Wireless Beacon Proximity Tracking for Spontaneous Product Ordering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication methods fail to efficiently deliver product-related notifications and purchase options to mobile devices based on user interest and proximity to products in physical spaces, leading to inefficiencies in inventory management and sales processes in brick-and-mortar stores.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing wireless beacons to broadcast unique identifiers, allowing mobile devices to communicate with beacons, track user proximity and interest, and deliver product data or purchase options when interest exceeds a threshold, enabling seamless product ordering and reducing inventory and sales burdens by allowing remote fulfillment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If wireless beacons broadcast unique identifiers and mobile devices track user proximity and interest, then product information delivery efficiency is improved, but device complexity and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the notification delivery process into distinct phases: beacon broadcasting unique identifiers, mobile devices receiving and processing identifiers, tracking user proximity and interest separately, and delivering notifications only when interest thresholds are met. This segmentation improves efficiency by avoiding unnecessary communications while managing complexity through modular processing steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by having beacons continuously broadcast unique identifiers and mobile devices pre-track user proximity and interest levels before actual product information delivery is needed. This preliminary data collection enables efficient real-time notification delivery without increasing instantaneous system complexity.
2Productivity
If wireless beacons are deployed throughout physical spaces to enable real-time product notifications, then sales process efficiency is improved, but implementation cost and infrastructure complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The wireless beacon system serves multiple functions: broadcasting unique identifiers for product identification, enabling proximity tracking for user location awareness, measuring interest levels through interaction tracking, and triggering notifications for product information delivery. This multi-functionality improves sales process efficiency without requiring separate systems for each function, thereby managing infrastructure complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables stores to automatically track user interest and deliver product information without manual intervention in the sales process. The beacons and mobile devices work autonomously to monitor user behavior and trigger appropriate notifications, improving sales efficiency while reducing the need for additional staff or complex manual processes.
3Loss of information
If the system tracks user interest over time to determine when to deliver notifications, then notification relevance is improved, but data processing requirements and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system tracks user interest continuously but only processes and delivers notifications when the interest level exceeds a predetermined threshold. This partial action approach ensures notification relevance by filtering out low-interest scenarios while avoiding the energy consumption of processing and delivering every possible notification, thus balancing relevance with energy efficiency.
4Ease of operation
If wireless beacons enable spontaneous purchases by delivering product data in real-time, then customer convenience is improved, but inventory management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wireless beacon system acts as an intermediary between physical product displays and inventory management systems. When users show interest through beacon interactions, the system automatically triggers product information delivery and can initiate ordering processes without requiring manual inventory checks or complex real-time inventory tracking by store staff, thereby simplifying inventory management while improving customer convenience.
Data Source
AI summary
One variation of a method for distributing notifications to a mobile computing device, includes: receiving a unique identifier broadcast wirelessly from a wireless beacon arranged within a physical space; receiving authorization to communicate with the wireless beacon based on the unique identifier; identifying a product arranged within the physical space proximal the wireless beacon; projecting a level of interest in the product by a user affiliated with the mobile computing device based on communication between the mobile computing device and the wireless beacon during a period of time; and in response to the level of interest in the product exceeding a threshold value, presenting, on the mobile computing device, a product ordering option for ordering a unit of the product.