Customer relationship management system and method

Abstract

The invention provides in one form a relationship management system comprising a memory in which is maintained an interaction database of interaction data representing interactions customers and merchants, retrieval means arranged to retrieve, based on a set of criteria a promotional group subset of the customers stored in the interaction database a promotion atnalyser arranged to retrieve from the interaction database data representing interactions involving customers in the promotional group; and display means arranged to display a representation of the retrieved interaction data.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a customer relationship management system and method.BACKGROUND TO INVENTION[0002] The low cost of data storage hardware has led to the collection of large volumes of data. Merchants, for example, generate and collect large volumes of data during the course of their business. To compete effectively, it is necessary for a merchant to be able to identify and use information hidden in the collected data. The task of identifying this .hidden information has proved very difficult for merchants.[0003] In the case bf a promotional campaign on an existing customer database, it is often very difficult for a merchant to estimate the effectiveness of the promotional campaign. In many cases, the merchant needs to run several complicated queries on a customer database and so requires vast technical knowledge to formulate the appropriate queries.[0004] Similarly, understanding the changes in behaviour of different customer demographics c-an be a difficult task, and...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

0006] In broad terms in another form the invention comprises a method of managing customer relationships comprising the steps of maintaining in a memory an interaction database of interaction data representing interactions between customers and merchants; retrieving, based on a set of criteria, a promotional group subset of the customers stored in the interaction database; retrieving from the interaction database data representing interactions involving customers in the promotional group; and displaying a representation of the retrieved interaction data. In another form in broad terms t

Problems solved by technology

The low cost of data storage hardware has led to the collection of large volumes of data.

The task of identifying this .hidden information has proved very difficult for merchants.

In the case bf a promotional campaign on an existing customer database, it is often very difficult for a merchant to estimate the effectiveness of the promotional campaign.

In many cases, the merchant needs to run several complicated queries on a customer database and so requires vast technical knowledge to formulate the appropriate queries.

Similarly, understanding the changes in behaviour of different customer demographics c-an be a difficult task, and without such understanding an effective promotional campaign cannot be systematically formulated.

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