WO2013062864A1

WO2013062864A1 - System and method for using data points collected from a customer to provide customer specific offerings

Info

Publication number: WO2013062864A1
Application number: PCT/US2012/061021
Authority: WO
Inventors: Leena Munjal
Original assignee: Sears Brands, Llc
Priority date: 2011-10-28
Filing date: 2012-10-19
Publication date: 2013-05-02
Also published as: CA2853789A1

Abstract

Data points indicative of a service requested by a customer are collected and are stored in a data repository in association with a customer identifier that is linked to the customer. The collected data points are used to generate a recap of the service that was requested by the customer. The recap additionally includes one or more user interface elements for obtaining additional data points from the customer. The additional data points are then usable to construct further messages to be sent to the customer to thereby maintain an on-going dialog with the customer.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USING DATA POINTS COLLECTED FROM A CUSTOMER TO PROVIDE CUSTOMER SPECIFIC OFFERINGS

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to US Application No, 13/191 ,918, filed on July 27, 2011 , the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The subject invention generally relates to retail systems and, more particularly, relates to a system and method for collecting data points from a customer and for using the collected data points to provide a customer with customer specific product and/or service offerings, customer relevant information, and the like.

Various systems and methods for collecting data points from a customer and/or for providing customer specific incentives are generally known in the art.

By way of example, U.S. Patent No. 7,917,386 describes a system and method for distributing, generating, and redeeming incentives, e.g., coupons, rebates, gift certificates or the like, which may be used in conjunction with a rewards card, e.g., a frequent shopper card. The incentives are distributed electronically, for example, in the form of a diskette or CD- ROM software. Once the software is validated, a consumer may print out a list of selected incentives displayed on a Graphical User Interface (GUI). When a product is purchased, the UPC code of the product may be compared electronically with a list of incentives authorized for a particular consumer. An appropriate coupon discount may then be applied and the incentive may be considered "redeemed." Once redeemed, consumer ID information and incentive information may be retrieved electronically and used to update a central database. Accurate data may then be produced illustrating which consumers or groups of consumers are redeeming which incentives. U.S. Published Application No. 201 1/0029368 describes a system for handling electronic coupons which accesses information indicating association of an electronic coupon with an account of a user that identifies multiple retail entities associated with the user. Information indicating association of electronic coupons with the user's account may be transmitted to respective computer systems associated with the multiple retail entities. The computer systems may associate electronic coupons with the user such that the user may redeem the electronic coupons at a retail store upon presentation of a user identifier. When the user redeems an electronic coupon, cancellation information for the electronic coupon may be transmitted to the computer systems of other retail entities associated with the user. Receipt of the cancellation information may cause the respective computer systems to cancel the redeemability of the electronic coupon such that the user is prevented from redeeming the electronic coupon at a retail store associated with the corresponding retail entity.

U.S. Published Application No. 2005/0222906 describes a method for providing at least one targeted local marketing program and for measuring the effectiveness of the at least one targeted local marketing program. The method includes generating at least one targeted message in accordance with instructions of at least one retailer, forwarding the at least one targeted message to a plurality of select customers, and monitoring responses from the plurality of select customers via an identification methodology. The monitoring allows for a determination of the effectiveness of the at least one marketing program, where the targeted messages attract customers to retailers by targeting the plurality of select customers with incentives.

U.S. Patent No. 6,912,505 describes methods for monitoring user browsing activities that indicate user interests in particular products or other items, and for using such information to identify items that are related to one another. Relationships between products within an online catalog are determined by identifying products that are frequently viewed by users within the same browsing session (e.g., products A and B are related because a significant portion of those who viewed A also viewed B). The resulting item relatedness data is preferably stored in a table that maps items to sets of related items. The table may be used to provide personalized product recommendations to users, and/or to supplement product detail pages with lists of related products. The table is used to provide session- specific product recommendations to users that are based on the products viewed by the user during the current browsing session.

U.S. Patent No. 7,174,312 describes a user-personalized product sampling, recommendation and purchasing system that uses customer identification numbers and associated customer profile data to tailor specific product recommendations to a customer at a content sampling station of a retail location. The customer also can use her customer profile to receive the same information from an Internet website of the merchant. In-store sampling stations also may have the capability of checking store inventory and central warehouse inventory and providing recommendations to the customer in accordance with product availability, and optionally may provide the customer with the ability to place product orders directly through the sampling station. The recommendation system also can be used to tailor product recommendations in accordance with a rule-based model and real- time inventory data from a point-of-sale (POS) database.

U.S. Published Application No. 2004/0177003 describes a system for distributing adaptive electronic coupons to a user. Electronic coupon metadata automatically changes redemption characteristics of a coupon based upon predetermined conditions relating to personal data of the user and a redemption environment. A redemption system honors the adaptive electronic coupon at a time and place of redemption based on the predetermined conditions relating to the personal data of the user and the redemption environment.

U.S. Patent Nos. 6,484,146, 7,024,374, and 7,398,348 describe systems for presenting customized special offers to customers, the special offers including targeted offers to a customer selected from a plurality of customers, and for collecting purchasing behavior information concerning the customers which utilize customer cards having machine readable card information indicating at least identification of the card with a particular customer account.

While the systems and method described in these references (which references are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety) generally work for their intended purpose, the invention described hereinafter provides much needed improvements thereto.

SUMMARY

Described hereinafter is a system and method for collecting data points from a customer and for using the collected data points to provide a customer with customer specific product and/or service offerings, customer relevant information, and the like. By way of example, the collected data points may include products viewed by a customer while in a retail establishment, reasons for viewing the products (which are typically indicative of a life event for the customer), etc. In addition or alternatively, the collected data points may include information related to a service call at a customer's home, a service center visit (e.g., at a vehicle service center) by customer, a conversational exchange between a customer and a customer care representative (e.g., by phone, email, on-line chat, etc.), and the like. The customer specific offerings may include incentives (e.g., discounts, coupons, sweepstake entries, etc.), product recommendations, service recommendations, and the like selected for the customer. The customer relevant information may include information relating to a product purchased by the customer (e.g., product warranties, instruction manuals, etc.) and/or to a life event of the customer (e.g., information relevant to a customer that is moving, doing home improvements, getting married, etc.).

In described embodiments, the subject system resides on a retailer computer system that receives from a first computing device, such as a tablet computing device operated by a sales associate (e.g., in store, in a service center, in the customer's home, etc.), a shopping and/or service recap, e.g., data points indicative of one or more products and/or services that were shown to and/or provided to a customer by the sales associate. The recap process may also be used to capture from the customer answers to posed questions relating to life events of the customer, e.g., is the customer moving, replacing a broken product, getting married, etc. Such information could also be obtained from the customer during interaction with the customer and/or in connection with the customer signing up to become a member of the recap services. The received recap is then stored within a data repository with the recap being linked to a customer identifier that is associated with the customer and an associate identifier that is associated with the sale associate, service technician, customer care representative, or the like that interacted with the customer. The recap can also be shared with the customer, for example by email, to entice the customer to purchase the one or more products and/or service that were shown to and/or made available to the customer and/or to collect further data points from the customer. If the customer later purchases a product, service, etc. either on-line or in a store, data indicative of the product being purchased is compared against data within any recap that is linked to that customer to determine if a sales associate, service technician, customer care representative, etc. that is also linked to any recap of the customer is to be awarded a commission for a resulting transaction, e.g., it is determined whether or not the product and/or or service being purchased is one that the customer was made aware of by a sales associate, service technician, etc. or is one that is otherwise related to a product and/or service that the customer was made aware of a sale associate, service technician, etc.

The purchase of the product and/or service by the customer may further generate a digital receipt where the digital receipt includes a notice that the customer is being awarded an incentive, such as a coupon, entry into a sweepstake, etc. The provided incentives may be in the form of digital incentives where the digital incentives may be linked to a customer loyalty account and, thereby, be automatically redeemable. Meanwhile, the captured life event data may be used to cause the transmission of targeted communications to the customer where the targeted communications are provided to the customer to assist the customer in addressing various issues/mind sets that typically arise during the course of the life event. As will be appreciated, by use of the incentives and life event communications, still further data points may be collected from the customer. These additionally collected data points can then be used to maintain an ongoing dialog with the customer and, thereby, provide the customer with still further relevant product offerings and/or information.

While the forgoing provides a general overview of some of the various features and functionalities of the subject invention, a better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, properties, and relationships of the subject invention will be obtained from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth illustrative embodiments and which are indicative of the various ways in which the principles of the subject invention may be employed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the subject invention, reference may be had to preferred embodiments shown in the attached drawings in which:

Figure 1 illustrates in block diagram form components of an exemplary system for collecting data points from a customer and for using the same to generate a recap;

Figure 2 illustrates a flow chart diagram of exemplary steps used to collect data points from a customer and for using the collected data points to provide customer specific incentives, customer specific information, sales associate commissions, and/or the like in association with the recap process;

Figures 3-14 illustrate exemplary screen shots of a recap application running on a tablet computing device as used to collect data points from a customer related to product purchasing events;

Figures 15 and 16 illustrate a decision matrix for sending targeted communications to a customer considering an exemplary life event of moving;

Figures 17 and 18 illustrate exemplary steps for obtaining data points related to a service center visit and for using the same to generate a recap;

Figure 19 illustrates exemplary channels available to touch a customer in connection with the service center visit;

Figure 20 illustrates an exemplary web page of an Internet usable to touch a customer in connection with the service center visit;

Figure 21 illustrates exemplary steps for obtaining data points related to an in-home service visit and for using the same to generate a recap;

Figure 22 illustrates exemplary channels available to touch a customer in connection with the in-home service visit;

Figure 23 illustrates exemplary steps for obtaining data points related to a customer care exchange and for using the same to generate a recap; and

Figures 24-26 illustrate exemplary recaps generated using the data points obtained in connection with a customer care exchange.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to the figures, the following describes a system and method for collecting data points from a customer, for using the collected data points to provide customer specific offerings, incentives, information, and the like, and for rewarding sales associates, service technicians, and/or customer call representatives (individually and collectively referred to hereinafter as "sales associates") based upon their involvement in the process.

Turning to Fig. 1 , illustrated is an exemplary system for collecting data points from a customer and for using the collected data points to provide enhanced retail services in a manner that is described in greater detail hereinafter. As illustrated, the exemplary system includes a processing device 20 whereby a user, e.g., a customer and/or a sales associate, may register the customer with and/or otherwise access an online retail channel hosted by a retailer system 68 associated with one or more retail establishments to, among other things, view and purchase product being offered for sale by the retail establishment(s) create and/or view recaps, etc. As will be appreciated, during the registration process a log-in name/password combination may be established for the customer to thereby provide secure and recognized access to the retailer system 68 (which information and/or cookies provided to the processing device 20 will additionally allow the retailer system 68 to track data points associated with the online usage of the retailer system 68 by the customer - such as pages viewed, products purchased, etc.) with additional information also being obtained, e.g., a contact email address, phone number, demographic information such as age, gender, preferences, interests, etc. As a result of the registration process, the customer will additionally be associated with a unique customer ID, which customer ID may, but need not, be reflected on a physical and/or digital rewards card that will be provided to the customer. For example, the customer ID may be reflected in a device having a machine readable code, such as a barcode imprinted on a physical rewards card or be otherwise

displayable/transmittable via use of a device such as a smart phone. Using the same or another processing device, the customer may additionally receive from the retailer system 68 digital incentives or other communications that will be associated with their customer ID. While illustrated in the exemplary form of a personal computer, it is to be understood that the processing device 20 may be embodied in any type of device having the ability to execute instructions such as, by way of example only, a personal-digital assistant ("PDA"), a smart phone, a tablet computing device, or the like. Furthermore, while described and illustrated in the context of a single processing device 20, those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the various tasks described herein may be practiced in a distributed or cloud environment having multiple processing devices linked via a local or wide-area network, such as the Internet, whereby the executable instructions may be associated with and/or executed by one or more of the multiple processing devices. More particularly, to provide a means for a user, e.g., a customer and/or a sales associate, to access the online channel of the retailer(s) (and to perform various tasks as necessary) the processing device 20 preferably includes a processing unit 22 and a system memory 24 which may be linked via a bus 26. Without limitation, the bus 26 may be a memory bus, a peripheral bus, and/or a local bus using any of a variety of known bus architectures. As needed for any particular purpose, the system memory 24 may include read only memory (ROM) 28 and/or random access memory (RAM) 30. Additional memory devices may also be made accessible to the processing device 20 by means of, for example, a hard disk drive interface 32, a magnetic disk drive interface 34, and/or an optical disk drive interface 36. As will be understood, these devices, which would be linked to the system bus 26, respectively allow for reading from and writing to a hard disk 38, reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk 40, and for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk 42, such as a CD/DVD ROM or other optical media. The drive interfaces and their associated physically embodied, i.e., non-transitory, computer-readable media allow for the storage of instructions, data structures, program modules, and the like for execution by the processing unit 22 of the processing device 20. Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that other types of physically embodied computer-readable media that can store data and/or executable instructions may be used for this same purpose. Examples of such media devices include, but are not limited to, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital videodisks, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memories, nano-drives, memory sticks, and other read/write and/or read-only memories. Meanwhile, the program modules that may be stored in one or more of the memory/media devices may include a basic input/output system (BIOS) 44 which contains the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the processing device 20, such as during start-up, an operating system 46, one or more applications programs 48 (such as a Web browser), other program modules 50, and/or program data 52.

To allow a user to enter commands and information into the processing device 20, e.g., to create or upload task related instructions, to search for and purchase product, to indicate how an order for product is to be fulfilled, to schedule a service appointment, etc., input devices such as a touch pad or keyboard 54 and/or a pointing device 56 are provided. While not illustrated, other input devices may include a microphone, a joystick, a game pad, a scanner, a camera, etc. These and other input devices would typically be connected to the processing unit 22 by means of an interface 58 which, in turn, would be coupled to the bus 26. Input devices may be connected to the processor 22 using interfaces such as, for example, a parallel port, game port, fire wire, or a universal serial bus (USB). To view information from the processing device 20, a monitor 60 or other type of display device may also be connected to the bus 26 via an interface, such as a video adapter 62. In addition to the monitor 60, the processing device 20 may also include other peripheral output devices, not shown, such as speakers and printers.

As noted above, the processing device 20 may also utilize logical connections to one or more remote processing devices, such as a retailer system 68 having associated data repository 68A. As will be understood, the data repository 68A may maintain a database of product that is being sold by the retailer(s), customer related information (including information concerning past purchasing histories of particular customers, product viewing histories of particular customers, demographic information for particular customers, incentives available for and/or being offered to particular customers, etc.), financial information, and the like type of data used in commerce. While the retailer system 68 has been illustrated in the exemplary form of a system server computer, it will be appreciated that the retailer system 68 may, like processing device 20, be any type of device having processing capabilities. Similarly, it will be appreciated that the retailer system 68 need not be implemented as a single device but may be implemented in a manner such that the tasks performed by the retailer system 68 are distributed amongst a plurality of processing devices/databases located at the same or different geographical locations and linked through a communication network. Additionally, the retailer system 68 may have logical connections to other third party systems 80 via the network 12 and, via such connections, will be associated with functions that are supported by and data repositories that are linked to such other third party systems. Such third party systems may include, without limitation, systems of banking, credit, or other financial institutions, systems of third party providers of product, systems of shipping/delivery companies, systems that support social networking, etc.

For performing tasks as needed, the retailer system 68 may include many or all of the elements described above relative to the processing device 20. In addition, the retailer system 68 would generally include executable instructions that are likewise stored on physically embodied memory devices for, among other things, supporting online retail channel services, supporting physical retail channel services, i.e., in store, maintaining records, etc. The retailer system 68 may thus include links to point-of-sale (POS) devices, e.g., cash registers, that are located within one or more retail stores without limitation. As will also be described in greater detail hereinafter, the retailer system 68 further has instructions for storing and using captured information related to products that a customer is viewing while in a retail establishment (e.g., as captured by a sales associate using a processing device 20') to, among other things, provide customer specific incentives. To this end, the system may incorporate a recommendation or selection engine which utilizes techniques to discern relationships in a manner similar to the engines described in the references listed in the background section of this document.

Communications between the processing devices 20/20' and the retailer system 68 may be exchanged via a further processing device, such as a network router, that is responsible for network routing. Communications with the network router may be performed via a network interface component 73. Thus, within such a networked environment, e.g., the Internet, World Wide Web, LAN, or other like type of wired or wireless network, it will be appreciated that program modules depicted relative to the processing devices 20/20', or portions thereof, may be stored in the memory storage device(s) associated with the retailer system 68.

As noted above, the retailer system 68 includes instructions for storing and using data points collected about a customer to, among other things, provide customer specific offerings and/or informational services. The collected data points may be reflective of a specific customer's online experiences with the retailer system 68, the specific customer's in-store experiences with one or more retail establishment(s), the specific customer's in-home experiences with a service technician, the specific customer's interactions with a customer service representative, etc., i.e., the captured data points are preferably reflective of the multi- channel experiences of a specific customer. The data points reflective of the customer's online experiences may include products viewed while online, products purchased while online, products placed into one or more lists (e.g., a wish list, shopping cart list, etc.), product information captured by the customer (e.g., via use of a mobile barcode scanning application), expressed or inferred interests of the customer, expressed or inferred communities for that customer (e.g., as indicated by online social network links), etc.

Demographic data points for the customer (e.g., residence address, gender, age, marital status, etc.) may also be captured via the online channel or may be provided by the customer while interacting with the sales associate. Data points captured via the in-store retail channel may similarly include data points reflective of products viewed while the customer is within a store, products and/or services purchased within a store, questions asked while in the store, etc. Similar data points could be captured by an in-home service technician and by a customer care representative. The data points collected online, in-home, over the phone, in- store, etc. e.g., via an ongoing dialog with the customer, may also be indicative of one or more life events of the customer, e.g., the customer is moving, replacing product, getting married, etc. As discussed above, such data points captured for a specific customer would be associated with a customer ID, e.g., phone number, email address, a physical or digital rewards card having an associated machine readable indicia, or the like.

For collecting data points from a specific customer while that customer is within a retail establishment, it is contemplated that a recap procedure may be utilized as generally illustrated in Fig. 2. By way of non-limiting example, the recap procedure may be initiated by a customer meeting 202 with a sales associate in the retail establishment whereupon the sales associate will show the customer one or more products that may be of interest to the customer. While not required, the products to be shown to the customer by the sales associate may be pre-designated by the customer before their arrival to the retail

establishment, for example by being specified in an online generated list 204. In connection with the generation of the online list, an appointment may be made to meet the sales associate at a given time at a given store location. As will be appreciated, any list generated in this manner is preferably routed to a sales associate, for example to their processing device 20', prior to the scheduled appointment to thereby allow the sales associate to gather or otherwise locate within the retail establishment the product(s) of interest. When a list is generated online in this manner, any data points captured during the online session that was used to generate the list, e.g., products viewed, added to the list, etc., may also be associated with that particular customer for later reference and use by the system. Data points regarding online activities may be captured and associated with the customer via use of their log-in information, provided customer ID, a stored cookie, or the like. In the event that such data points are not captured during the online list generation process, e.g., the customer did not register with the retailer system 68 when creating the list, the customer did not create a list prior to entering the store, etc., data points with respect to the products viewed by the customer may nevertheless by captured by the sales associate during the product review with the customer, e.g., the sales associate may register the customer with the system as part of the product review process and enter data points 206 indicative of products being shown to the customer, demographic information, etc. into their processing device 20' as needed for uploading 208 to the retailer system 68. Such in-store, captured data points will be saved into a customer's profile that is linked to the customer ID whereupon it will be available for use by the engine that is provided to determine offers/coupons and the like for customers. In the event that a customer decided to purchase any of the items that are shown to the customer during this meeting, the purchase of such items would also be captured by the system, e.g., at the POS, and the data points related to such purchase(s) would be similarly saved into the customer's profile. If the customer is not ready to make a purchase and wants to think about it, the sales associate can then interact with the system to cause a detailed recap to be sent to the customer. The recap may be in the form of an email that lists all the items the sales associate showed to the customers as well as associate's personal notes on each item.

Alternatively or in addition to sending an email, the recap may be made available to the customer via online access to the retailer system 68 or via an "app" provided to the customer for use on their smart phone, tablet, or the like.

Through use of the recap provided to the customer 210, the customer can return to a store associated with the retailer to complete their purchase 212 and/or the customer may interact with the recap to go online and review all the items they were shown in the store and also see the associate's notes on each item. The recap may additionally provide links whereby the consumer can add product(s) to their shopping cart and complete their purchase online 214 in an otherwise conventional manner. As will be appreciated, data points associated with a purchase of a product, whether online or in-store, and/or data points associated with the customer viewing product online is again preferably captured and uploaded 216 to the system server 68 for inclusion in the customer's profile.

By way of more specific example, reference is made to Figs. 3-14 which illustrate a method by which a sales associate captures data points for a customer via use of a table computing device. It will be appreciated that a smart phone or the like could also be used by a sales associate in the same or similar manner to achieve the same end. As such, the illustrated example is not intended to be limiting.

As shown in Fig. 3, when a customer meets with the sales associate, the sales associate opens up an assisted selling tool app on their device 20' and provides their log-in information 300. The log-in information provided will be used to link the sales associate with the to-be-created shopping recap for the various reasons described hereinafter. At this time, the assisted selling tool app may additionally present, for viewing by the customer and/or the sales associate, messaging in a window 302. This messaging may display advertisements and/or video messages for various business units and/or vendors within the retailer network to advertise key messages, offerings, and the like. For example, a slideshow of messages can be displayed and advertisements can be selected by clicking on presented links. It is contemplated that the advertisements can be dynamic and updated in real-time as needed to convey desired information. The advertisements can also be specific to key shopping time frames (e.g., Christmas) or used to communicate new arrivals, special offers, weather related messages, or even price changes in response to competition at the local level. Still further, it is contemplated that various entities within the retailer network can bid to advertise in this space. Clicking on a presented advertisement may further function to take the device to a specific page of product listings, e.g., appliances, clothing, or the like.

After the sales associate has logged into the system, the sales associate may then start collecting data points that are reflective of the interests of the customer. In this illustrated example, the sales associate interacts with the device 20' to indicate a category of product (e.g., "lawn and garden" as shown in Fig. 4) and a specific type of product within that category (e.g., "riding mowers and tractors" as shown Fig. 5) that the customer has expressed an interested in viewing. In addition, the sales associate will collect data points reflective of the needs of the customer as shown in Fig. 6. For example, the system can seek responses from the customer to various questions to obtain information indicative of intended uses and needs for the product of interest as well as information indicative of customer life events. The information indicative of intended uses and needs for the product of interest will be used by the system to narrow down product choices for the customer while the information indicative of life events (e.g., why is the customer interested in purchasing the product) will be used by the system to establish an on going dialog with the customer as described in greater detail hereinafter. As will be appreciated, the questions posed to the customer in this stage of the process may be varied as needed depending upon, for example, the category of product that is of interest to the customer. As answers to the posed questions are provided, with the answers preferably being highlighted for ease of confirmation purposes (e.g., by a black boundary 602), the system may continually update, in real time, the number of products 604 that meet the currently obtained selection criteria. Clicking on the "results" indicator may then take the sales associate to a listing of the products as shown in Fig. 7. In addition, or alternatively, with the listing of products, the system may ask that the sales associate obtain still further information from the customer to assist in narrowing down the customer's choices as shown in Fig. 8. In any event, when the choices have been narrowed to the satisfaction of the customer, the sales associate may then walk the customer around the store to show the customer product at which time the sales associate may add any of the product located via use of the computing device 20' (as well as any notations related thereto) to the recap product listing as shown, for example, in Fig. 9. It will also be appreciated that additional product shown to the customer during this in-store showing may also be added to the recap product listing, for example, by simply scanning the barcode of such product using the computing device 20'.

When the sales associate and the customer have finished the in-store review process, the sales associate may then bring up the listing of product that was indicated by the customer to be of interest as shown in Fig. 10. From this page, detailed information 1002 related to any of the product can be viewed, product can be added to a shopping cart associated with the customer (e.g., for immediate purchase or purchase via the on-line channel) or removed from the listing 1004, a notification can be presented to the sales associate 1006 that a recap alert is pending (which recap can be sent to the customer via activation of link 1008), and/or the sales associate may interact with the device 20' to proceed with the purchase of any product 1010. In the event that a recap is to be sent to the customer, the sales associate will proceed to initiate a customer look-up (or otherwise register the customer with the system) as shown in Fig. 1 1 at which time the recap will be linked to a customer identifier, such as their frequent shopper account. Before sending the recap to the customer, the sales associate may also provide any additional notes that might be appropriate for the customer and/or indicate any reminder "follow-up" dates as further illustrated. In the event that a customer indicates a desire to purchase any of the product, e.g., product added to the shopping cart, the system may determine if the product is available at the current retailer location and/or via on-line purchase and, if so, the customer information is gathered (similar to the manner described above whereby the recap and purchasing data points are linked to the customer identifier) and any payment, delivery, etc. information is capture either via use of the device 20' or at a POS device as shown in Figs. 12 and 13.

In connection with a purchase of a product, the customer may be issued a print receipt and/or a digital receipt as further illustrated in Fig. 13. Any product related references, such as user manuals, how to videos, or the like, can also be provided digitally to the customer with the purchase of a product. More particularly, the digital receipt, an example of which is illustrated in Fig. 14, may include a recap of the purchase 1402, an ad circular 1404 with recommendations for (and links to purchase) additional product related to the purchase, related to calendar dates (e.g., Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc.), and/or related to a life event of the customer (e.g., moving boxes), a means 1406 for a customer to provide feedback with respect to the process, information 1408 for returning/exchanging the process, links 1410 to product detail information, user's manuals, how-to videos, warranty information, protections agreements, etc., and links 1412 to social networks (e.g., to share the purchase with a friend).

When a customer ultimately purchases a product that was shown to the customer by a sales associate as described above, the purchase is preferably tracked back to the recap and the associate that sent the recap is provided with a paid commission. To this end, the recap is preferably also linked to a sales associate ID whereby, when a given customer purchases an item, e.g., a product is scanned at the POS or purchased online by a known customer, the system will determine if the product is linked to a particular recap for that customer and, if so, will determine from the sales associate ED also linked to that recap which sales associate is to be paid the commission.

In certain circumstances it is contemplated that a recap might not lead to a purchase of a product that was actually shown to a customer by a sales associate but might instead lead to a purchase of a related product, e.g., a product that is displayed as a recommendation in the recap email and/or on a webpage that displays a product shown to the customer during their visit to the retail establishment, etc. In the event that a customer purchases such a related product, a partial commission may be paid to the sales associate. By way of non- limiting example, a sales associate may show a customer lawn mowers 1, 2, and 3 during their visit but the customer ultimately purchases lawn mower 4. If the customer was exposed to lawn mower 4 as a result of lawn mower 4 being related to any of lawn mowers 1, 2, or 3, e.g., the customer saw lawn mower 4 as a recommendation presented in a carousel displayed in the recap email, in a product detail page for any of items 1 , 2, or 3, etc., which

recommendations may appear under the heading "people who viewed product X bought product Y," the sales associate will be paid a partial commission or spiff since the customer didn't buy the exact same product the sale associate presented but did buy something in same "line" or same "division" as the product(s) the customer was shown. While described in the context of "people who viewed X, also purchased Y," it will be appreciated that related products may also be presented as listing of known accessories for a product shown to a customer, e.g., presented under a heading "attachments to go with this product," or the like. To provide sales commissions in this manner, it will be appreciated that the database will additionally maintain links between the sales associate ID, the recap, and products known to be related to the products within the recap.

Yet further, it is contemplated that a commission may be provided to the sales associate that performed the initial product review with the customer in the event that the customer returns to the store and a different sales associate finalizes the purchase of a product previously shown to the customer. For example, a circumstance may arise where sales associate 1 sends the recap email with the list of products shown to the customer yet, when the customer returns to the store (or goes to a different store within the retail network), sales associate 1 is not working and sales associate 2 meets with the customer and asks who they worked with previously. Because sales associate 1 is not in the store, sales associate 2 pulls up the "lead" or recap and helps the customer make a purchase. In such a case, a partial commission or spiff may still be provided to sales associate 1 (since they entered the recap) while a full commission may be provided to sales associate 2 (who made the sale).

As described previously, when the customer makes a purchase of a product, the customer will be provided 218 with a digital receipt of the purchase, e.g., in an email, via the recap app, or the like. The digital receipt will additionally include a described incentive, e.g., a coupon which is available for immediate use, that is selected particularly for that customer, i.e., a personalized incentive. For example, a message may be provided with the digital receipt which states: "Thank you for being a valued rewards member. To make sure you get the most out of your benefits, we have auto-loaded the following coupon(s) to your rewards account. All you have to do is go the store and give your account number, email, or mobile number at the time of checkout - and see all the coupons applied to your purchase." Because the incentive will be automatically linked to the customer, when a product or products associated with the provided incentive is purchased by the customer (whether online or at the POS), the SKU or UPC code of the product or products being purchased will be compared against a list of incentives authorized for that particular consumer and an appropriate discount or reward - if applicable - will then be automatically applied to the purchase. At this time, the incentive may be considered "redeemed" and, once redeemed, the customer's information and incentive information is used to update the database. In this manner, multiple redemptions of an incentive is avoided while accurate data is produced for customers illustrating which customers or groups of customers are redeeming which incentives.

To provide personalized incentives, the system utilizes an engine that determines which offers/coupons should be provided to a given customer given certain information about that customer as noted above. More particularly, the information that is preferably provided to the engine includes, but need not be limited to, one or more of: information gathered for the customer during their recap experience; profitability of the customer; demographics, preferences, and interests for the customer; past purchasing history for the customer; browsing/viewing behaviors of the customer; previous spending and shopping frequency history for the customer; life stages for the customer; items scanned by the customer via use of a mobile app; proximity of the customer to a store within the retail network; and past incentive redemption history of the customer. The engine considers such information 220 against a database of available coupons/offers 222, using appropriate business rules 224 (e.g., by providing weights to the various data points collected and weights to the various coupons/offers), to select which offers are most relevant to a given customer, i.e., to select which offers should be provided to a given customer. In addition, the business rules used to select which offers to provide to a given customer may additionally consider data points such as minimum purchasing thresholds applicable to a given incentive, the number of incentives that can be redeemed in a single purchase, which incentives can be stacked, and/or whether loyalty rewards would be more effective for the customer than providing a discount coupon as an incentive. By way of example, a loyalty reward may be a reward wherein X number of points are earned for every $ 1.00 spent (which points may be multiplied for one or more tiers of bonus members) whereupon, when shopping in a store or online, a customer need only scan their loyalty card, provide a PIN, their phone number, email address, or the like as appropriate - all of which are "customer IDs" - to receive a discount worth $1.00 in value for every Y number of points the customer elects to redeem. Personalized incentives may further be provided to customers based on additional triggers 226, such as calendar dates or the like.

It is further contemplated that the ability to receive such personalized awards may also be limited to select customers, e.g., customers having a history of high spending (e.g., have a previous purchasing history over a given dollar amount) and/or are high margin shoppers and/or are high frequency shoppers and/or have a history of using coupons. Thus, members meeting any such criteria may be provided with an invite to join the subject rewards program.

It is additionally contemplated that a customer that participates in the recap experience may be provided with a follow-up communication, such as a sweepstakes entry or the like (which may be sent with a recap, a digital receipt, or otherwise), by which the system can obtain further data points with respect to a life event of the customer. For example, if a customer has indicated (as described previously) that they intend to move, the follow-up communication can seek to find where the customer is moving to, what type of home they are they are moving from and into, when they are moving, etc. With these additional data points, the system can then send targeted messages and/or offers to the customer as appropriate. Specifically, these data points can trigger the sending of targeted messages related to the locale into which the user is moving (e.g., stores located nearby, information generally relating to the area such as school information, tasks to be performed to when leaving their current home and upon arriving at their new home, and the like), offers for products the customer might need to assist in the move, might need in establishing a new household, and/or might otherwise need at their new locale given various conditions such as weather conditions at the new locale or the like (which communications would be sent at the appropriate time given their indicated move date), etc. Thus, data points collected in this manner can trigger the sending of relevant information/instructions, offers, incentives, and the like as shown in Fig. 16 based upon the perceived customer mindset/focus at various times during the course of any indicated life event as shown by in Fig. 15. As discussed previously, data points collected via any such additional exchanges with the customer will allow the system to maintain an ongoing dialog with the customer whereby the system may continually adjust to the needs and requirements of the customer.

From the foregoing it will be additionally appreciated that the recaps and any purchases resulting therefrom may remain accessible to customers (e.g., to allow a customer to review their "stuff," access product warranties or user's manuals, etc.), may be integrated into other functional components provided by the system (e.g., to provide a customer with reminders that parts for purchased product need to be replaced or repaired), etc., and/or be viewed by sales associates (e.g., to review commissions earned, to send follow-ups, etc) as needed.

Although the above describes various concepts for using data points collected during an in-store product shopping experience, it is to be appreciated that data points can be collected by sales associates during other customer experiences, such as during a service center visit, during an in-home service visit, during a conversation with a customer care technician, etc. Similarly, it will be appreciated that such data points can be added to a recap and/or be the subject of their own recap. Such recaps can then be used to collect further data points and to incentivize the customer in the manners that were also described above, i.e. to maintain an on-going dialog with the customer. It will also be appreciated that service technicians, customer care representatives, etc. can be rewarded for generating business via use of such a recap process in the same or similar manners as described above.

Considering Figs. 17 and 18, an example method for collecting data points during a service center visit is illustrated. In the illustrated example, when a customer visits 1702 the service center, e.g., a vehicle repair center, data points related to the visit are collected from the customer 1704. Such data points may include information about the customer (name, contact information such as email, phone number, etc, and the like as discussed above), service(s) being requested, the product(s) to be serviced, product(s) that the customer would like to purchase in connection with the service(s), etc. While not required, when the performance of any requested services will take longer than a given time to perform, e.g., more than three hours, a service tracker system 1706 can be invoked which will function to provide service related updates to the customer via one or more of the contact channels provided by the system. For example, when a service technician completes each of the requested service tasks, the service technician can use their device 20' to update a recap app which update can then trigger the retailer system 68 to issue an email alert, sms message, or the like to inform the customer as to the current status of the requested services, e.g., vehicle diagnostics completed, service started. Before any such status messages are sent to the customer, permission for the sending of such status messages 1708 may be obtained from the customer. The sending of status messages in this manner may also be performed for any service call and need not be limited to only those that will take longer than a given time. Furthermore, the sales associate(s) involved with the service center visit should be made known to the customer and should be associated with any service recap that will be created as a result of this customer visit for the reasons discussed previously.

In the event that additional problems that might need further servicing are uncovered during the requested repair services 1710, such further data points may be captured for inclusion in the recap via use of the app on device 20'. In connection with the capturing of such data points, the retailer system 68 may respond by causing a communication to be sent to the customer 1712 to inform the customer of the uncovered issues. The customer may respond to the communication by requesting that any further needed service(s) be performed whereupon the steps above described will be repeated.

When no further related services are required, the data points captured by the sales associate related to the requested services may be placed into a recap which is to be sent to the customer 1716 as described above. For example, the recap may list the services performed, the products replaced/repaired, further services that may need to be performed, further product that may need to be purchased, and the like. The recap may also include links to related products/services, links for coupons or other incentives, as well as a link to a "virtual glove box" by which the customer can access, via the on-line channel, all of the prior services and other information related to product that has received service. The recap may additionally include a digital receipt in lieu of or together with a conventional print receipt. Still further, the recap may provide the customer with the ability to rate their experience. Thus, the recap again provides a means to capture additional data points from the customer to thereby enhance and maintain an on-going relationship with the customer.

In certain circumstances, the customer may pre-arrange their service visit as illustrated in Fig. 18. To this end, the customer may access via their device 20 a scheduler 1802A-D which provides user interface elements by which the customer provides data points related to the product(s) to be serviced and the service(s) requested. In the exemplary instance where a customer desires to schedule a car repair service, the data points collected from the customer may include, without limitation, customer information 1804, vehicle information 1806, and a selection of service(s) 1808 to be performed on the vehicle. In connection with the scheduling of the service(s), the user interface may function to inform the customer of the nearest service center 1810 (considering a provided zip code, location data taken from a network or device, and/or the like) and the normal operating hours of the service center to thereby allow the user to better select preferences for an appointment 1812A and an appointment time and date 1812B. Considering the data points provided about the product to be repaired, e.g., the vehicle, the system may additionally present to the customer services suggestions 1814 for that product (e.g., considering its age, usages, etc.). Upon completion of the service request booking, the data points collected will be provided to the retail system server 68 whereupon the collected data points will be available for the various uses in keeping with the disclosure set forth above. A confirmation of the service request booking 1814 may also be provided to the customer at this time.

Turning now to Fig. 19, an exemplary customer interaction diagram is illustrated which depicts the various interaction points with the customer during the processes described above, particularly as concerns a customer, in-store, vehicle repair service visit. As will be appreciated from the descriptions above, in this exemplary context, the vendor will have access to the customer via use of multiple different channels each of which provides the vendor with the ability to collect still further data points from the customer and/or to maintain an on-going dialog with the customer. For example, and without limitation, such channels may include a channel that uses the above described mobile app 1902 (used to collect customer information, collect product information, collect service information, provide notifications, provide history information, provide access to other channels, and/or the like), sales associate operated in-store app or other program 1904 (used to collect product viewing information, collect product purchase information, collect product repair information, provide history information, provide product purchasing recommendations, provide service recommendations, provide notifications, provide access to other channels, and/or the like), website 1906 (used to collect customer information, provide history information, provide reminders, provide offers, provide notifications, provide access to other channels, and/or the like), SMS messaging services 1908 (used to provide reminders, provide notices, provide access to other channels, and/or the like), email messaging services 1910 (used to provide recaps, provide reminders, provide notifications, provide offers, provide access to other channels, and/or the like), and social networking services 1912 (used to facilitate exchanges of information between members, provide notifications, provide offers, provide reminders, provide access to other channels and/or the like).

To maintain an on-going dialog with the customer via use of the website channel 1906, the vendor may utilize the website channel to, as noted above, provide the customer with access to history information, offerings, and/or the like as shown in Fig. 20. In keeping with the example of a vehicle service related interaction between the customer and the vendor, which example is not intended to be limiting, the vendor may provide for the customer via one or more web pages 2002A-2002C of the website channel information about the product 2004 that was (or will be) serviced, service history and product health related information 2006A and 2006B (e.g., determined using, for example, past service history, product age, product usage, etc.), links to other channels 2008 (e.g., to social networks), offering and/or incentives for other products related to the product that was serviced 2010, and a further information gathering and/or exchange section 2012 (e.g., used to access a community, experts, polls, manuals, service repair scheduler, etc.). It will be appreciated that these exemplary web pages may also present information, etc. that is related to products that the customer has purchased from the vendor or has viewed in-store as described above. For example, if the customer purchased snow tires in the past from the vendor, reminders could be posted to the web page to instruct the customer to change or replace the tires when the season turns. As such, it will be understood that the information presented via the website channel need not be limited to information that is related to service(s) performed. It will also be appreciated that such a website channel could also be used in connection with an in-home repair service interaction between the customer and the vendor which is described in greater detail below.

Considering Fig. 21 , an example method for collecting data points during an in-home service visit is illustrated. In the illustrated example, when a service technician visits 2104 the home of a customer in response to a service request 2102, data points related to the service call are collected for use as described above. Such data points may include information about the customer (name, contact information such as email, phone number, etc, and the like - which may be captured during the visit and/or during the request for service), service(s) being requested, the product(s) to be serviced, product(s) that the customer may need to purchase in connection with the service(s), etc. By way of further example, when the service technician evaluates the product to be repaired, the service technician may determine that the product is capable of being repaired or is incapable of being repair. When the product is capable of being repaired, the service technician will proceed to repair the product 2106 and capture the related information as described previously for use in preparing a recap. In connection with such repair, the service technician may additionally determine that the product is likely to fail again, e.g., it is old, 2108 and such additional information, e.g., information related to a possible future purchasing/sales opportunity, would likewise be captured for use in preparing a recap. When the product is incapable of being repaired 2010, a determination is made that the customer is likely to need to get a replacement for the product and such information is again captured for use in preparing a recap. To this end, the service technician may ask the customer additional questions 2111 which questions may be similar to the survey questions described previously with respect to Fig. 6 and the answers to which would be used to evaluate the life event related status of the customer for the purposes that were also previously described, e.g., to issue automated duress emails or the like.

Upon completing the requested service call, the service technician may then ask the customer if they would like the service technician to perform a complimentary assessment of other products they have in their home 2112. If the customer agrees, then information related to the assessment is captured for use in preparing the recap 21 14. Such information may included information related to the products reviewed, their status, and information related to future purchasing/sales opportunities. The information could be captured via manual inspection and/or via use of a diagnostic service associated with a given appliance, such as the diagnostic services offered with various Kenmore brand appliances. Furthermore, in the event that any product might need further servicing or replacement, the service technician may utilize an appropriate app provided on their device 20' to facilitate, via interactions with the system server 68, the scheduling of any such needed service or the purchase of any such needed replacement product. The service technician may also use this opportunity to offer other home related services to the customer, e.g., carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, etc. Upon completion of the visit, any service related and/or purchasing related activities - whether associated with the service that was scheduled or for additional product/services that were otherwise assessed/offered - will be summarized for the customer in the recap as described previously. As also described previously, this recap may include digital copies of any receipts, estimates, related opportunities, links to surveys, etc. without limitation. Thus, as illustrated in Fig. 22, the in-home service call provides an opportunity to touch the consumer via multiple channels in much the same way as the in-store service visit does as described in connection with Fig. 19.

Turning now to Fig. 23, an example method for collecting data points during a customer care call is illustrated. In the illustrated example, when a customer calls a customer care representative (or otherwise talks to a customer care representative via on-line chat, email exchange, in person, etc.) to discuss a complaint 2302, to discuss a service request 2304, to discuss a product 2306, etc., data points related to the customer care call are collected 2308 for use in providing a recap 2310 as described previously. Again, such data points may include information about the customer (name, contact information such as email, phone number, etc, and the like), service(s) being requested, product(s) that the customer is searching for, etc. Furthermore, in connection with the sending of the recap to the customer, which includes information relevant to the exchange with the customer care representative, as illustrated in Figs. 24 - 26, the customer may be prompted, e.g., via a request for feedback, to provide additional data points which would be usable to maintain an on-going dialog with the customer as described above.

While various concepts have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications and alternatives to those concepts could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. For example, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the ordering of the steps described herein and illustrated in the figures can be modified without departing from the scope of the invention claimed hereinafter. Similarly, those of skill the art will appreciate that certain of the steps described herein may be considered to be optional. Yet further, while various aspects of the invention have been described in the context of functional modules and components, it is to be understood that, unless otherwise stated to the contrary, one or more of the described functions and/or features may be integrated in a single physical device and/or a software module, or one or more functions and/or features may be implemented in separate physical devices or software modules. It will also be appreciated that a detailed discussion of the actual implementation of the modules used to perform the various described functions is not necessary for an enabling understanding of the invention. Rather, the actual implementation of such modules would be well within the routine skill of an engineer, given the disclosure herein of the attributes, functionality, and inter-relationship of the various functional modules in the system. Therefore, a person knowledgeable in the art, applying ordinary skill, will be able to practice the invention set forth in the claims without undue experimentation. It will be additionally appreciated that the particular concepts disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any equivalents thereof.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A non-transient, computer-readable media having stored thereon instructions executable by a retailer computing system, the instructions causing the retailer computing system to perform steps, comprising:

receiving from a first computing device data points indicative of a service requested by a customer;

storing within a data repository the data points wherein the data points are linked to a customer identifier that is associated with the customer;

using the data points to generate a recap of the service requested by the customer; and electronically sending the recap to the customer, the recap providing one or more user interface elements for obtaining additional data points from the customer, the additional data points being usable to construct further messages to be sent to the customer to thereby maintain an on-going dialog with the customer.

2. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 1 , wherein the recap comprises a cost estimate for the requested service.

3. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 2, wherein the requested service comprises a request for an in-home repair of a product.

4. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 2, wherein the requested service comprises a request for a service center repair of a product.

5. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the recap comprises a digital receipt for a performance of the request service.

6. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 5, wherein the requested service comprises a request for an in-home repair of a product.

7. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 5, wherein the requested service comprises a request for a service center repair of a product.

8. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the requested service comprises a request for an in-home repair of a product and wherein the recap comprises information indicative of a service technicians assessment of at least one further product in the home.

9. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 8, wherein the information indicative of a service technicians assessment of at least one further product in the home comprises an estimate to repair the at least one further product in the home.

10. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 8, wherein the information indicative of a service technicians assessment of at least one further product in the home comprises information related to one or more products for replacing the at least one further product in the home.

1 1. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the requested service comprises an inquiry presented to a customer care representative.

12. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 11 , wherein the service is requested via use of a phone service.

13. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 1 1, wherein the service is requested via use of an email service.

14. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 11, wherein the service is requested via use of an on-line chat service.

15. The computer- readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more user interface elements for obtaining additional data points from the customer comprise a link to survey questions.

16. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more user interface elements for obtaining additional data points from the customer comprise selectable options associated with survey questions.

17. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the recap comprises a summary of one or more products reviewed in connection with the service request.

18. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the recap comprises an incentive which is automatically linked to a rewards account of the customer.

19. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 18, wherein the incentive comprises a coupon discount.

20. The computer-readable media as recited in claim 1, wherein the recap comprises a link for sharing information contained within the recap via a social networking site.