a software application from
the email screen to view and/or print the recognition paper certificate 959.
The
certificate generated includes all nomination information, including the
category,
textual information entered by the nominator, and nominee information 960.
After
the certificate has been created, the process is ended 961. A history section
will also
be available to the manager for each budget that has been assigned to them. If
the
ownership of the budget changes from one manager to another during the
campaign/program, the new manager will have access to all of the historical
information, such as: awarding manager; employee; date of award; award amount;
and awaxd category and description, if required and populated. If the ERM
system
does not receive a transmission of positive acknowledgment from the host
system
955, the ERM system attempts to re-send data reflecting the points earned for
the
recognition 963 to the online point server 963, 964 at the program coordinator
host
system so that the employee's central account will be updated real-time to
reflect the
points earned for the recognition. Alternatively, the ERM system may cue the
transaction for store/forward batch processing at a later time 964.
. The system may also include an applicant referral awards module, wherein
the referral module offers a participating employee the opportunity to
identify a job
applicant and attach a resume for review by an operating group within the
company.
The referring employee will receive points for submitting the information. If
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applicant is hired within 6 months of the referral submission, the referring
employee
will be also eligible for a variety of rewards, including points, cash,
merchandise,
etc.
A participating employee who desires to make a referral for a job opening
will log on to the ERM system and select the Referral function. The
participant
must be enrolled in the ERM program. The web server provides a form to enter
basic information about a job applicant. The referral form may also provide
the
opportunity to specify a particular operating group, an human resources
recruiter or
representative, a specific job title or other pertinent information. An area
of the form
is provided to add textual comments regarding the applicant. An employee will
have
the opportunity to print a hard copy of the referral infonnation if desired. A
screen
control option that provides the employee with ability to attach an electronic
resume
is provided. This option activates the email system and provides the referring
participant with the opportunity to direct the message to the appropriate
hiring
manager and/or human resources representative. Another screen control provides
the employee with ability to submit the referral, which triggers several
events. A
referral m is assigned to the job applicant's information and the referral is
saved in
the ERM database. The ERM program web server formats a points issuance record
for the number of points designated by a parameter within the employee
database,
which may vary by position. The point transaction is sent to the online point
server,
where the points are posted to the referring employee's account.
After the referral is saved in the ERM database, an human resources
representative or the ERM program administrator updates the status of the
referral as
the application process proceeds. The referral system provides a function to
view
pending referrals. The information displayed may include the referral ID, the
name
of the referring employee, the status of the referral (received, interviewed,
not hired,
hired, etc) the name of the applicant, and the corresponding job title the
applicant
has been referred for. The referring employee has the option to view his or
her own
referrals. A program administrator periodically reviews the referral list and
extracts
the applicants with a status of "hired". The referral m is used to identify
the
employee who referred the applicant and the hiring reward is processed for
that
employee.
The employee engagement and incentives program also includes an
Employee Anniversary awards module. In this module, assuming that the
employment anniversary dates of employees are stored within the employee
database, the employee engagement and incentives program may award points to
employees on pre-determined anniversary dates, such as 1 year of service, 3
years, 5
years, etc. In one embodiment, a human resources administrator ("HR") selects
a
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group, or certain department within the company, along with a month and year
for
processing of anniversary awards. The human resources administrator may then
view the list of eligible participants, and for each eligible participant, the
human
resources department may elect to view the detailed information. This
information
may include the employee's name and address information, SSN, department,
company mail address, email address, supervisor's name, supervisor's email
address,
supervisor's company mail address, anniversary dates, anniversary award level,
and
a flag indicating approval. human resources validates that all employees
deemed
eligible to receive a service anniversary award have been correctly
identified. When
all employees eligible for the reward within the operating group have been
identified, a key or screen control may be activated to create the award for
all
approved employees . A congratulatory email message may be sent to the
employee
and the supervisor. The email message may direct the employee to a specific
page
within the employee engagement web site to select a reward. One of the
available
rewards may be points. If the employee selects points as a reward, a point
issuance
transaction is formatted and sent to the program administrator online point
server
and the award points are posted to the account immediately. If the employee
opts to
redeem a merchandise reward, the shopping basket functionality is provided,
including the ability to specify size, color, style and personalization
information.
After the reward selection is complete and shipping information is specified,
the
order is captuxed and forwarded to a fulfillment system for processing.
In support of the ERM suite of product modules designed to engage and
reward employees, another component of the employee engagement and incentives
program is an employee suggestion module. The employee suggestion module is
designed to encourage employee idea generation and then reward the employees
with points or other rewards for contributions toward the support of
organizational
goals. In this module, individuals or teams can submit ideas. Teams submitting
ideas can identify the percentage of involvement, and thus award payout, for
each
team member. There is also automatic email notif canon to all involved
individuals
as the idea status changes and various types of ideas can be supported by the
same
Suggestion module. The employee suggestion module also provides for a
comparison of forecast information to actual financial information. This
compared
information can be tracked within the system for each idea, which can be used
to
compare with the Cost Benefit and Revenue Generation analysis spreadsheets.
The
module also provides for dynamic help screens that guide the participants
through
the various idea statuses, as well as the steps that will occur during each
status
process.
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Individuals or teams are able to submit their ideas online by accessing the
Employee Suggestion toolkit within the ERM system. The toolkit will track an
idea's progress status as it moves through the process of being submitted,
reviewed,
approved or declined, and implemented. Figure 14 illustrates the process by
which
an idea is submitted, reviewed, evaluated and implemented, and how points are
awarded to the employees responsible for the suggestion.
As Figure 14 illustrates, an employee with an idea (submitter) begins the idea
submission process by logging into the system with a user ID and password
1000.
The submitter then elects the option submit an idea, thereby accessing the
suggestion
module. The system retrieves an idea capture form from the ERM module database
at the web server. The idea capture form provides for the capturing of idea
data.
Individuals or teams may submit ideas. If a team is submitting an idea, a
representative is selected to be the submitter. The submitter enters the
required idea
information and employee information on the idea capture form. Idea
information
may include at least: Idea Number (system generated); Short description of
idea;
Business Objective (for example: Safety, Operating Performance, Customer,
Financial); Idea Type (for example: Revenue Generation, Cost Savings,
Intangible);
Audience (Local or Global); and Attachments (an email window will
automatically
be launched for the Submitter to send attachments). The employee information
submitted may include at least information representative of: the Main
Submitter;
Team Members, if applicable, along with percentage of their involvement that
will
be used to determine the award payout; and the Coordinator selected. The
Coordinator will be selected by the Submitter from a drop down box 1008,
wherein
coordinator names retrieved from the ERM module database 1010 are displayed.
Following the submission of idea information and employee information via
transmission of the idea capture form, an email is automatically sent to the
Coordinator selected alerting them of the new idea 1012. The Coordinator
reviews
the idea submitted by the email for eligibility to participate in the program
and
ensures that there hasn't been a duplicate idea already submitted. The
Coordinator
works with the Submitter to gather any outstanding requirements as well as
additional documentation. The Coordinator will also review the dollar or cost
benefit information with the Submitter, as well as ensuring the proper Idea
Type has
been selected. If the Coordinator feels that additional information or
explanations
are needed before being able to pass it on to an Evaluator, the Coordinator
can mark
the idea as "Modify" which allows the Submitter to edit the idea and resubmit.
In working with the Submitter to gather any outstanding requirements as well
as additional documentation, the Coordinator first determines whether there is
adequate information in the idea submitted 1016. If the Coordinator determines
that
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there is inadequate information, the idea is flagged as "Modify" 1018 and the
Coordinator notifies the Submitter of the inadequacy 1020. The Submitter then
retrieves the suggestion information from the database and modifies and/or
enhances
the idea 1022 and causes it to be stored in the ERM program database 1010. An
email is again automatically sent to the Coordinator selected alerting them of
the
modified new idea 1012. If the Coordinator determines that there is adequate
information 1016, the Coordinator then determines whether the idea submitted
is
eligible to participate 1024. If the Coordinator determines that the idea
submitted is
not eligible to participate, it is flagged as not approved 1026 and the
Coordinator
notifies the Submitter that the idea submitted is not eligible to participate
1028. If
the Coordinator determines that the idea submitted is eligible to participate
1024, the
Coordinator then determines whether the idea has bean previously submitted
1030.
If the Coordinator determines that the idea has been previously submitted, it
is
flagged as not approved 1032 and the Coordinator notifies the Submitter that
the
idea submitted has been previously submitted 1034. If the Coordinator
determines
that the idea has not been previously submitted, the Coordinator updates idea
status
from "Coordinator Review" to "Evaluation" or "Not Approved" and stores the
updated status in the ERM program database 1040. Next, the Coordinator adds
additional comments; Dollar Benefit Information (for example: revenue
generation
spreadsheet); and Cost Benefit Information (for example: cost analysis
spreadsheet)
1042 and stores the information added in the ERM program database 1040. The
Coordinator then assigns an Evaluator 1044 and stores this information in the
ERM
program database 1040. Next, an email is automatically sent to the Evaluator
alerting them of an assigned idea 1046, as well as copied to the Submitter
1048.
Next, the Evaluator reviews the ideas submitted, approves and assigns an
implementation team / individual 1050 and updates the idea status to
"Test/Implementation" and stores the updated status information in the ERM
program database 1052. The Implementation team will be notified via email of
the
idea 1054, along with the Submitter 1056 and Coordinator 1058 as a result of
their
being copied on the email. Once the idea has been implemented 1060, the
Coordinator will update the ERM program database with any comments from the
Implementation team, as well as notify the Submitter of the idea's status
1062.
Also, the idea status will be updated to "Completed " and stored in the ERM
program database 1064.
Next, The Award Coordinator is automatically notified via email that the
idea has been implemented 1066, 1068. The Award Coordinator then determines
the
award payout amount for the idea 1070, by taking into consideration the
following
aspects of the idea: rule structure of the Suggestion program; cost benefit
analysis;
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revenue generation analysis; and any other aspects deemed appropriate. Next,
it is
determined whether the idea submitted is a team based idea 1072. If the idea
submitted is not a team based idea 1074, the point update transactions are
formatted
for all award recipients 1078. If the idea submitted is a team based idea, the
Award
Coordinator then reviews, updates and approves award percentages and point
payout
amounts for all team members 1074 and stored the data in the ERM program
database 1076. Next, the point update transactions are formatted for all award
recipients 1078. If the idea submitted is not a team based idea 1074, the
point
update transactions are formatted for all award recipients 1078.
Next, a point issuance transaction will be formatted for the suggestor, and
transmitted real-time to the on-line point server at the program administrator
host
system 1080, where it is posted to the employee's account in the on-line point
server
database 1082. In the present embodiment, the awards are points. However, it
is to
be understood that the awards could be in the form of merchandise, gift
certificates,
cash, etc. The specific award vehicle may be selected by the client. If the
program
coordinator host system on-line point server updates the employee's central
account,
the host system automatically transmits a positive acknowledgment back to the
ERM
system. The ERM system then determines whether there are additional point
transactions to send to the central online point server at the program
coordinator host
system 1082. If there are additional point transactions, the user enrolled in
the
employee service incentive/engagement program sends additional points issuance
transactions for the nominee's account to the central online point server
1086. If
there are no additional point transactions, point processing is completed and
a
congratulatory email is delivered to the Submitter(s) and it may have an
electronic
award certificate attached thereto 1088. In the preferred embodiment, the
attached
certificate is a PDF file. It is to be understood that the attached
certificate can be in
any electronic format wherein the certificate can be attached to an email and
then
accessed and printed from the workstation of the user. The Coordinator is
copied on
the email 1090. If the ERM system does not receive a transmission of positive
acknowledgment from the host system 1084, the ERM system attempts to resend
data reflecting the points earned for the recognition 1094 to the central
online point
server 1080 at the program coordinator host system, so that the employee's
account
in the on-line point server database 1082 will be updated real-time to reflect
the
points earned for the recognition. Alternatively, the ERM system may queue the
transaction for store/forward batch processing at a later time 1096.
