Route-Based Promotional Offer Notification System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for targeting consumers with promotional offers are ineffective, particularly in larger cities, as they often fail to account for users' current locations and travel routes, leading to irrelevant advertisements.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system that determines a user's travel route, calculates distances to retail locations offering promotional offers, selects relevant locations based on historical deviation data, and notifies the user at an optimal time to maximize interest.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If promotional offers are sent to consumers based on their residence city, then consumers receive offers from merchants in their area, but the offers become irrelevant when consumers live far from the specific retail location
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from sending uniform promotional offers to all consumers in a city to providing location-specific offers based on each consumer's current position and travel route. By calculating the distance from the user's current location to the retail location and comparing it against a threshold distance, the system ensures that promotional offers are only sent when the consumer is in close proximity to the merchant, thereby maintaining offer relevance while still providing quantity.
2Reliability
If promotional offers are sent based on current location only, then offers are location-relevant, but the system fails to account for users who are en route to a location and may be interested in offers along their path
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculations by determining the user's travel route between their current location and destination, and pre-calculating distances to retail locations along this route. By proactively identifying merchants within the threshold distance on the user's path and sending promotional offers in advance, the system captures consumers who are en route to locations, expanding coverage while maintaining location relevance through route-based targeting.
3Measurement precision
If the system calculates distance from current location to retail locations, then it can identify nearby merchants, but it cannot determine when during the user's travel they would be interested in the offer
Solution Approach 1:
The system utilizes feedback from the user's historical deviation data to dynamically adjust the threshold distance for promotional offer eligibility. By analyzing whether users typically deviate from their travel routes to visit merchants, the system learns individual user behaviors and adapts the distance threshold accordingly. This feedback mechanism allows the system to send offers at optimal times during travel, balancing precise distance measurement with intelligent timing based on learned user patterns.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosed subject matter relates to computer-implemented methods for notifying a user of a promotional offer based on a travel route. In one aspect, a method includes determining a travel route, from an origin location to a destination location, of a user. The method further includes calculating a distance from at least one point on the travel route one or more retail locations offering a promotional offer. The method further includes selecting, based on the calculated distance, at least one of the one or more retail locations offering the promotional offer. The method further includes determining a time to notify the user of the promotional offer offered by the selected retail location(s). The method further includes providing for notifying the user at the determined time, of the promotional offer offered by the selected retail location(s).