Patent Application
20130340303
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates generally to shop-at-home catalogs, and more particularly, to shop-at-home catalogs of flooring samples that provide upfront pricing.
Shop-at-home catalogs, such as catalogs of carpet samples, tile samples and the like, have been used for many years. Generally, companies send a customer representative to a customer home after receiving a request by the customer. The customer representative brings a catalog containing a variety of flooring samples, such as carpet samples, as requested by the customer. Such catalogs do not display pricing for such samples. On the contrary, companies keep pricing secret, such that the price to an individual customer is determined after or during a first home visit. The method of calculating the price is not disclosed to the customer; moreover, the price for the same flooring generally differs from customer to customer. Additionally, the selection may differ from customer to customer, such that certain customers are shown only the more expensive flooring options based on a variety of factors, including demographics. Thus, customers have no assurance that the price of the goods they are purchasing actually reflects the quality of the goods or that the price they are being offered is the same price that is offered to other customers.
In the shop-at-home industry, there is an unfulfilled need to provide a wide selection of samples and upfront pricing for such samples, such that the pricing does not differ from customer to customer. Customers need assurance that they are provided with honest and reasonable pricing that reflects the quality of the goods they are purchasing. These and other unfulfilled needs are addressed by the present disclosure.
Some aspects disclosed herein relate to a portable assembly for shop-at-home services including a rigid substrate with a plurality of flooring samples removably arranged or affixed thereon. The rigid substrate includes an upper left corner and a lower right corner. The plurality of flooring samples are positioned to create a visible impression that the flooring samples are permanently attached to the rigid substrate. The portable assembly includes a plurality of indicia, a respective one adjacent each of the samples and indicating a price for the respective sample. The prices are arranged in descending order from the upper left corner to the lower right corner. The plurality of indicia are permanently attached to the rigid substrate, such that the price of the sample located in the upper left corner is the highest and the price of the sample located in the lower right corner is the lowest.
Another aspect disclosed herein relates to a portable assembly for shop-at-home services including two or more rigid substrates arranged in a folder. Each one of the two or more rigid substrates includes an upper left corner and a lower right corner. A plurality of flooring samples of one style are removably arranged on each one of the two or more rigid substrates and are positioned to create a visible impression that the flooring samples are permanently attached to each one of the two or more rigid substrates. Each one of the two or more rigid substrates includes a plurality of indicia positioned a respective one adjacent each of the samples and indicating a price for the respective sample. The prices are arranged in descending order from the upper left corner to the lower right corner, the plurality of indicia being permanently attached to each one of the two or more rigid substrates, such that the price of the sample located in the upper left corner is the highest out of the plurality of indicia and the price of the sample located in the lower right corner is the lowest out of the plurality of indicia. The indicia are configured to provide assurance to a shop-at-home customer that the price associated with each of the samples is the actual price of the samples and does not vary from one shop-at-home customer to another.
Yet another aspect disclosed herein relates to a portable assembly for shop-at-home services including a rigid substrate. The rigid substrate includes an upper left corner and a lower right corner. A plurality of flooring samples of the same style are arranged on the rigid substrate and are permanently attached thereto. The portable assembly includes a plurality of indicia, a respective one adjacent each of the samples and indicating a price for the respective sample. The prices are arranged in descending order from the upper left corner to the lower right corner. The plurality of indicia are permanently attached to the rigid substrate, such that the price of the sample located in the upper left corner is the highest and the price of the sample located in the lower right corner is the lowest.
The foregoing and additional aspects and implementations of the present disclosure will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of various embodiments and/or aspects, which is made with reference to the drawings, a brief description of which is provided next.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated.
The board assembly 100 includes a top section 106, a bottom section 108, a right section 110, and a left section 112. Each sample 102 includes a price indicium 104 associated therewith. The price indicia 104 are permanently attached to the board 100, or can be removable from the board 100 but have a visual impression of being permanently affixed to the board 100. The price indicia 104 may be attached to the board 100 by any suitable means. Sample 102 located in a top-left corner 116 has the highest price indicium 104 associated therewith as compared to all the samples arranged on the board 100. Thus, no other sample 102 has a higher price indicium 104 associated therewith than the sample 102 located in the top-left corner 116. Sample 114 located in a bottom-right corner 118 has a lowest price indicium 104 associated therewith out of all the samples 102 shown on the board 100. The prices here are in U.S. dollars, but of course any other currency can be used depending on geographic locale.
Referring now to
Referring now to
As shown in Table 1 above, the Carpet Company Godfrey Hirst carries “Soho II” and “Glen Abbey” styles. Each style typically includes a variety of samples in different colors and of different quality, and, thus of different price. Thus, there may be “Soho II” style carpet that costs about $8 per square foot and there may be lower-priced “Soho II” style that costs about $5 per square foot. The board assembly 200 includes samples 202 that have similar styles or patterns, but different quality. The sample 202 located in the top-left corner 216 has the highest price indicium 204 associated therewith and the highest quality out all of the samples 202 located on the board 200. The sample 214 located in the bottom-right corner 218 has the lowest price indicium 204 associated therewith and the lowest quality for samples of that style as compared to all the other samples 202 arranged on the board 200.
Alternatively, a single board assembly may include only samples from the same manufacturer arranged thereon. The most expensive sample is located in the top-left corner and the least expensive sample is located in the bottom-right corner.
Referring now to
In another aspect of the present disclosure, the board assemblies 322 and 324 may be arranged such that the price indicium 304′ associated with the sample 302′ located in the top-left corner 316′ of the board assembly 324 is independent of the price indicium 304 associated with the sample 314 located in the lower-right corner 318 of the board assembly 322. For example, the folder may include one board assembly 322 including prices for the “North Oaks” style of carpet from Dixie a second board assembly 324 including prices for the “Ristow” style of carpet from Dixie. The prices for the highest-quality samples for both the “North Oaks” and the “Ristow” carpet styles may be about the same, for example, about $9 per square foot. Similarly, the prices for the lowest-quality samples for both styles may be about the same. Thus, the prices on the two boards 322 and 324 may be independent of each other.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, each board assembly 322, 324 includes samples of the same style, but of different quality. In such an arrangement, the price indicia associated with samples on one board assembly are independent of the price indicia associated with samples on another board assembly. In other words, the price indicium associated with the sample located in the top-left corner of one board is independent of the price indicium associated with any sample located on another board.
Referring now to
While particular embodiments and applications of the present disclosure have been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the precise construction and compositions disclosed herein and that various modifications, changes, and variations can be apparent from the foregoing descriptions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
