Patent Application
20240311871
The present invention relates to a system and method for disseminating information that is selected for its relevance to consumers. In particular, the present invention relates to a system and method for disseminating relevant retail information to consumers, including, but not limited to, products and services offered for sale, retail offers and/or promotional material.
The ability of a retail business owner (vendor) to advertise goods and/or services offered for sale to consumers in an effective manner is critical to the success of the vendor's business. Traditionally, advertisement of goods and/or services for sale is achieved using one or more advertising mediums/platforms including, but not limited to, billboards, magazines, pamphlets, brochures and television/radio advertisements.
However, the dramatic increase in popularity of “online shopping” in recent times has resulted in many “physical” retail businesses (as compared with retail business located in a virtual “online” environment) experiencing a substantial decline in sales. This is primarily due to the convenience and flexibility associated with online shopping and the ability of a consumer to target (focus) their search query online for any desired goods and/or services they seek to purchase.
In addition, increasing costs associated with traditional forms of advertising has resulted in most physical retail businesses either reducing their level of advertising (thereby leading to a decrease in advertising sales), or alternatively, moving from a physical retail business to a virtual (or online) retail business.
Furthermore, traditional forms of advertising are considered to be a “passive” form of advertising since they rely on the consumer paying attention to, for example, advertising material on billboards or reading brochures, pamphlets and advertising material that has been provided to the consumer in the post. This problem is somewhat mitigated with online advertising since a consumer is provided with advertising material whilst online with convenient hyper-links to web-sites to accommodate a sale and accordingly, there is a greater chance that the consumer will be motivated to consider such material and purchase goods and/or services that are advertised on-line.
However, much online advertising material is either not relevant to the consumer, or is provided to the consumer during times in which it is not convenient to consider making a purchase, for example, when they are conducting a search query on the internet or when they are using social media.
With vastly increased competition for consumer attention and the sales that arise therefrom, retailers increasingly need to consider how to advertise to consumers at a time and place which is likely to be convenient to the consumer to consider purchasing goods and/or services.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a system and method that ameliorates, or at least provides an alternative to, conventional systems and methods for disseminating advertising or promotional information in a more effective manner, wherein such information is relevant to consumers according to their preferences and requirements and is provided to the consumer at a time and/or place that improves convenience for the consumer hence improving the prospects of a sale.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a computer implemented system including: a primary user device operable to access and execute computer instruction code that, when executed, causes generation and sending of notifications to one or more secondary user devices, a database of previously collected data in respect of users of the secondary user devices where the one or more secondary user devices operated by users other than users of primary user devices; and a matching engine; wherein generated notifications are matched, by the matching engine, to the user of a secondary user device according to analysis of the previously collected data regarding the user of the secondary user device such that notifications sent to the secondary user device are relevant to the user of the secondary user device, and further wherein, the primary user device is operable to execute computer instruction code to send notifications to the one or more secondary user devices, when the one or more secondary user devices are located within a specified region in relation to a geographical location specified by the one or more secondary user devices, and at a particular time, or within a particular period of time, specified by the one or more secondary user devices.
It will be understood that within the context of the present invention, a “notification” includes, but is not limited to, an electronic notification, a text message, an email message, a sound and/or an image. In embodiments, the notification may include directions in the form of an image (for example, a map).
In an embodiment, the primary user device is operable to access and execute computer instruction code to send notifications when the one or more secondary user devices are located within a specified region in relation to the geographical location. The specified region in relation to the geographical location may be specified by either the user of the primary user device and/or the user of the secondary user device by entering either Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates or specifying a distance from a geographical location.
In an embodiment, the primary user device is operable to execute computer instruction code to send notifications to the one or more secondary user devices at a specified time, or within a specified period of time, of the day specified by the primary user device.
In an embodiment, the one or more secondary user devices are operable to execute computer instruction code to receive notifications at a specified time, or within a specified period of time, of the day specified by the secondary user device.
A user of a secondary user device may nominate/indicate one or more retail establishments as “preferred” retail outlet(s) (for example, by adding the names of any preferred retail outlets to a “favourites” list within the system application). The user of the secondary user device may also receive notifications in relation to any preferred retail outlet whether the user is within, or outside, the specified region in relation to the geographical location associated with one or more preferred retail establishments.
Accordingly, in an embodiment, a user of a secondary device is able to nominate one or more retail establishments associated with a geographical location as a preferred retail establishment, so that the primary user device associated with the geographical location of a preferred retail establishment is operable to send notifications when the one or more secondary user devices are located within, or outside, a specified region in relation to the geographical location.
In embodiments, users of the primary user devices may be vendors (owners, managers or employees) of retail establishments, whilst users of the secondary user devices may be customers of such retail establishments.
In embodiments, the notifications relate to retail information, including but not limited to, promotional offers, sales and the like. In embodiments, notifications may also include location details of the offer and may further include directions or a graphic representation (such as a map) providing directions from a user's (customer's) location to the location of the retail establishment.
In an embodiment, notifications to one or more secondary devices are able to be sent to, and/or received, by, one or more secondary devices when users of the secondary user devices are located within a specified region (as specified either the user of a primary device or secondary device) in relation to a geographical location associated with a primary user device.
For example, a user of a primary user device (e.g., an owner of a retail establishment), may elect to specify a distance of 10 km thereby defining a 10 km region that surrounds the geographical location of interest (for example, their retail establishment). Accordingly, any secondary user device that has subscribed to the application associated with the system and method of the present invention and that is located within 10 km of the geographical location of the retail establishment, may form a communication link with the primary user device and operably receive notifications and/or send messages from/to the primary user device associated with that geographical location.
Alternatively, a user of a secondary user device may prefer to be notified of any sales or promotional material associated with a retail establishment, only if they are within a specified region according to the secondary user's choice (for example, within a 5 km region of the retail establishment). The user of the secondary device may therefore specify a surrounding region of 5 km, by operation of the secondary user device, and hence, enable their device to form a communication link with the primary user device associated with a geographical location only when they are within 5 km of the retail establishment.
The relevance of notifications may be determined, in some embodiments, by monitoring purchases made by the user of the secondary user device. For example, if the user of a secondary user device frequently patronises a particular retail establishment and/or purchases goods and/or services from the particular retail establishment, embodiments of the system and method of the present invention may monitor such activities so that any notifications relating goods and/or services offered for sale by a particular retail establishment are selectively forwarded to the user of a secondary user device.
Accordingly, embodiments of the system and method of the present invention enable users of secondary user devices to receive notifications of increased relevance as compared with conventional methods of marketing and advertising. Moreover, the more a user of a secondary user device uses the system application of the present invention, or the greater the subscription period of the secondary user device with the system, the more the system will learn about the user's purchasing activities, search activities and preferences, thereby increasing the relevance of notifications forwarded to the user.
Alternatively, the relevance of the messages may be determined by monitoring and collecting information in relation to search queries made by a user of secondary user device in an online environment. For example, if a user of a secondary user device submits search queries in relation to a particular product, for example, a particular brand of cosmetic, then any notifications including promotional, retail or sale material relating to that particular brand of cosmetic may be selectively sent to the user of the secondary user device, when the user is within a specified region in relation to a geographical location associated with the physical retail establishment in which that particular brand of cosmetic is offered for sale.
In some embodiments, the relevance of notifications may be determined by monitoring and collecting information in relation to prior purchases made by the user of the secondary user device at one or more geographical locations associated with the primary user device (i.e., physical retail establishments).
The relevance of a notification to a user of a secondary user device may also be determined by monitoring (tracking) the movements of the user. For example, a user (consumer) may frequent a local department store, and the consumer's movements at and within the store may be monitored by the use of GPS coordinates to determine potential items of interest to the consumer. If, for example, the consumer spends a significant amount of time in the menswear department within the local department store, the system is operable to monitor, collect and store this information. This information may then be used by the system to send one or more notifications from a primary user device offering promotions, offers and purchasing incentives in relation to menswear from the local department store to the consumer.
In embodiments, the system may also predict likely future purchases of a consumer based on their previous purchases, their online searching/shopping history or their movements at, and within, retail establishments. As a result, the system may automatically select, based on relevance, which notifications (offers, promotions or advertisements) to send to one or more users (consumers) thereby increasing the user's engagement with the system and hence likelihood of achieving a sale.
In embodiments, the system may also estimate characteristics of a user of a secondary device, including their age, gender and economic status, based on information collected with respect to the user's prior purchases, online/shopping purchasing history and their choice of retail establishments at which they purchase goods and/or services. For example, the system may estimate that a user of a secondary device that frequents certain retail establishments is likely to be a middle-aged male on a reasonably low income. The system may then automatically select which notifications (offers, promotions or advertisements) to send to such a user, based upon relevance, and thereby increase the level of user engagement and the likelihood of achieving a sale.
In embodiments, one or more of natural language processing, text analysis, and/or machine learning techniques may be used to determine the relevance of a notification to one or more secondary users. Additionally, or alternatively, the system may include an inference engine to better understand the users submitted online search queries to predict future purchasing of goods and/or services of a particular user.
In other embodiments, in addition to receiving notifications from the primary user device, a user of a secondary user device may also send messages to a primary user device.
Accordingly, in one embodiment of the present invention, a user of a secondary user device is able to reserve one or more items or products, or schedule one or more services offered for sale, by a physical retail establishment, by use of the secondary user device.
For example, if a user of a secondary user device is within a specified region of a physical retail establishment and receives a notification from a primary user device associated with that retail establishment relating to a product that is offered for sale at, for example, a reduced price, the user of the secondary user device may send a message to the primary user device requesting reservation of that item or product for purchase. In this regard, it will be appreciated that since the user of the secondary user device will receive notifications and send messages whilst they are within a specified distance of the geographical location, it would likely be convenient for the user of the secondary user device to attend the premises of the retail establishment in order to collect any reserved items.
In some embodiments, the user of the secondary user device may also make a purchase using the secondary user device. In this embodiment, since the one or more secondary user devices may only form a communication link with a primary user device associated with a geographical location (i.e., the physical premises of a retail establishment) when the secondary user device is located within a specified region of the geographical location of the retail establishment (for example, a 3 km radius), then it would likely be convenient for the user of the secondary user device to collect any purchased items from the retail establishment.
Since receiving notifications and/or sending messages and conducting payment transactions with the use of a secondary user device may only be possible when the secondary user device is within a specified region of the geographical location associated with the primary user device, it will be appreciated that a user of a secondary user device may not receive any notifications from a primary user device when the secondary user device is outside the specified regions in relation to the geographical location associated with the primary user device. This should avoid a user of a secondary user device receiving notifications at times, and under circumstances, in which the user of the secondary user device would consider it inconvenient to make a purchase and therefore prefer not to receive notifications. This should also assist in retaining the interest of users of secondary user devices (i.e., consumers), since they would not be subjected to irrelevant advertising during times and under circumstances in which they are either not interested, or it is inconvenient, to make a purchase.
In an embodiment, the one or more users of the secondary user devices may effect a payment transaction by the use of their secondary user device. Accordingly, a user of a secondary user device may make a purchase remotely from, for example, a retail establishment (or storage warehouse in which items for sale are stored) and subsequently collect their items from the retail establishment or storage warehouse. Alternatively, a user may use their secondary user device to make a purchase when they are located at the retail establishment.
In some embodiments, the primary user device may be configured to receive a notification (or an indication) of each instance a secondary user device is located within a specified region of the geographical location associated with the primary user device. Once notified, the user of the primary user device (for example a manager or an owner of a retail establishment) may send one or more notifications to one or more users of secondary devices including promotional and/or sales material.
In some embodiments, a user of a secondary user device may send to a primary user device associated with a geographical location, a review, feedback or a rating in respect of a retail establishment located at the geographical location.
In various embodiments, the primary user device automatically sends notifications to the one or more secondary user devices upon receiving a notification when the one or more secondary user devices are located within the specified region of the geographical location associated with the primary user device.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a computer implemented method including sending, by a primary user device operable to access and execute computer instruction code, notifications to one or more secondary user devices subsequent to accessing a database of previously collected data in respect of users of the secondary user devices, wherein the notifications sent to the secondary user devices are matched, by a matching engine, to the user of the secondary user device according to analysis of the previously collected data regarding the user of the secondary user device such that the notifications sent to the secondary user device are relevant to the user of the secondary user device, and further wherein, the primary user device is operable to execute computer instruction code to send notifications to the one or more secondary user devices, when the one or more secondary user devices are located within a specified region in relation to a geographical location specified by the one or more secondary user devices, and at a particular time, or within a particular period of time, specified by the one or more secondary user devices
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a computer readable medium including instructions stored therein executable by one or more processors to perform the steps of: sending, by a primary user device associated with the one or more processors, notifications to one or more secondary user devices subsequent to accessing a database of previously collected data in respect of users of the secondary user devices; wherein the notifications sent to the secondary user device are matched, by a matching engine, to the user of the secondary user device according to analysis of the previously collected data regarding the user of the secondary user device such that the notifications sent to the secondary user device are relevant to the user of the secondary user device, and further wherein, the primary user device is operable to execute computer instruction code to send notifications to the one or more secondary user devices, when the one or more secondary user devices are located within a specified region in relation to a geographical location specified by the one or more secondary user devices, and at a particular time, or within a particular period of time, specified by the one or more secondary user devices.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying figures in which:
For convenience, the invention will be described with respect to one or more embodiments, however it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to these one or more embodiments.
With reference to
Central Server sub-system (200) details a central server that operates application code (executable instructions) and maintains storage (databases) associated with the system and method of the present invention. The application code and storage may be operated and maintained locally or may be a distributed application executed on multiple computers within a network.
Registration sub-system (300) details a customer user device, for example a tablet or a mobile device such as a smartphone or smartwatch, through which a customer registers and installs the system application.
Vendor sub-system (400) details a retail establishment associated with a vendor and a vendor user device through which a vendor may generate one or more notifications including retail information as described above. Vendor user device may include, but is not limited to, a personal computer, laptop, tablet or mobile device such as a smartphone.
Customer sub-system (500) details a customer accessing the system application and configuring their user device to receive notifications from one or more vendors in relation to retail sales and/or promotions offered by one or more retail establishments when the customer is physically located within a specified region from the one or more retail establishments.
The notifications including retail purchasing incentives and/or promotional offers are generated by the vendor (refer to sub-system 400) and forwarded, using vendor user device, to the customer user device. The notification will appear on the customer user device when the system detects the customer user device is physically located within a specified region from the retail establishment and forwarded to the customer.
The customer is also able to view any reviews posted by other users (customers) of the application in relation to particular retail establishments. Once a customer receives a notification from a vendor, the customer may provide feedback to the vendor or may make a purchase. Any feedback received by a vendor from a customer may be viewed by the vendor on a vendor user device as detailed in Feedback sub-system (600). Such feedback may include, but is not limited to, an enquiry/message/rating sent by a customer in relation to a particular promotional offer or purchasing incentive (for example). Details of any purchase made by the customer may also be provided as feedback to the vendor.
Each notional sub-system (200, 300, 400, 500 and 600) will now be described in further detail with reference to
Referring to
One or more customer information databases (245) are also associated with system application (210) within which various information relating to one or more subscribed customers is collected, stored and maintained. Such customer information may include, but is not limited to:
By storing and maintaining any previously collected customer information (data) in one or more customer information databases (245) associated with the system application (210), one or more notifications are able to be selectively sent to customers based on relevance of the notification to a particular customer. That is, any notifications generated by a vendor and sent to a particular customer will be in accordance with the customer account information (250), customer insight information (255), customer preferences (260) and social media information (265), collected, stored and maintained in one or more customer information databases (245) associated with system application (210), and should therefore be of relevance to a particular customer's preferences and interests. It will be appreciated that by sending notifications (including retail information, promotional offers and purchase incentives information) that are of relevance to a customer and that are in accordance with the customer's defined preferences and interests, should increase the customer's engagement and thereby increase the customer's response rate to any promotional offers and/or purchase incentives received. In turn, an increased response rate should result in an increased number of sales and revenue for the vendor.
In addition, by sending notifications in relation to one or more promotional offers or sales associated with a particular retail establishment to a customer only when the customer is within a specified distance from that retail establishment, avoids a customer being sent notifications at inconvenient times (for example, whilst they are at work or at home), thereby reducing the risk of causing annoyance to the customer. The receipt of notifications of a customer only when they (and their user device) are located within a specified distance from a retail establishment also assists in maintaining customer engagement thereby likely resulting in an increased response rate to any promotional and/or sales material sent to the customer. In turn, an increased response rate should result in an increased number of sales and revenue for the vendor.
System application (210) also maintains vendor information in one or more vendor information databases (270). Such vendor information may include, but is not limited to, the name(s) of the retail establishment(s) associated with a vendor, the registration (account) details of the vendor, the vendor's preferred method of communication with one or more customers (for example, vendor email address (for email communication) and/or mobile telephone number (for short message communication)) and any preferences set by the vendor (for example, specified distance from geographical location associated with the vendor's retail establishment within which communication with one or more customers is enabled and established).
Vendor information databases (270) also store additional information including GPS coordinates associated with vendor retail establishments, and store plans which include detail regarding the location and categorization of items offered for sale within a store. In this regard, the system is able to monitor (track) the movements of a consumer browsing within a retail establishment in order to determine the items that are of interest to the consumer and therefore determine the relevance of a notification to a user.
For example, a consumer's movements within a retail establishment are monitored (tracked by the use of GPS coordinates) and compared with a plan of the retail establishment stored in vendor information databases (270) associated with the system. By comparing the consumer's movements and the information located in the store plan, the system is able to determine that men's shoes, ties, and shirts are items of interest to the consumer. Accordingly, the system automatically identifies any notifications (offers, promotions or advertisements) relating to men's shoes, ties and shirts generated by the vendor and sends any relevant notification to the consumer.
The system may also predict likely future purchases of a consumer based on their previous purchases, their online searching/shopping history or their movements at, and within, retail establishments as described above. As a result, the system may be able to automatically select, based on relevance, which notifications (offers, promotions or advertisements) to send to one or more users (consumers) and thereby increase the user's engagement and likelihood of achieving a sale. Once again, the system may use any one or more natural language-based processing or text analysis/comparison techniques to determine the relevance between a consumer's online purchasing history and a notification (offer, purchasing incentive or advertisement) generated by a vendor.
In embodiments, the system may also estimate characteristics of a user of a secondary device, for example, their age, gender and economic status, based upon information collected with respect to the user's prior purchases, online/shopping purchasing history and their movements at, and within, retail establishments, as described above.
For example, the system determines a customer is conducting online searches in relation to luxury vehicles. The system also detects the customer has recently purchased items including women's toiletries and clothing, and, based on this information, the system estimates or infers, using inference logic, that the customer is a female with a reasonably high income. Based also on this information, the system determines notifications that are of potential relevance to the female customer with the reasonably high income and automatically selects notifications that may be of relevance to the customer.
To inform a customer of any promotional offers or purchasing incentives that may be of interest to the customer based upon the customer's preferences and interests, a vendor initially creates, by a system application interface accessed through their laptop user device (235), a notification containing a promotional offer and/or purchasing incentive and enters any details associated with the offer/purchasing incentive in a message database (275) associated with system application (210). The details associated with the offer/purchasing incentive may include, for example, the location of the offer/purchasing incentive, the timeframe of the offer/purchasing incentive, the intended target market (customers) associated with the offer/purchasing incentive, any relevant keywords in relation to the offer/purchasing incentive and the specified distance from the location of the vendor's retail establishment within which notifications are to be sent to one or more customers in relation to the offer/purchasing incentive.
Once the notification (and its associated details) is created and stored in message database (275), system application (210) uses a matching engine (280) to compare the notification (and its associated details) with information stored the customer information database (245) and any additional databases to determine the relevance of the notification to a particular customer. In this regard, matching engine (280) uses one or more techniques including natural language processing, text analysis/comparison, machine learning and/or inference logic to match subscribed customers to one or more notifications generated by a vendor and stored in message database (275) based upon customer information stored in customer information database (245) and any additional information stored in the system (for example, GPS coordinates of retail establishments and store plans).
Once matching engine (280) has matched one or more notifications to one or more particular customers (215) based on relevance, the one or more notifications and the associated customer identification (contact) information matched to the one or more notifications is saved in a push offer database (285) and stored therein until such a time as the one or more user devices (220) associated with the one or more customers (215) are located within a specified distance from the geographical location of the retail establishment and are therefore able to form a communication link with system application (210) in order to receive one or more notifications from push offer database (285). Once the one or more customers (215) are within a specified distance to the retail establishment to enable a communication link to be formed between their customer user device (220) and the system application (210), central server (205) causes system application (210) to automatically send the one or more notifications stored in the push offer database (285) to the customer user device (220) associated with each of the one or more customers (215). It will be appreciated that since the notifications stored in the push offer database (285) have already been matched to one or more customers (215) based on relevance, customers (215) will only receive one or more relevant notifications on their user device (220) in accordance with their interests and preferences.
Push offer database (285) also receives any messages or feedback sent by one or more customers in response to one or more vendor notifications. Any messages sent, and any notifications received, by one or more customers are transmitted, via response processor (290), to message database (275) for action/response by the vendor. Response processor (290) also processes any feedback, messages, ratings received from one or more customers, or any purchases or reservations made by one or more customers, in relation to a particular vendor notification and generates associated analytical data. Such analytical data is then transmitted to message database (275) and made available for viewing by the vendor by the use of vendor user device (235).
In order to promote a one-day sales offer to one or more customers, manager (410) creates the following notification which is stored within a message database (435) associated with a vendor account database (430) of the system application:
The manager will also enter the following information associated with the notification:
In order to increase the relevance of the message to one or more customers, the manager also enters/specifies the following optional information:
The following four examples exemplify scenarios in which four different subscribed customers each having a registered user device and associated customer information entered against their individual user accounts enter within the distance specified by the vendor manager (i.e., within 3 km from the venue location (Bob's Burgers) on Saturday 13 Oct. 2018 (the date of the sales offer entered by the vendor manager):
Based upon Harry's customer information captured and outlined above, Harry would receive the notification generated by manager (410) since he has specified that he is willing to receive notifications from all approved venues when located within 5 km and he has purchased a product from Bob's Burgers with his registered device within the last 12 months from the date of the vendor message thereby meeting the “intended customers” criterion specified by the venue manager (410).
According to the customer insight information for Mary Brown, Mary has not used her registered user device to purchase a product from Bob's Burgers within the last 12 months from the date of the notification. In accordance with information specified under “intended customers” by the venue manager (410), since Mary Brown has not purchased a product from Bob's Burgers within the last 12 months, she will not receive the notification generated by the vendor manager (410) on her registered user device despite meeting all other criteria.
Whilst Mike has purchased a product from Bob's Burgers within the last 12 months and has entered within the 3 km specified distance from the venue, Mike will not receive the notification since he has specified Bob's Burgers as a “blocked” venue under his customer preferences thereby precluding the establishment of any communication between his registered user device and a vendor user device associated with Bob's Burgers.
In this scenario, whilst Gary (and his registered user device) entered within 3 km from the location of Bob's Burgers thereby meeting the specified distance criteria set by the manager (410), since Gary (and his user device) were not located within 1 km of Bob's Burgers (i.e., the specified distance entered by Gary under his customer preferences), Gary will not receive the notification despite meeting all other criteria. According to the embodiment outlined in this scenario, the specified distance entered by a user (customer) under their customer preferences, takes precedence over the specified distance set by the vendor. In this regard, it will be understood that the phrase “specified distance” refers to a geographic region surrounding a specified location point (e.g., a retail establishment) within which a registered device of a user (customer) must be located in order to form a communication link with the system application and thereby be enabled to receive notifications from a vendor user device associated with that retail establishment.
The way in which the system application uses customer information stored in the system application to increase the relevance of the notifications received by one or more customers is detailed with reference to the embodiment of
The system application is able to determine the location (515) (typically a geographic coordinate) of one or more customers (505) by monitoring the location of the customer's registered user device (510) which, according to this embodiment, is a mobile smartphone device. The location information (540) of a customer's user device is constantly monitored and updated (530) in one or more customer information databases (535) associated with system application (510).
Also stored and maintained within the one or more customer information databases (535) is customer insight information (545) and customer preference information (550).
The system application (510) uses the customer location information (540), insight information (545) and preference information (550) in a matching engine (565) to match customers to notifications generated by a vendor, based on the customer's location, previous search, purchase and/or communication history (insight information) and the customer's preferences. Once a notification is matched to one or more particular customers, the matched notification is stored in push offer database (570).
When a customer (505) is within a specified distance (525) in relation to a geographical location (520) associated with a retail establishment with respect to which a notification (560) pertains, the customer user device (510) is enabled to form a communication link with the system application to thereby receive one or more relevant notifications (575) on their user device (510).
Once a notification is received, the customer (505) is able to use their user device (510) to respond to the notification by either deleting, ignoring, submitting an enquiry or making a purchase in response to the vendor notification by the use of interface (580) located on their user device (510). The response is collected and stored as customer insight information (545) and saved in the customer information database (535) associated with the system application. It will be appreciated that the response captured as user insight information may assist a vendor to assess the success of promotional offer associated with their vendor notification.
As shown in
Once the vendor has been authenticated, the vendor is directed to a Home page that provides a list of the vendor's venues entered into the system. The example shown in
Upon gaining access to the system application, the vendor is able to select “settings” (725) in order to set a new password by changing the password, confirming the updated password and checking if the updated and confirmed password match (727), change the venue details (729) or change any settings relating to notifications (731). The vendor is also able to add details of additional venues into the system application using the “Add Venue” page (refer to
Referring once again to
Referring to again to
Whilst in the “Your Venues” section of the system application, the vendor is also able to specify the geographic range (distance from venue) within which consumers who are registered to the system application and who meet various criteria will receive various notifications associated with promotional sales created and offered by the vendor. The vendor is also able to specify various demographics of the users that are to receive the offer, for example, gender, age, and behavior based on, for example, previous online searching and/or shopping history.
For example, the owner (vendor) of “Beano's Cafe” may prefer to specifically target an offer for males and females, between the ages of 20 to 45 that regularly drink coffee and frequent cafes. In this example, the vendor would enter the following demographics/specifications as part of any promotional deal in which a free muffin is offered with any coffee purchase:
Referring still to
As shown in
Once the customer has been authenticated, the customer is directed to a “Kooii” home page that enables a customer to manage their password by selecting the Settings tab (825) thereby enabling the customer to set their password (refer to steps 827). The customer is also able to navigate their favourite venues by entering the “Favorites” (829) section of the application (refer to
Still referring to
Still referring to
The customer is also able to customize the way in which they prefer to interact with the system application. For example, a customer is able to specify the way in which to receive offers within the “Offers” (857) section of the system application, i.e., by being able to set preferences such as the time, or period of time, at or within which, they prefer to receive offers and the distance (radius) from a particular venue within which they prefer to receive offers. Whilst in the “Offers” section of the system application, the customer is also able to view offers transmitted by venues (857), select the level of interaction with venues and other customers (851), and provide authority for the system to monitor and collect data relating to their purchasing habits and online searching history to enable system application to learn about their purchasing behavior and goods and/or services of interest to the customer (853). Upon receiving authorization from the customer to collect data relating to their purchasing habits and online searching history, the system adopts machine learning logic to begin personalizing offers for the customer.
Upon conducting a search for “Cafes” (for example), a customer is presented with a list of Cates including “Suchi and Bar”, “Costa Cafe”, “Beano's Cafe” and “El Marley Cafe” (refer to
The customer is also able to rate a venue using the interface shown in
As shown in
A customer is also able to create a list of “Favourites” using the system application of the present invention (refer to
To manage their details and preferences, a customer accesses the “Settings” function shown in
The customer is also able to navigate to the “offers” tab in the “Settings” section of the application, which will provide a list of venues with current/pending offers. For example, as can be seen from
Referring to
A customer is also able view the location of a venue on a map (refer to
It will be appreciated that the ability for vendors to enter specific details regarding the nature of their products/services, promotional offers, and the type of customers that are to be the target of a particular sales offer or promotion (for example, details regarding the customers who are to receive a particular promotion or sales offer based on customer preferences, search history, purchasing history, location and demographics (gender, occupation, age etc), enables the generation and dissemination of promotional offers that are likely to be highly relevant to the recipients (potential customers) thereby retaining and increasing customer interest and engagement.
Customer interest, engagement and retention is also further increased by use of the system application and method of the present invention by enabling customers to readily access details and promotional offers associated with particular venues of interest (“favourites”) or venues having profiles that are consistent with a customer's specifications/preferences (for example, location—i.e., customer's distance from venue, venue rating, venue opening hours) or any preferences based on a customer's previous online search and/or purchasing history.
Customer interest, engagement and retention may also be increased by use of the system application and method of the present invention by enabling users (customers) to apply filters to their search criteria and enter restrictions/preferences regarding the desired frequency and nature of notifications/promotional offers received.
As it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the relevant field of technology that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as detailed in the embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all aspects as illustrative and not restrictive.
Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word “comprise”, and variations such as “comprises” and “comprising”, will be understood to mean the inclusion of a stated feature, integer or step, or group of features, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other feature, integer or step, or group of features, integers or steps.
The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgement, or any suggestion that, the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019900225 | Jan 2019 | AU | national |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17425645 | Jul 2021 | US |
| Child | 18678826 | US |
