Smart Tag Sensor Data Gathering for Retail Personalization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Brick and mortar stores face challenges in providing personalized customer service, as they lack the interactive and targeted marketing capabilities of e-commerce platforms, leading to difficulty in competing with online retailers.
Innovation Solution
A system that connects customers with products through sensor data gathering, using smart tags and mobile computing devices to track customer interactions and behavior, enabling personalized promotions and communication based on customer interest and location within the store.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If brick and mortar stores use traditional mass media or in-store aisle advertising, then product marketing messages can be displayed to customers, but the target marketing segments are neither specific nor personalized
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback loops where sensor data from smart tags and mobile devices continuously reports customer location and interaction information back to the server. The server processes this feedback and dynamically adjusts marketing messages and promotions, creating a closed-loop system that enables real-time personalization based on actual customer behavior patterns.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces multiple intermediary components: smart tags as intermediaries between products and sensors, mobile computing devices as intermediaries between customers and the system, and the server as an intermediary that processes sensor data and generates personalized marketing content. These intermediaries enable the flow of information necessary for personalization without requiring direct customer-store system integration.
2Adaptability or versatility
If brick and mortar stores add technologies like smart ID tags to improve shopping experience, then inventory tracking and basic product information can be provided, but personalized customer service capability remains insufficient to compete with online retailers
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs multi-functional components that serve multiple purposes. Smart tags not only track inventory but also identify products for personalized marketing. Mobile computing devices serve as both customer interfaces and data collection points. The sensor network simultaneously monitors customer location, product interaction, and enables personalized promotions, reducing the need for separate specialized systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service personalization where customers receive automated, personalized marketing messages and promotions based on their own behavior patterns without requiring manual intervention. The server automatically processes sensor data, identifies customer interests, and delivers tailored content, reducing the need for human associates to manually personalize service for each customer.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the system tracks customer location and product interaction using sensors and mobile devices, then personalized promotions can be delivered, but customer privacy and data security concerns may arise
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and processes only the minimum necessary data elements required for personalization, such as product interaction patterns and general location information, while excluding sensitive personal identifiers. By taking out only the essential behavioral data needed for marketing purposes and leaving out extraneous personal information, the system reduces privacy risks while maintaining personalization effectiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
A sensor data gathering environment that associates a sensor with a smart tag attached to a product. The sensor receives product identification data from the smart tag. An application, web service or a computing device associated with the sensor collects customer behavior data, such as a length of time the sensor is associated with the smart tag, the proximity of the sensor to the smart tag, the location of the sensor while in a threshold distance from the smart tag, and the like. The application, web service or the computing device associated with the sensor transmits the product identification data and the customer behavior data to a remote computing system for analysis. Based on the analysis, a message or communication is initiated to provide the customer with personalized customer service.