Patent Application
20070226065
The present invention generally relates to the field of an inventory and sales control system. In particular, the present invention relates to a system and method for reducing the need for a relatively small retail establishment to stock inventory of large items, items with low sales activity, seasonal items or special order items.
While there have been numerous sales and inventory control systems that have been developed which utilize computers and networks as an integral part of their operation, there continues to be a need for a comprehensive system that is particularly adapted for use in the sales and inventory of items for the owners of retail establishments with a relatively small square footage of floor space footprint. Within this segment of the marketplace the owners are reluctant to carry certain items in-house, e.g. items that take up considerable shelf space, items that come in many colors or with numerous options, seasonal items, items that sell infrequently.
A system that can allow a small footprint business to have customer friendly access to remote inventory without having to have physical inventory can be used in many different industries and businesses, but is particularly useful in the pool supply business. Many of the popular pool toys are quite bulky, take up considerable space, are seasonal and/or come in many colors or options.
Another problem in the industry is that many pool supply store owners do not have the ability to purchase pool toys because of cash flow limitations. Purchase of pool toys by retailers from wholesalers generally require bulk orders of multiple cases of a particular product.
Additionally, a pool supply store owner may misjudge a pool toy's popularity and will watch the cases of pool toys gather dust while taking up valuable space. In frustration, the pool supply store owner may have to significantly discount the pool toys.
Previous attempts to address the problem of inventory management include the following.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,208, issued to Bruce H. Schneider, et al., on Dec. 12, 1989, discloses a comprehensive inventory and sales control system that is particularly adapted for the segment of the furniture industry that involves special order items, such as sofas, love seats, upholstered chairs and the like. The system is adapted to provide instant communications between retail establishments and a manufacturer, and enables the order to be confirmed at the time of purchase. This includes a determination of the availability of the fabric and reserving the item style and fabric from the manufacturer's stock, thereby enabling the manufacturer to determine and the customer to know the anticipated delivery date for the item that has been purchased. The system also enables a point of sale establishment to maintain a set of fabric swatches or samples of the fabrics that are currently available, thereby minimizing the possibility that a customer would order an item and a fabric that is not currently available. Additionally, the system also has the capability of updating the inventory of available fabrics and a plurality of fabric swatches at each establishment, and a means for scanning bar coded labels that are attached to the swatches, wherein the scanning means has sound producing means that permits quick and easy control of the inventory of swatches.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,318, issued to Gordon T. Brown, on Nov. 20, 1990, discloses a method of order entry, product selection and inventory control for building products, building product accessories and building product components sold by a dealer to a customer. The method comprises the steps of providing a computer having a display screen and a plurality of files. A first file lists descriptions, dimensions and styles of available building products by product code along with building product accessories. A second file lists rough opening dimensions and building products fitting the rough opening dimensions and a third file lists building product components. A customer can enter into the computer a product code, a rough opening dimension or plural product codes for a desired building product. Based on the entry, the computer will select a building product. The computer then determines and displays the desired building product along with a price. The customer can then order the desired building product from an inventory.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,710,887, issued to Raman Chelliah, et al., on Jan. 20, 1998, discloses a system for facilitating commercial transactions between a plurality of customers and at least one supplier of items over a computer driven network capable of providing communications between the supplier and at least one customer site associated with each customer. Each site includes an associated display and an input device through which the customer can input information into the system. At least one supplier is presented on the display for selection by the customer using the input device. Similarly items from a supplier can be displayed for the customer to observe. Associated with a supplier of such items is an item database including information on presented items. Pricing subsystem receives information from the item database to determine the cost associated with a presented item. In addition a customer information database stores information relating to the customer. Associated with each customer is a customer monitoring object for each customer. The customer monitoring object is created by referencing information, relating to that customer, which had been stored in the customer information database and when the customer selects a supplier. The customer monitoring object is configured to operate by responding to customer enquiries regarding a presented item by retrieving information relating to the item and presenting the information to the customer; receiving a customer's selection of a presented item; receiving customer communications, indicating a desire to receive the item; and passing a communication to initiate the delivery of the item to the customer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,989, issued to James M. Johnson et al., on Jan. 27, 1998, discloses a requisition and inventory management system which employs both a host computer and a local computer which can be linked to permit two-way data communications in a real time environment. Each computer has an associated database which can be accessed by that computer. By accessing its respective database, each computer can build and transmit to the other computer communications blocks of data relating to a particular requisition of an item in Just-in-Time (JIT) inventory or to the management of the JIT inventory. The other computer can then use the received data to continue processing of the requisition or to update its JIT inventory records. Thus requisition records are created from a real-time interaction between the host and local computers, with each computer using data from its respective database in conjunction with information entered by a Customer Service Representative (CSR) operating the local computer. The system of the present invention also utilizes means for automatically determining which items in the JIT inventory are likely to require replenishment. The system then proposes a purchase or transfer order for an optimum quantity of the item, which the CSR may accept or modify.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,269 B1, issued to Ear F. Dulaney, et al., on Jan. 22, 2002, discloses inventory management systems and processes at the retail, wholesale and/or distributor level. It particularly involves a system, method and article of manufacture that optimizes inventory and merchandising shelf space utilization based upon cost and lost sales, with or without considering physical space constraints. In one embodiment, the system includes a bank of memory, a processor, an input and an output, and a computer program. The system optimizes inventory or store facings using various data and extrapolated computations. The system optimizes inventory using facing optimization which is an approach to shelf inventory management that minimizes the sum of expected annual cost of lost sales and expected annual inventory holding cost. The process of facing optimization requires the assimilation of relevant data for each particular item to be evaluated. The data to be collected include store-level point-of-sale (a.k.a., POS) data, frequency of shelf replenishment, shelf-level order cycle time, space available, space required per SKU, number of units per facing, cost to the retailer of one unit of SKU, price they sell it for, the inventory holding cost factor, and the unit cost of a lost sale. Store-level POS is used to measure the mean of daily sales and the variability of daily sales (a.k.a., standard deviation of demand). The system evaluates these variables when determining the optimal solution for an unconstrained space or a constrained space of a particular facility.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,587,827 B1, issued to Carole Hennig et al., on Jul. 1, 2003, discloses a method and system for processing a customer generated order for a product, more particularly to a method for one or more client computers connected through a server to a plurality of supplier computers to fulfill a customer generated order. The method includes the client creating an order event with a preferred supplier, the server routing the order event to the preferred supplier, the server monitoring status of the order event from the preferred supplier, the preferred supplier processing the order event, and the server periodically synchronizing inventory between the client and all suppliers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,989 B2, issued to William Kress Bodin on Jan. 27, 2004, discloses a system and method allowing a consumer to make a purchase within a retail area and to remove that purchased item from the retail area without causing an alarm by an electronic article surveillance (EAS) system. The system first identifies the consumer and the product to be purchased, then validates the selected item. If the selected product is a valid selection, then the system posts the transaction to the consumer's account, optionally including a convenience charge, and commands the EAS to allow removal of the purchased item from the secured retail area, thereby allowing the consumer to make the purchase and avoid waiting for the availability of a human cashier or salesperson.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,922,674 B1, issued to Timothy Edward Nelson, on Jul. 26, 2005, discloses a computer implemented purchasing system with aftermarket product inventory display. A list of aftermarket accessories for a selected vehicle model is displayed for incorporation into a purchase request generated by a potential buyer of the selected vehicle model. The list may be customized by the seller of the selected vehicle model.
While these patents and other previous methods have attempted to solve the problems that they addressed, none have utilized or disclosed a system and method for augmenting sales at small footprint retail establishment through customer friendly access to pool toy inventory as does embodiments of the present invention.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for augmenting sales at small footprint retail establishments with these attributes and functionalities. The system and method for augmenting sales in small footprint retail establishments according to embodiments of the invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art. It can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved system and method which can be used commercially for augmenting sales in small footprint retail establishments. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills these objectives.
The foregoing patent and other information reflect the state of the art of which the inventors are aware and are tendered with a view toward discharging the inventors' acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be pertinent to the patentability of the present invention. It is respectfully stipulated, however, that the foregoing patent and other information do not teach or render obvious, singly or when considered in combination, the inventors' claimed invention.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a system and method for augmenting sales in small footprint retail establishment. In particular, the present invention relates to a computerized system and method for augmenting sales in small footprint retail establishments that sell water related supplies, e.g. pool supply stores, marina dock stores, RV-parks adjacent to pools or bodies of water.
The present invention is comprised of an order station located at the small footprint retail establishment, a central computer located at a large footprint warehouse establishment and two-way communication means connecting the order station with the central computer.
The order station is designed to require a minimum amount of floor space, with the width being 22 inches. In an exemplary embodiment the order station is comprised of a stand and a computer positioned underneath the stand. A keyboard, a monitor, a mouse, a phone line cord, a power cord and a financial card reader, are connected to the computer. The keyboard, monitor and mouse are positioned on the top surface of the stand. The credit card reader is positioned to be conveniently accessed by a user, e.g. on the side of the monitor.
An extension cord of sufficient length, e.g. up to 200 ft., with multiple electrical outlet connections is connected the power cord. In some embodiments a power backup device and/or surge protection device may be connected between the order station electrical devices and the power cord. The phone line cord is connected to a phone line jack in the retail establishment for communication with a central computer, e.g. at a pool supply warehouse. The computer has an operating system software installed, e.g. WINDOWS® XP, as well as a proprietary software for operation of the order station and communication with a central computer. In the preferred embodiment the order station is not operable for connection to the Internet. The stand is further comprised of signage designed to attract potential users, e.g. having an attractive water theme motif.
The present invention is further comprised of a central computer operable for communicating with a plurality of order station computers, via a telephone communications network, e.g. to upload orders and billing information from an order station computer, update the product data base of an order station computer, update the proprietary software an order station computer.
The central computer is operable for receiving and processing orders and billing data sent from each order station computer, transmitting this information to the warehouse for pulling, packaging and shipping, sending an email with the shipping tracking information to the email for the respective establishment, calculating commissions, aggregating those commissions and creating a commission payment. The central computer is also operable for updating each order station computer with revised product information and/or software changes.
One aspect of the present invention is that it provides an inventory solution to small footprint retail establishments by allowing the ordering of an individual item that is shipped via an express delivery service to the retail establishment.
Another aspect of the present invention is that it is easy to install.
Another aspect of the present invention is that it is easy to use.
Another aspect of the present invention is that it provides an additional source of profit to small footprint retail establishments.
Another aspect of the present invention is that items returned to a small footprint retail establishment are considered a gift to the establishment owner and can be resold with the establishment owner keeping the entire sales price as profit.
Another aspect of the present invention is that communication between the order station and the central computer occurs after normal store hours, e.g. 3 am.
Another aspect of the present invention is that an email from the central computer is sent to the retail establishment's email address containing the details of the transaction and the shipping tracking number.
Another aspect of the present invention is that ordered items are sent via overnight delivery to the ordering store so the customer returns to the store for pickup and potentially becomes a repeat customer.
Another aspect of the present invention is that a data base of the customers who have used the order station is available to the corresponding retail establishment to facilitate follow-up sales.
Another aspect of the present invention is that commissions for the retail establishment are aggregated and paid periodically, e.g. monthly.
Another aspect of the present invention is that it can be made inexpensively.
Another aspect of the present invention is that it can be made of readily available materials.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be presented in more detail in the following specification of the invention and the accompanying figures, which illustrate by way of example the principles of the invention.
There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The invention, together with further advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to a few preferred embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known operations have not been described in detail so not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.
The individual steps illustrated may be executed in a different sequence, be omitted or modified, and additional steps may be added at the beginning, the end or between the steps illustrated, in different embodiments of the present invention.
