Proximity-Responsive Smart Tag Displays for Personalized Discounts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for targeted pricing and customer engagement, such as newspaper inserts and email advertisements, are often ineffective due to customer neglect or inconvenience, failing to dynamically adapt to customer proximity and loyalty levels.
Innovation Solution
Systems and methods that detect customer proximity to an item with a smart tag, retrieve customer loyalty information, and dynamically change the tag's content to include personalized discounts and accessory/product information, communicated via the tag or mobile device using NFC.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional targeted pricing methods (newspaper inserts, mail coupons, email ads) are used, then customer engagement is attempted, but effectiveness is low due to customer neglect and inconvenience
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automatic customer identification through proximity detection (RFID, NFC, or camera recognition) and automated delivery of personalized discounts to mobile devices, eliminating the need for customers to manually clip coupons or manage physical vouchers. The tag and computing device work together to self-serve the customer with relevant pricing information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical distribution methods (physical newspaper inserts, mail coupons) with electronic and wireless systems. Proximity sensors, RFID readers, and mobile device communication replace the physical handling and distribution of coupons, enabling automated, contactless delivery of pricing information.
2Adaptability or versatility
If static pricing information is displayed on tags, then simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to individual customers and their loyalty levels is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The pricing information on tags transitions from static to dynamic through wireless communication with computing devices. The tag can receive and display updated pricing information based on real-time customer identification and loyalty status, allowing the same tag to adapt its displayed content differentially for different customers.
Solution Approach 2:
A computing device acts as an intermediary between the tag and the pricing information database. The computing device receives proximity detection signals from tags, queries customer loyalty information, and processes pricing data before transmitting it back to the tag or mobile device, thereby enabling dynamic pricing without requiring complex embedded systems in each tag.
3Reliability
If personalized discounts are provided based on customer loyalty information, then customer retention is improved, but real-time data retrieval and processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Customer loyalty information is pre-stored in databases associated with identifying features (mobile device IDs, RFID tags, facial recognition data). When a customer approaches a tag, the system quickly retrieves pre-prepared loyalty information and corresponding discount data, avoiding the need for real-time calculation or verification during the interaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes a feedback loop where the computing device continuously monitors proximity signals from tags, automatically queries customer loyalty status, and adjusts pricing information in real-time. This automated feedback mechanism ensures that customers receive appropriate discounts based on their loyalty level without manual intervention or delays.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances customer engagement and retail sales by providing timely, personalized pricing and product information, improving the shopping experience and increasing sales through dynamic content adaptation.
Implementation Method 1
the tag's displayed content is dynamically changed in response to the individual's proximity to the item in which the tag is coupled... the individual's proximity to the item with which the tag is coupled is detected
Implementation Method 2
communicating the price discount from the tag to the individual's mobile device (e.g., via a Near Field Communication (“NFC”))
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for dynamically changing displayed content of a tag coupled to an item. The methods comprising: detecting when an individual is in proximity to the tag; triggering operations, by a computing device remote from the tag, to obtain customer related information associated with the individual, when a detection is made that the individual is in proximity to the tag; determining, by the computing device, a price discount for the item based on the customer related information which was previously obtained; and dynamically changing the displayed content of the tag to include the price discount while the individual is still in proximity to the tag.