Wireless CRM System for Brick-and-Mortar Customer Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools in brick and mortar establishments fail to identify customers upon entry, lack holistic customer profiling, and are unable to provide personalized services or effective cross-selling opportunities, leading to suboptimal customer retention and loyalty.
Innovation Solution
A wireless CRM system that uses RFID or smart cards to identify customers upon entry, syncs with corporate CRM systems for holistic customer views, and provides personalized marketing and service recommendations, including cross-sell and upsell opportunities, by correlating customer data from various channels and interfaces with POS systems for incentives and transaction tracking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If traditional CRM tools are used in brick and mortar establishments, then the system is simple to implement, but the customer identification and profiling capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments customer identification into multiple channels (web, mobile, brick and mortar) with each channel using appropriate identification methods (cookies for web, device identifiers for mobile, RFID/smart cards for brick and mortar). This allows holistic customer profiling without requiring a single complex system across all channels.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces session management systems and identification intermediaries that bridge different channels. These intermediaries correlate data from various sources to create unified customer profiles, enabling information retention across channels without direct complex integration between all systems.
2Ease of operation
If customer identification systems are implemented at store entry, then personalized service is enabled, but the implementation cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs universal identification mechanisms that work across multiple contexts. RFID tags and smart cards serve both as payment methods and customer identification tools, eliminating the need for separate identification systems and reducing overall complexity while enabling personalized service.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables customers to automatically identify themselves through carried devices (smart cards, mobile devices) without requiring manual registration or complex authentication processes. This self-identifying capability simplifies the interaction while maintaining personalized service ability.
3Reliability
If holistic customer profiling is achieved by syncing multiple channels, then customer retention improves, but data integration complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges customer profiles across web, mobile, and brick and mortar channels into a unified holistic view. By combining data from all channels into a single customer profile, the system achieves reliable customer retention while managing integration complexity through centralized profile management.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously correlates new interaction data with existing customer profiles and updates engagement plans based on this feedback. This iterative feedback mechanism improves customer retention by adapting to changing customer behaviors while managing data integration through structured update processes.
4Productivity
If real-time customer tracking is implemented throughout the store, then cross-selling opportunities increase, but privacy concerns and system complexity arise
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates engagement plans in advance based on customer profiles and predicted needs, rather than reacting to real-time tracking data. This preliminary action approach enables cross-selling opportunities to be prepared beforehand, reducing the need for complex real-time tracking while maintaining productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements tracking at key strategic points (store entry, department exits, point of sale) rather than continuous monitoring throughout the entire store. This partial action approach captures sufficient data for cross-selling opportunities while significantly reducing system complexity and privacy concerns compared to exhaustive tracking.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for outputting information about a person includes identifying the person utilizing a wireless system upon entry into a physical location, and also includes locating the person within the physical structure. An engagement plan is retrieved based on the identification of the person and output. The engagement plan has information useful for interacting with the person. The engagement plan is created based at least in part on personal information of the person, the preferences of the person, and the past transactions of the person. A system for outputting information about a person, such as a customer, includes an object carried by the person, which is capable of being identified by a wireless system. A wireless interface communicates with the object. A computing device correlates the identification of the object with the person. An output device outputs information relating to the person.