Delayed Feedback Rating System for Merchant Service Evaluation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Consumer feedback provided after a purchase is often delayed, making it less useful for merchants as it does not reflect the immediate experience, and existing methods like comment cards are not promptly acted upon.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that allow consumers to provide prompt, detailed ratings using a mobile device during or shortly after a service, with the option for a controlled delay in sending feedback to merchants, and provide real-time information back to consumers, including previous purchase data and feedback reminders, using a network of servers and devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If feedback is provided promptly after purchase, then the usefulness of feedback for merchants is improved, but consumer candor may be compromised due to immediate visibility
Solution Approach 1:
The system collects feedback from consumers in advance before they leave the merchant premises, storing it temporarily in a database. This preliminary collection allows the feedback to be captured while the experience is fresh, yet the actual transmission to the merchant is delayed until after the consumer has departed, thus maintaining both timeliness and candor.
Solution Approach 2:
A server acts as an intermediary between the consumer's mobile device and the merchant's system. The server receives feedback, holds it in a database, and controls its transmission based on predetermined conditions (such as confirming the consumer has left). This intermediary mechanism decouples the feedback collection timing from the transmission timing, resolving the contradiction between promptness and candor.
2Productivity
If detailed ratings are collected promptly, then the actionability of feedback is improved, but consumer willingness to provide feedback may decrease due to immediate visibility
Solution Approach 1:
The system converts the potential harm of immediate feedback visibility into a benefit by using location tracking technology. The same GPS or WiFi positioning technology that could expose the consumer's location is used to determine when the consumer has left the premises, thereby triggering the feedback transmission. This transforms a privacy concern into a mechanism that protects consumer anonymity and encourages honest feedback.
3Speed
If feedback is transmitted immediately, then real-time merchant improvement is enabled, but consumer privacy and anonymity are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The feedback transmission timing is made dynamic rather than static. Instead of immediately transmitting feedback or using a fixed delay period, the system dynamically determines transmission timing based on the consumer's real-time location data. The feedback is transmitted only when the system detects that the consumer has left the merchant premises, adapting the transmission timing to the specific situation while protecting consumer privacy.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems are provided for giving prompt, detailed ratings feedback (e.g., as a purchase is being made or a user is shopping or dining with a merchant) that can be subjected to a controlled delay in sending the actual feedback to merchants. “Merchant” is used in a general sense to include both providers of goods and providers of services, such as dining (e.g., restaurants, coffee shops), car maintenance, carpet cleaning, home remodeling, and plumbing, for example). The feedback may be provided from a consumer mobile device. Embodiments may provide information useable in real time (e.g., as the user is considering the ratings to be given) from the merchant back to the consumer for improving the ratings feedback or that the consumer can use, for example, for making purchasing decisions.