Group Identification in Brick-and-Mortar Stores via Mobile Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Brick-and-mortar stores lack the ability to identify visitors as belonging to groups such as families or couples, preventing them from facilitating electronic interactions and collaborative shopping experiences.
Innovation Solution
The system tracks physical actions of visitors using mobile devices and IoT devices to identify group members, allowing for notifications and feedback between group members through in-store interactive displays or mobile applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If brick-and-mortar stores use traditional identification methods, then customer identification is simple, but the ability to identify group members (families, couples) is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses mobile devices as portable copies of customer identification data. Instead of requiring complex in-store identification infrastructure, the patent leverages the mobile device's existing capabilities (camera, sensors, communication) to capture and transmit customer information, effectively copying the identification function to a device customers already carry.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile device serves as an intermediary between the customer and the store's identification system. The device mediates the transfer of identification information from the customer to the store system, enabling group member identification without requiring direct complex interaction between store infrastructure and customer personal information.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the system implements group identification capabilities, then collaborative shopping experience is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile device performs multiple functions: it serves as identification credentials, communication device, product information display, and feedback mechanism. By making the mobile device universal for all these shopping-related tasks, the system avoids needing separate specialized infrastructure for each function, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
Customers use their own mobile devices to participate in collaborative shopping activities. The system leverages the customer's existing mobile device capabilities rather than requiring the store to provide specialized equipment to each customer, enabling self-service group identification and interaction.
3Productivity
If real-world venues lack group identification means, then system simplicity is maintained, but customer responsiveness to products decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback loops where group members can provide real-time feedback about products to each other through mobile devices. This feedback mechanism enhances customer responsiveness by allowing immediate sharing of opinions, recommendations, and decision-making within the group, directly leveraging the identified group status to improve shopping productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques disclosed herein identify visitors who visit a real-world shopping venue as belonging to a group. This involves tracking a physical action of a visitor present at the real-world shopping venue and identifying the visitor based on the tracked physical action and previously collected visitor information associated with the venue. The visitor is determined to be a member of a group based on the previously collected visitor information. Based on determining that the visitor is a member of the group, a notification is sent to another member of the group. The notification identifies that the visitor has placed at least one item in a sharing cart while the visitor is present at the real-world shopping venue. A system determines that visitors who routinely visit a real-world shopping venue belong to a group based on their activities while visiting the venue, and allows the visitors to provide feedback to each other.