Patent Application
20080010131
The invention is directed to a system, herein referred to as “the system”, including a method and apparatus for exchanging customer personal information with a business proprietor during a customer's visit to the proprietor's place of business, allowing the proprietor to analyze customer shopping and spending habits, perform general demographic analyses, reward customer loyalty, and perform other analyses beneficial to the proprietor for the purpose of tailoring business activities to effectively address and reward the proprietor's market. The customer receives information about the business at a level determined by the business proprietor (for example, address, phone, web address, email, menu, and hours of operation). The system is applicable to any business establishment including but not limited to retail stores, restaurants, wholesale establishments, theme parks, theatres, sports stadiums, service providers, and any other business establishment which serves customers by providing goods, services, or entertainment.
Referring to
The Consumer Subsystem 1 enables the consumer to provide a selectable level of information to businesses of the consumer's choosing and to receive business information and rewards in return. The Consumer Subsystem 1 allows the consumer to collect, manage, and store information regarding the location and contact information of businesses utilizing the system. The Consumer Subsystem 1 also enables the consumer to register as a user of the system. A consumer utilizes the Consumer Subsystem to obtain customer support and information, and to provide feedback on businesses utilizing the invention by communicating customer feedback to the Central Subsystem.
The Business Subsystem 3 enables the business to exchange information with the consumer, and to provide rewards to particular consumers meeting certain defined criteria. A Business Subsystem software application organizes customer data and performs analyses on the customer information in order to reward customer loyalty for those customers meeting criteria as defined by the business proprietor. The Business Subsystem also, upon request, provides specific metrics to the Central Subsystem and enables the business owner, or proprietor, to review consumer feedback and comments regarding his business operation.
The Central Subsystem 2 provides a World Wide Web interface utilized by customers for registering with the system. The World Wide Web interface is also utilized by businesses for the exchange of information between the Business Subsystem and the Central Subsystem. The Central Subsystem also contains web server application software that obtains metric information from the Business Subsystem and stores that information in a loss-safe database.
Referring to
A preferred embodiment of the PDA PID is one wherein the PDA is comprised of a standard infrared communications means for both receiving and transmitting information. Such PDA infrared interface ports are well known in the art.
Referring to
An embodiment of the RF tag PID is that wherein the RF tag is adapted to be carried on a set of keys for ease of portability. Another alternate embodiment of the RF tag PID is that wherein the RF tag is placed within a plastic card adapted to fit within the consumer's wallet. Other alternate embodiments exist which are equivalent in the art to the embodiments described herein and do not depart from the spirit or gist of the invention. In use, the consumer carries the RF tag PID on his person, and upon entry of the place of business, the RF tag interface of the IEU recognizes the presence of the consumer's RF tag, reads the information stored on the consumer's RF tag, and communicates the information read from the consumer's RF tag to the Business Server Application Software 13 of the Business Server 24 for further processing by the Business Server Application Software 13.
Referring to
In all cases wherein the PID is comprised of a read/write memory, for example the PDA PID or the USB thumb drive PID, the Consumer Application Software 6 residing on the consumer Personal Computer reads files from, and writes files to, the PID in accordance with a format specifically designed for the application of the invention.
When using the USB thumb drive embodiment of the PID, the Consumer Software Application 6 communicates with the Central Subsystem 2 via the World Wide Web 4, and the Consumer Software Application 6 writes the consumer personal information to the memory of the USB PID 21 while the USB PID remains inserted in the receiving USB port of the Personal Computer 5 of the Consumer Subsystem. The consumer then removes the USB PID and carries it upon his person. Upon entry into a place of business that utilizes the customer loyalty system of the invention, the consumer inserts the USB PID 21 into a USB receiving port of the IEU 11 of the Business Subsystem 3. Upon insertion of the USB PID 21, the IEU reads information and communicates this information to the Business Server Application Software 13 residing on the Business Server 24 of the Business Subsystem.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, some or all of the information stored on the PID is protected by encryption means, and only data of the correct form will be read and utilized by the system. In this manner, the system of the invention is protected from accidentally reading information from a PID which is not meant to be utilized by the system. A further alternate embodiment of the PID includes one or a plurality of special fields that indicate that the data residing upon the PID is valid. If the data on the PID is encrypted, the IEU decrypts the data; and if the decryption operation fails, the data is invalid, or the invalid data field is not set correctly, the IEU will report an error and no business information is provided to the consumer.
The customer information stored on the PID is termed “customer indicia”. Customer indicia includes but is not limited to information specific to the customer and which may be comprised of one or any combination of the following types of information: customer name, address, telephone, email address, age, household statistics, marital status, number of children, ages of household occupants, household income, individual income, other contact information, customer preferences, a specific customer number assigned by the system, media identifier which indicates information identifying the type of PID, and other specific customer information as determined by either the business proprietor, the customer, or both of them. The invention is not limited by the amount or types of information stored on the PID. It is an aspect of the invention that the information stored on the PID is tailored as determined by each individual business proprietor participating in the system of the invention, and also by each customer participating in the system of the invention. This attribute of customization, which enables a single system of the invention to meet the specific customer information collection and reward program needs of a plurality of differing businesses, is a significant advantage over the state of the art of customer reward and loyalty systems.
An alternate embodiment of the system of the invention is one wherein a plurality of discrete levels of participation by the customer are defined. One specific embodiment of the system is on wherein three discrete levels of participation by the customer are defined as a first level of participation, a second level of participation, and a third level of participation. In said first level of participation, the customer provides information comprising name, contact, and age information to the system of the invention. In said second level of participation, the customer provides information comprising the information of the first level, information regarding hobbies, and information regarding preferences. In said third level of participation, the customer provides information comprising the information of the first level, the information of the second level, demographic information, income information, marital status information, and information regarding the number of children in the household.
The customer indicia are stored on the PID in either a secure format or a non-secure format. A preferred embodiment of the secured format is that wherein the indicia are generated by the system in either the Central Subsystem or the Consumer Subsystem, are encrypted by the subsystem that generated the indicia, and are then stored on the PID by any of the communication means described herein. The secure method of storing customer indicia on the PID is preferred in order to protect the personal information of the customer and reduce business proprietor liability for lost or stolen information that may be personal to the customer.
Referring to
The IEU 11 of the Business Subsystem comprises a computer having at least one business server interface 10 selected from the group consisting of a radio communications port of the type commonly used in personal computers such as that defined in Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) specification 802.11 commonly known as WiFi, an Ethernet interface port, a standard computer serial interface port, a standard computer parallel port, or a USB interface port. The IEU 11 is further comprised of one or more PID interfaces 19 selected from the group consisting of a standard magnetic card reader, at USB interface, a radio communications port of the type commonly used in personal computers such as that commonly known as Bluetooth, an optical bar code reader, a magnetic proximity reader interface, a radio frequency tag communications interface, or an infrared communications port. The IEU is further comprised of IEU Application Software 20 specific to the invention which is in communication with the PID interface of the IEU 19 and with the Business Server Interface 10 of the IEU. The IEU may have any number of PID interfaces of any of the types disclosed above, in any combination. The invention is not limited by the specific number or types of PID interfaces included in the IEU. An example embodiment of the IEU 11 is shown in
Referring to
The Consumer Subsystem 1 is preferably in communication with Central Subsystem 2 through the internet World Wide Web connection of the consumer subsystem personal computer. This World Wide Web interface is of the type which is well known in the art. The internet web browser software 23 resident on the consumer Personal Computer 5 of the Consumer Subsystem 1 accesses the World Wide Web 4 utilizing techniques that are well known in the art. The consumer software application 6 of the Consumer Subsystem 1 communicates with the Web Server Application Software 15 of the Central Subsystem 2 via the World Wide Web using the web browser software 23 resident on the Personal Computer 5 of the Consumer Subsystem 1.
Alternatively, for those consumers who do not own or do not know how to use a personal computer, the Consumer subsystem may comprise simply a PID, without any personal computer. In this embodiment of the consumer subsystem, the customer information must be entered into the system by other means such as the business proprietor utilizing a computer with access to the World Wide Web, by manually entering the customer personal information into the system. This alternative embodiment requires that the customer be issued a PID in order to use the system. This alternate embodiment of the invention, in which the Consumer Subsystem does not include a Personal Computer 5, preferably utilizes a magnetic card PID.
The Consumer Subsystem 1 communicates with the Business Subsystem 3 when the consumer utilizes a PID 7 to communicate with the Information Exchange Unit 11 of the Business Subsystem. To achieve this communication, the consumer interfaces the PID 7 with the appropriate PID interface of the IEU. For instance, in the case wherein the consumer utilizes a PDA PID having an infrared interface, the consumer points the PDA PID infrared port at the infrared PID interface of the IEU and initiates communication. In the case where the consumer utilizes a PDA PID with a radio frequency interface, the consumer presents the PDA PID 7 in proximity to the IEU 11 and initiates radio frequency communication. In the case where the consumer utilizes a solid state memory PID with a USB interface, also known as a thumb drive, the consumer inserts the thumb drive PID into the USB receiving port of the IEU 11. The IEU Application Software 20 recognizes the USB PID and initiates communication. Likewise, in the case wherein the user utilizes a magnetic card PID, the consumer swipes the card through the magnetic card reader PID interface of the IEU 11. Upon the swipe of the card, the IEU application software 20 recognizes the data input and accepts the data stored on the card and read by the card reader. In all cases, the IEU Application Software 20 receives consumer data from the PID 7, checks to verify that the consumer data is in the correct format of the system, reads the consumer data, decrypts the consumer data if necessary, stores the consumer data, and communicates the consumer data to the business server. The IEU Application Software 20 checks the data format and only data of the correct form will elicit a response from the IEU 11. The IEU 11 decrypts the data if the data is encrypted, and checks the special valid-data field. If the decryption fails, the data is invalid, or the invalid data field is not set correctly, the IEU 11 will report an error and no business information is provided to the consumer. On successful read of consumer data, the IEU 11 communicates the customer data to the Business Server 24 utilizing the communication means of the Business Server Interface 10 which is shown in
For those PIDs that are not capable of immediately receiving and storing the business information (magnetic storage, etc.), the Business Server Application Software 13 running on the Business Server 24 in the Business Subsystem 3 will, based on the media-type field in the data retrieved from the PID, email the business information to the consumer utilizing electronic mail techniques well known in the art.
The first step in utilizing the system of the invention is to perform an initial load of customer personal information into the PID 7. Customer personal information preferably is first entered into the system by the consumer, utilizing the Personal Computer 5 of the Consumer Subsystem 1 to communicate with the Web Server Application 15 of the Central Subsystem 2 via the World Wide Web 4. The consumer personal information transmitted to the Web Server Application 15 includes but is not limited to geographic, demographic, financial, contact, household, and other information. Examples of typical consumer information-provided to the Web Server Application 15 by the consumer are name, address, telephone number, customer identification number, email address, age, gender, household income, number of persons in the household, product preferences, store and merchant preferences, amount spent on various categories of goods and services, and other information related to the personal spending habits of the consumer. Alternatively, the customer may fill out a paper form providing the personal information, and the business proprietor, or one of his employees, may enter this information for the customer by entering the information on a computer communicating with the Web Server Application 15 via the World Wide Web 4. A yet further alternative method for providing the consumer personal information to the Web Server Application 15 is the filling out of a paper form by the consumer and mailing the form to a receiving entity who provides the consumer personal information to the Web Server Application 15 by entering on a computer communicating with the Web Server Application 15 via the World Wide Web 4. These two alternate methods may be beneficial for those consumers who wish to participate in the customer loyalty system of the invention, but who do not own a personal computer, or who are not skilled at using a personal computer.
Once the consumer personal information is loaded into the system by the user, the Web Server Application Software 15 processes and stores the data on the Database 17 of the Central Subsystem 2 for later retrieval and use by the merchant. The consumer personal information stored on the Database 17 of the Central Subsystem 2 may also later be retrieved and modified by the consumer.
Next the PID 7 is initialized for use by the consumer. This step is comprised of generating a specific alphanumeric customer identifier, selectively encrypting the alphanumeric identifier along with selected personal information, formatting the alphanumeric identifier and selected personal information into a format specific to the invention, and loading the formatted and encrypted alphanumeric identifier and selected personal information onto PID 7. This consumer-specific information is the consumer indicia. These steps are performed by the Web Server Application Software 15 of the Central Subsystem 2. In the case where the PID is a PDA, the Web Server Application Software 15 generates a file containing the consumer indicia for download to the PDA PID and communicates the file to the Personal Computer 5 of the Consumer Subsystem 1 for delivery to the PDA PID upon the next synchronization of the PDA PID. In the case were the PID is a magnetic card, the Web Server Application Software 15 communicates the consumer indicia to a magnetic card writer which is well known in the art. The consumer indicia are then written to a magnetic card which is delivered to the consumer for use. In the case where the PID is a radio frequency tag, the Web Server Application Software 15 communicates the consumer indicia to a radio frequency tag writer which writes the consumer indicia to a radio frequency tag utilizing equipment and techniques well known in the art, and the tag is delivered to consumer for use. In the case where the PID is a solid state memory device such as USB thumb drive, the consumer indicia is communicated by the Web Server Application Software 15 to the Personal Computer 5 of the Consumer Subsystem 1 via the World Wide Web 4. The Consumer Software Application 6 of the Consumer Subsystem 1 then writes the information to the memory of the USB PID via a USB port of the Personal Computer 5 utilizing standard techniques for writing files to a memory device.
Once the consumer indicia has been loaded into the database of the Central Subsystem 2 and a PID 7 has been initialized by one of the aforementioned techniques, the consumer is able to enter a place of business and utilize the invention. Upon entry to a merchant's place of business, the consumer presents the PID 7 to the IEU 11 of the Business Subsystem 2 by the appropriate method dependent upon the type of PID used by the consumer. For instance, in the case of the PDA PID having an infrared port, the consumer points the PDA at the infrared interface of the IEU 11 and initiates communication. For the case where the PID is a magnetic card, the user swipes the card through the magnetic card reader of the IEU 11. In the case where the PID is a PDA having a radio frequency interface such as Bluetooth, the user initiates Bluetooth communication utilizing the standard commands of the PDA. In the case where the PID is a radio frequency tag, the consumer simply presents the tag in proximity to the tag reader of the IEU 11. In the case where the PID is a solid state memory device such as a USB thumb drive, the consumer inserts the memory device PID into the interface designed to receive it, for instance a USB port, on the IEU 11 of the Business Subsystem 2. The IEU 11 then reads the customer indicia stored on the PID, and presents the data in the customer indicia file to the IEU Application Software 20 for processing. In all these cases, the IEU Application Software 20 checks the data format and only data of the correct form will elicit a response from the IEU. The IEU 11 decrypts the data and checks the special valid-data field. If the decryption fails, the data is invalid, or the invalid data field is not set correctly, then the IEU 11 will report an error and no business information is provided to the consumer. Once the consumer indicia is validated as specific to the invention, it is communicated to the Business Server Application Software 13 residing on the Business Server 24 by the IEU Application Software 20 through the Business Server Interface 32. That data is stored in a small optimized relational database located on the Business Server 24.
Next, the Business Subsystem communicates business-specific information to the consumer. This is accomplished by various means depending upon the type of PID utilized by the consumer. For consumers utilizing a PDA or USB thumb drive PID, the business-specific information is written to the memory of the PID utilizing the communication means of the PID. For instance, a consumer utilizing a PDA PID with an infrared communication interface will receive business-specific information transmitted from the IEU 11 of the Business Subsystem via infrared communication. Consumers utilizing a PDA PID having an RF interface such as Bluetooth will receive business-specific information via the RF interface. Consumers utilizing a USB thumb drive PID will receive business-specific information via the USB communication port of the IEU 11. Consumers utilizing optical bar code, magnetic swipe, magnetic proximity, or other PID types without the ability to receive data from the IEU 11 receive business information via email or via the World Wide Web. For these applications, the Business Subsystem provides business information to the consumer by emailing the consumer directly. Alternatively, the Business Subsystem may communicate the business information to the Central Subsystem 2 via the World Wide Web 4, whereupon the Central Subsystem Web Server Application Software 15 updates a web page with the information from the Business Subsystem that is specific to the consumer. The web page is specific to a consumer and may be protected by the use of a username and password specific to the consumer. The consumer may then access the web page via the World Wide Web 4 from any computer, type in his specific username and password, and view his specific data which may include business address information, reward status, indicators displaying how close the consumer is to achieving a reward status, history of purchases made, and the like. The information displayed to the consumer in this manner is not limited to the afore-mentioned information. Furthermore, the method chosen to communicate with the consumer may be redundant; for instance, a consumer utilizing a PID with memory capability may receive business information from the IEU at the time of visiting the customer premises as indicated above, and the business information may also be transmitted to the Central Subsystem for displaying in a web page personal to the consumer as mentioned above. A further additional means of communicating business specific information is for the Business Subsystem to communicate this information to the consumer via email. Email communication of business information may be utilized regardless of the type of PID utilized by the consumer. A further additional means of communicating business information to the consumer is for the Central Subsystem to implement a web-based email function such that a consumer is assigned a web based email mailbox managed by the Web Server Application Software 15. For this case, the consumer accesses his specific mailbox via the World Wide Web 4, views his email inbox, and is thus able to view email from the Business Subsystem communication business specific information.
The reward system of the invention may be utilized without any communication from the Business Subsystem to the consumer. Although this is not a preferred embodiment of the system, a reward system operating in such a manner would simply generate customer rewards by analyzing the consumer data stored in the Business Subsystem, and provide notification to the consumer at the time of purchase, for instance when the consumer approaches the point of sale.
Once the consumer information has been read from the PID 7 and communicated to the Business Server 24, the business proprietor can access the consumer data stored in the optimized relational database 33 that supports showing the data as sorted in a variety of ways useful to the business proprietor. The default display option is to show the data sorted by type of retailer and location. The business proprietor can utilize the information stored in the relational database 33 of the Business Subsystem to generate and send rewards and information to specific consumer individually, or groups of consumers, based upon the business proprietor's grouping of consumers. Consumers can be grouped in accordance with the desire of the business proprietor utilizing the information stored on the relational database 33 of the Business Subsystem 2. Certain metrics, preferably comprised of customer visit counts, are communicated by the Business Server 24 to the Central Subsystem Web Server Application 15 via the World Wide Web 4. In a preferred embodiment of the invention all information transmitted via the World Wide Web 4 is communicated utilizing standard well-known techniques for transmitting data in a secure fashion over the World Wide Web, such as the https protocol which is well known in the art. The Web Server Application Software 15 communicates with the Database Server Software 16, causing the metrics to be stored into the Database 17 of the Central Subsystem 2. The metrics communicated from the Business Server 24 of the Business Subsystem 2 to the Web Server Application Software 15 for storage onto the Database 17 of the Central Subsystem 2 may include purchase information, customer indicia in whole or in part, and customer visit counts.
At any time, the merchant may utilize the Business Server 24 to access the relational database 33 of the Business Subsystem 3 by utilizing the Business Server Application Software 13. The Business Server Application Software 13 retrieves data and formats reports at the command of the business proprietor. In this manner shopping habits, demographic and geographic analysis, amount of purchases made by grouping of customer, and other data analysis may be performed by the business proprietor. The business proprietor may select rewards for consumers based upon parameters specific to his business: for instance, the business proprietor may choose to reward customers based upon the number of trips to the place of business, the amount of purchases over a certain time, by customer birth date, or any other metric or set of metrics based upon information stored in the database. The invention is not limited by the number of specific metrics or types of information the business proprietor chooses to collect, nor is the invention limited by a specific number or types of information utilized by the business proprietor to determine customer rewards. It is a feature of the invention that each business proprietor selects the information he collects, and each proprietor selects the specific award criteria relative to his specific business. The flexibility of the invention which allows each business proprietor to tailor the use of the invention to his specific business operation is a significant advancement over the state of the art.
Customer rewards are stored electronically on the Business Server 24 of the Business Subsystem 3 and do not typically require any form of paper coupons to be mailed to the consumer. Consumers are typically notified of their reward electronically; for instance through electronic mail. Customer notification via email is typically performed by the Business Server 24 of the Business Subsystem 3. This approach for communicating customer rewards reduces the costs associated with mailing of paper coupons, and furthermore reduces the need for the customer to store and maintain unnecessary paper. The ease of use of the system in providing for the automatic awarding of rewards, electronic mail notification to the customer, elimination of paperwork, and use of the World Wide Web allowing the customer to review lists of businesses participating in the invention and to review the status of their personal awards are features of the invention that are significant advancements in the state of the art.
At any time the consumer may access the Web Server Application Software 15 over the World Wide Web 4 by utilizing the web browser software on the Consumer Subsystem Personal Computer 5. The consumer may wish to do this in order to update his personal information in the system. The consumer may also wish to enter quality survey information into the database in order to provide feedback regarding the merchant's performance, quality of goods and services, and the like for a specific business proprietor. The business proprietor is able to access consumer feedback information by communicating with the Web Server Application Software 15 to query the Database 17 of the Central Subsystem 2 for consumer feedback information relative to his business operation. In this manner the merchant is able to gain an understanding as to how the quality of his business operations are viewed by his customers.
The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the various embodiments of the present invention. By allowing the personal information to be transmitted to the IEU upon entry to the place of business, the invention allows a customer visit to be recorded even though no purchase has been made, the information is easily and quickly exchanged, the consumer is provided information about the business, and the merchant is provided an accurate set of data from which he can better analyze the shopping habits of his customers. This aspect of the invention eliminate the need for a specific point of sale within the merchant's place of business and enables a more accurate data base because all customer visits to the place of business can be recorded, not just visits that culminate in a purchase of goods or services.
Business proprietors realize cost savings through reduced advertising costs, making reaching a wider target market possible even with the limited advertising budgets normally found in small to medium businesses. Furthermore, since the customer loyalty and reward program is configurable by each business proprietor, the system of the invention is usable for the small to medium sized business which do not have the assets, resources, or time to develop their own reward system. The system of the current invention is therefore usable by such businesses. The system of the invention also provides an advantage to the business proprietor in that while the reward system is in use, the business proprietor has the ability to analyze customer visit and personal information stored on the Business Server 24 of the Business Subsystem 3, enabling the business owner to develop a better view of the demographic, geographic, and other metric information related to his particular customer and market base. Such information is valuable for aiding in decision making; for instance, where, when, and how to spend advertising funds. These decisions can be critical for the success of such businesses. A business proprietor who subscribes to the system of the current invention is therefore at an advantage over his competitors who do not utilize the system of the invention.
Another aspect and advantage of the system is that the consumer is able to deliver quality survey and report information via the World Wide Web interface of the personal computer of the Consumer Subsystem to the web server application. This quality survey information is stored in the database and may be used by the business proprietor to gain a better understanding of the way his customers view his business operation.
Another aspect and advantage of the invention is that a consumer is enabled to review a directory of places of business participating in the system of the invention in a given geographic area. The customer accesses this data over the World Wide Web by utilizing the web browser software of his personal computer to access the Web Server Application Software, which interrogates the database and provides a response to the consumer indicating the identification of businesses participating in the system of the invention that meet a certain criteria such as geographic or price criteria. The customer is thus able to review a list of participating businesses. The system of the invention is therefore useful to encourage patronage of participating businesses.
Another aspect and advantage of the invention is that it is easily utilized to provide a wide range of reports based upon demographic, shopping pattern and habits, geographic, and other data, thus enabling the merchant to fine-tune his business operations to be better tailored to his patrons. The system supports both “hard” rewards (for example, discounts and the like) and “soft” rewards (for example, preferred seating and the like). The system also builds customer loyalty through the accumulation of customer rewards, the value of which may increase as the consumer continues to spend more time and money at a particular business.
While specific embodiments of the invention are described herein, it is immediately obvious to one skilled in the art that many equivalent embodiments are conceivable without departing from the gist and spirit of the invention.
