Wireless Sensor Mobile Device Matching for Retail POS
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Solution Overview
Problem
Retail stores face challenges in personalizing the shopping experience for customers who do not provide identifying information, leading to missed sales opportunities and a lack of targeted offers for both the customer and the store.
Innovation Solution
The Enhanced Customer Services (ECS) system identifies customers and their purchase history through mobile devices, even without registration or provided identifying information, using wireless sensors and a backend system to create customer profiles and provide targeted offers based on purchase history and preferences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the retail store uses traditional identification methods (credit card, debit card, rewards card), then the customer identity can be identified, but the customer must present identifying information which may not always be available
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces mobile devices as an intermediary to identify customers. Instead of requiring customers to directly present identification cards or numbers at the point-of-sale terminal, the system uses wireless sensors to detect mobile devices and automatically associate them with purchase transactions, thereby eliminating the need for direct customer presentation of identifying information
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables automatic customer identification through mobile devices without requiring active participation or manual input from the customer. The wireless sensors automatically detect the mobile device and the system autonomously links it to the purchase transaction, making the identification process passive and hands-free for the customer
2Adaptability or versatility
If the retail store implements mobile device tracking and customer profiling systems, then personalized offers can be provided, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent leverages the universal presence of mobile devices in customers' pockets to achieve multiple functions: customer identification, purchase history tracking, and personalized offer delivery. By using the mobile device as a universal carrier for identification, the system avoids the need for separate identification systems, loyalty cards, and tracking mechanisms, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining personalization capabilities
3Loss of information
If the retail store tracks and stores customer purchase history data, then personalized promotions can be created, but data privacy concerns may arise
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile device serves as an intermediary that enables purchase history tracking without requiring the retail store to directly store or process sensitive customer identification data. The system associates mobile devices with purchases through wireless sensor detection rather than requiring customers to provide or have stored their personal information, thereby reducing privacy risks while still enabling personalized promotions
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and apparatus are disclosed that provide enhanced customer services based on detected mobile identifiers of mobile devices. One system includes a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, a wireless sensor, and a backend system. The POS terminal handles sales of items and generate transactions for sold items. The wireless sensor is positioned proximate the POS terminal and detects mobile identifiers from mobile devices proximate the POS terminal. The backend system receives transactions from the POS terminal and detected mobile identifiers from the wireless sensor. The backend system matches a received transaction to a received mobile identifier based on a detection time of an associated mobile device proximate the wireless sensor and a transaction time for an associated transaction of the POS terminal. The backend system updates a purchase history associated with the matched mobile identifier based on sold items of the matched transaction.