Dynamic time-of-purchasing-decision incentive system and method

Abstract

A system and method that provides suppliers or sellers with a competitive opportunity to influence consumers at the precise moment a purchasing decision is being made. A consumer using a personal wireless device (110), which has an integrated bar code scanner (120), scans the bar code of a product in a store. The device, using wireless communication (420), sends the scanned product information and a consumer ID to a processing application (430). The processing application (430) sends a profile of the consumer's past shopping behavior, the scanned product information and other data to each interested supplier's competitive incentive offer engine (470). Each supplier's incentive engine determines the optimal incentive to offer and returns this data to the processing application (430) where the incentives are collectively sent back to the consumer's device (110) using wireless communication (421). The device displays the competing incentives and the consumer selects one or more of the incentives presented and repeats this process throughout the store. Upon checkout, a bar code identifying the store and point of sale register is scanned and the incentives are redeemed by scanning them into the store's point of sale register like conventional printed coupons via a display (240) on the device that dynamically renders standard coupon bar codes. The redeemed incentives are then sent from the device to the processing application using wireless communication (422) where they are reconciled and the store is given credit for the redeemed values.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This is a continuation of patent application Ser. No. 10 / 071,537, filed on Feb. 5, 2002 which also claims the benefit of the Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 268,199 filed Feb. 12, 2001.FIELD OF INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to a dynamic time-of-purchasing-decision incentive system and method, and more particularly, to a wireless system and method whereby one or more customized incentives are communicated to a shopper at the precise moment in time when the purchasing decision is being made.DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART[0003]Price is often a significant motivating factor in purchasing decisions. Therefore, product suppliers, such as manufacturers and retailers, frequently resort to the mass distribution of printed discount coupons in an effort to entice shoppers to consider purchasing their products. In most instances, such coupons are printed on paper and are distributed to shoppers sometimes together with discount coupons for other produ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides a system and method for offering incentives to shoppers at the moment they make a purchase decision by using a Personal Wireless Device (PWD) with an integrated bar code scanner. The PWD sends the scanned product information and the shopper's ID to a processing application, which determines the optimal incentive to offer the shopper and sends it back to the PWD for display. The PWD displays the incentives and the shopper selects which ones to redeem. The invention offers a more efficient, effective, and targeted incentive system than traditional paper coupons, and it also alleviates the problem of consumers not being able to collect and use printed coupons in real-time."

Problems solved by technology

There are some significant disadvantages to the existing process that the prior art has not been able to successfully overcome.

The costs incurred by suppliers to print and distribute discount coupons are substantial.

Individualized mailings that are designed to distribute printed discount coupons only to shoppers in specific demographics who are likely to purchase the suppliers' goods can be very expensive, and prohibitively so for some types of goods.

This distribution method is far less expensive than individualized mailings on a per coupon basis, but it results in a large amount of waste.

Another reason for the waste associated with printed discount coupons is that some shoppers are simply not willing to expend the effort necessary to collect, collate, manage, and redeem printed discount coupons.

Although most, if not all, shoppers like to receive price discounts on the products they purchase, some are simply not willing to search for, collect, and collate discount coupons and then carry them throughout the seller's premises in an effort to use them.

Other shoppers find the collection and use of printed discount coupons to be embarrassing.

From the perspective of sellers, printed discount coupons also present many problems.

The physical management of printed discount coupons redeemed by shoppers is difficult at least in part because discount coupons are often of differing sizes and are printed on a variety of materials such as paper, paperboard, plastic, and foil.

Moreover, some shoppers simply tear the discount coupons out of printed advertisements leaving ragged or jagged edges, which makes them difficult to sort and physically process.

This process is tedious, expensive, time consuming, and prone to error.

Accordingly, sellers frequently employ special coupon clearinghouses for this purpose, which adds to the cost.

From the perspective of suppliers, discount coupons also present certain problems.

This problem can be compounded if the supplier has issued discount coupons relating to a variety of different goods.

In addition, suppliers frequently have a difficult time estimating the percentage of printed discount coupons that will ultimately be redeemed by recipients and are often required to purchase insurance to cover excessive redemption costs in the event that a coupon is being redeemed at an unexpectedly high rate.

Thus, it is difficult for suppliers to accurately gauge how many discount coupons to distribute, and how much of a discount to offer.

Widespread acceptance of these Internet-based distribution channels has not yet been accomplished.

Moreover, Internet-based coupon distribution systems still present the same problems discussed above pertaining to the physical management of redeemed printed coupons.

The need for large volumes of hardware and installation imposes a significant cost to the seller and / or supplier.

This type of approach requires substantial floor space and introduces a significant cost to the store to install and integrate into their existing POS systems.

With this type of system the stores must incur the cost to maintain and manage the hand-held wireless devices in the event they are broken, lost or stolen.

Additionally, there is the added complexity of having to replicate massive databases to each in-store system with product data and a static set of available incentives.

Again, one of the downfalls of this type of system is that it still involves the use of printed discount coupons, which must be physically managed when redeemed.

Thus, this approach does not provide an active way for suppliers or other interested parties to influence the buying decisions of consumers at the very moment they are contemplating a purchase.

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