Geofence Contextual Information Delivery for Mobile Retail
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing location-based services provide irrelevant real-time offers to consumers, leading to frustration and low engagement, as they do not consider the consumer's specific interests or location context.
Innovation Solution
A system that authenticates consumers and selectively provides geofence contextual information on their mobile devices only when they are within predefined areas of interest, using geofence technology to deliver relevant offers from retailers based on their registered preferences and location.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If location-based services send real-time offers to consumers, then retailers can promote their products, but consumers receive irrelevant messages and become frustrated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making offer delivery context-dependent on the consumer's location. Offers are not sent uniformly to all consumers, but only to those within specific geofenced areas relevant to the retailer. This selective approach ensures that consumers receive offers only when they are in locations where they might be interested, thereby reducing frustration while maintaining promotional effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces geofencing technology as an intermediary between the retailer's offer delivery system and the consumer. The geofence acts as a spatial filter that automatically determines whether a consumer is in a relevant location before delivering an offer. This intermediary mechanism eliminates the need for manual consumer input while ensuring that only contextually relevant offers are sent, reducing consumer frustration.
2Ease of manufacture
If services send offers regardless of consumer location, then implementation is simple, but offers are irrelevant when consumers are traveling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-defining geofenced areas for each retailer before offers are sent. These geofences are established in advance based on retailer locations and desired delivery zones. When a consumer enters these pre-defined areas, offers are automatically delivered without requiring real-time location analysis or complex decision-making at the moment of offer delivery. This approach maintains implementation simplicity while ensuring offer relevance.
3Quantity of substance
If consumers receive frequent pop-up messages, then retailers can maximize exposure, but consumers will turn off or de-install applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by sending offers selectively rather than continuously to all consumers. Offers are delivered only to consumers who are within geofenced areas, which represents a subset of the total consumer base. This partial delivery approach reduces the overall number of messages sent while maintaining high exposure among relevant consumers, thereby preventing application de-installation while still achieving promotional goals.
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile application is configured for providing contextual information to a consumer operating a mobile device and/or reporting contextual information to an enterprise service about the mobile device. The contextual information is provided or reported when the mobile device is detected within a geofence area; the geofence area surrounds a retailer of interest to the consumer.