Programmatic Merchandising Platform for Targeted Digital Content Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Convenience stores face challenges in effectively marketing higher-margin in-store products to customers who primarily interact with self-service terminals, due to limited interaction time and technical constraints such as low internet connectivity and storage capacity in terminal displays, making it difficult to display targeted advertising at specific times and locations.
Innovation Solution
A programmatic merchandising platform that combines push and pull systems, using a centralized server to manage and deliver content to product terminal displays, allowing for scheduled and AI-powered content decisions, enabling targeted advertising and real-time adjustments based on consumer variables and sales data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a pull approach is used where terminal displays request content, then terminals can display content with minimal storage requirements, but content providers cannot control the timing and flow of content delivery
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary between the content provider and terminal displays. The server receives content requests from terminals, manages content delivery timing and selection, and responds with appropriate content. This mediator enables content providers to control content delivery while terminals maintain simple pull-based architecture.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a push approach is used where content providers send data to terminals, then content timing and selection can be controlled, but terminals with low storage and bandwidth cannot efficiently receive and process content
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential content identification data (content IDs) from the full content files and transmits these small data packets to terminals. The actual content files remain on the server or are downloaded on-demand. This extraction approach allows content providers to control content selection while minimizing data transmission volume to bandwidth-constrained terminals.
3Measurement precision
If personalized advertising is displayed at terminals, then customer targeting effectiveness improves, but technical constraints of terminals limit the ability to deliver targeted content at specific times
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by having terminals pre-request and cache content IDs or metadata before actual content delivery is needed. The server prepares and sends targeted content identification data in advance based on customer profiles and predicted viewing times, enabling timely personalized advertising delivery despite terminal constraints.
4Productivity
If convenience stores invest in in-store improvements to incentivize walk-ins, then customer attraction improves, but majority of customers never enter the store despite these investments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables self-service advertising where terminal displays automatically deliver personalized marketing messages to customers based on their profiles and behavior data without requiring store staff intervention. The system autonomously selects and displays relevant content, ensuring marketing messages reach customers at the point of interaction even when they don't enter the store.
Data Source
AI summary
A targeted advertising scheduling and displaying process in the context of product terminal displays is made possible by systems and methods as disclosed herein. A graphical user interface (GUI) allows a content provider to select digital content and display timing instructions, which the associated server will ultimately send to a server associated with the product terminal displays by first sending data that references the digital content and includes the display timing instructions, and then sending the digital content itself in response to the execution of the data at the server associated with the product terminal displays. Using this claimed technique and system, a content provider can target digital content to particular product terminal displays.