WO2014027213A1

WO2014027213A1 - Method for enhancing commercial efficiency

Info

Publication number: WO2014027213A1
Application number: PCT/HU2013/000074
Authority: WO
Inventors: András VILMOS
Original assignee: Vilmos Andras
Priority date: 2012-08-13
Filing date: 2013-07-24
Publication date: 2014-02-20
Also published as: HUP1200473A2

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for enhancing commercial efficiency comprising: - reading in merchandize information relating to a merchandize, by a mobile communication device, - creating a first data package by the mobile communication device which data package comprises the merchandize information, - electronically sending the first data package to a remote back office over a communication channel, - processing the first data package whereby at least the merchandize information is retrieved from the first data package, - providing at least one promotional offer based at least on the merchandize information, - creating a second data package which comprises the promotional offer, - electronically sending the second data package to the mobile communication device over a communication channel, - processing the second data package whereby at least the promotional offer is retrieved from the data package, - displaying the promotional offer on a display of the mobile communication device.

Description

Method for enhancing commercial efficiency

The present invention relates to a method for enhancing commercial efficiency.

Webshops commonly operate so as to first allow customers to select a merchandize and then provide an offer comprising detailed merchandize information and sale price. The customer may accept the offer by clicking on the "move to shopping cart" link or pictogram and may generally pay for the selected merchandize using his or her bank card or by using other mode of payment that is allowed by the webshop. It is also more and more common to provide promotional offers (providing discounts or other benefits) in respect of complementary products related to the merchandize selected by the customer. For example amazon.com recommends other books in a section titled "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought".

It is an object of the present invention to enhance real life shopping in a similar way by providing one or more promotional offers related to merchandizes which can be purchased in the given store.

The inventor has recognized that handheld mobile communication devices such as mobile telephones, PDAs, etc. are suitable for informing a back office of the user's (customer's) choice of merchandize, in response of which the back office can send a promotional offer to the mobile communication device.

In accordance with this recognition the object of the invention is achieved by a method according to claim 1. The merchandize promoted by the promotional offer can be a customer selected merchandize and/or other recommended merchandize(s). The promotional offer is based on the merchandize initially selected by the customer but may also be based on some customer specific information, like gender, age or past shopping history. In the latter ease the customer identifies his- or herself and the identification information serves to gather the customer specific information.

In another aspect the object of the invention is achieved by a method according to claim 18 and a method according to claim 23.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are defined in the attached dependent claims.

Further details of the invention will be apparent from the accompanying figures and exemplary embodiments.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for carrying out a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention.

The inventive method is preferably performed by a system 10 comprising a mobile communication device 20 belonging to a user 22, a back office 12, and machine readable merchandize information 14a located on a merchandize 14 in a retail store 16. The system 10 may optionally comprise a security gate 26 able to communicate with the customer's mobile communication device 20, or read information from it, and/or being able to communicate with the back office 12.

The mobile communication device 20 of the user 22 is preferably a smart phone, a tablet, a PDA, a palmtop, a pocket PC or any other smart handheld device, even special purpose devices that can communicate with the remote back office 12 through the communication channel 19. The mobile communication device 20 may have a camera 20a and/or an NFC reader 20b, or other type of proximity interface ready to communicate with its environment. The mobile communication device 20 also comprises a display 20c for displaying messages sent by the back office 12 to the user 22. The mobile communication device 20 is understood to further comprise hardware and software components that are generally comprised in such devices in order to communicate (i.e. send and receive data) over a communication channel 19.

The mobile communication device 20 is provided with a program 21a for carrying out the method according to the invention. This program 21a is configured to allow the user 22 to physically read in the merchandize information 14a relating to a user-selected merchandize 14 and to electronically transmit the merchandize information 14a to the remote back office 12 and to receive a promotional offer of the merchant that is sent back by the back office 12 as will be explained in more detail later on. Optionally the program 21a is also configured to allow the user 22 to select a payment method from a list of multiple options and to perform the payment which can be for example a remote card payment transaction, or payment with the user's 22 loyalty points (registered in the program 21a), or use of the coupons the user 22 has collected to reduce the amount to be paid to the merchant. Furthermore the program 21a may also be configured to be able to receive a payment performance notice of the performed payment from the back office 12 and either present this notice upon exiting the store - to avoid any delays in queuing up for check out - to a security gate 26, or may even be used to deactivate the security tag 14b placed on the individual merchandizes 14 purchased by the user 22. The security tag 14b may be a specific tag dedicated for this purpose or may be combined with a tag carrying the merchandize information 14a. In case the security tag 14b is readable and writable as well (e.g. an RFID tag or an NFC tag) the user's 22 mobile communication device 20 may have security information modifying function as well. In this case a mobile application is installed on the user's mobile communication device 20 which may even be part of the aforementioned program 2 a and which can modify the content of the security tag 14b with new information such as information indicating that the specific merchandize 14 has ^■ been paid for. Alternatively the mobile application may be configured to deactivate the security tag 14b. To carry out this function the user's mobile application will preferable receive a specific key for the specific security tag 14b which provides the necessary credentials to modify the security tag 14b. The back office 12 is preferably a server that is accessible over an electronic (at least partially wireless) communication channel 19 by a mobile communication device 20 operated by a user 22 ready to receive promotional offers in connection with merchandizes 14 located in the retail store 16 where the user 22 is shopping. The communication channel 19 built up between the back office 12 and the communication device 20 is understood to comprise any components, and entities generally participating in forwarding electronic messages (data) between a server and a client device, over a mobile communication network or a local area network, with any suitable communication technology including but not limited to 4G, 3G, WiFi, WIMAX, Bluetooth.

The back office 2 preferably comprises or is connected to one or more databases 24 storing data for composing promotional offers. Such data may include detailed merchandize information, sale price, discounts, recommended merchandizes in connection with a given merchandize, user information of registered users, purchase history of registered users, coupon information about coupons available to a registered user, loyalty status and related benefits and/or coupons that can be used in connection with a given merchandize, or which generally can be redeemed in the store, etc. The back office 12 is configured to be capable of selecting from the information stored in the databases 24 or generating, based on that information, one or more promotional offers for the user 22 in response to the user 22 signing in to the system or in response to the merchandize information 14a the user's 22 mobile communication device 20 collected in the store and transmitted to the back office 12.

The merchandize information 14a may be in the form of a Visual code, such as a ^'bar code, QR code (Quick Response Code) or other type of matrix barcode or any other kind of two-dimensional code that can be captured by a camera of a mobile device such as a camera 20a of the user's 22 mobile communication device 20.

The merchandize information 14a may also be in the form of an RFID or NFC (Near Field Communication) tag, in which case the user's 22 mobile communication device 20 is preferably equipped with an NFC reader 20b that is nowadays available e.g. on smart phones.

The system may also comprise a security gate 26 which can read information from or communicate with the user's 22 communication device 20 about the payment status of merchandizes 14 leaving the store 16 and assess the information in itself or in communication with the back office. Alternatively the security gate 26 may assess the paid status of the security tags 14b having been modified by the mobile application installed on the user's 22 mobile communication device 20 following the performance of payment and may allow the user to leave the store 16 with the merchandize 14 that has a modified security tag 14b indicating that it has been paid for.

The method according to the present invention will be explained with reference to the above described system 10, however, it should be appreciated that other systems may also be suitable to carry out the invention.

The inventive method allows for enhancing commercial efficiency by providing real-time promotional offers in the course of real-life shopping based on user 22 (customer) selected merchandizes.

The user 22 who is shopping in the store 16 and carries a mobile communication device 20 such as a smart phone, tablet, PDA, etc. with himself or herself can read in the merchandize information 14a placed on a merchandize 14 of his or her selection using the mobile communication device.

The merchandize information 14a is typically an identification code of the merchandize 14 in the form of a visual code (e.g. barcode, QR code or other 2D code or colour code) that can be read by the camera 20a of the mobile communication device 20 or in the form of an RFID/NFC tag that can be detected and read by the NFC reader 20b of the mobile communication device

20.

If the merchandize information 14a is in the form of a visual code the user 22 cah read the visual code using the camera 20a and a visual code reading application 21b provided on his or her mobile communication device 20.

It should be noted that although merchandizes 14 (merchandises) generally carry the merchandize information 14a on themselves, however, in many stores 16 the same type of merchandize information 14a (e.g. barcode) is placed on the shelf where the merchandizes 14 are kept. In this case the user 22 may read in the merchandize information 14a placed on the shelf that relates to the merchandize 14 of his or her choice.

In case the merchandize information 14a is in the form of an NFC tag, and the communication device 20 is equipped with an NFC reader 20b then reading the merchandize information 14a is carried out by using the NFC reader function of the handset 20b, detecting the NFC tag by the NFC reader 20b, and reading the NFC tag by the NFC reader 20b. In a preferred embodiment the NFC reader 20b is activated only once, either manually or automatically e.g. upon activating the program 21a for carrying out the method according to the invention.

Once the merchandize information 14a is read in, a first data package 30 is created by the program 21a running on the mobile communication device 20 of the user 22. The first data package comprises at least the merchandize information 14a. In a preferred embodiment the user 22 is registered at the back office 12, in which case the user 22 preferably sends user identification information either before the merchandize information 14a of the first merchandize 14 is read or as part of the first data package 30. The user identification information can comprise any kind of user ID previously assigned to the user 22, it may further comprise a user password or other secret identifier. The user ID can be given by the service provider or chosen by the user 22. It is also possible to use the telephone number of the mobile communication device 20 as the user ID.

The first data package 30 may comprise a single or more than one merchandize information 14a relating to more than one user-selected merchandizes 14. In the latter case the user 22 reads in the merchandize information 14a of more than one merchandizes 14 of interest and determines later on which merchandize information 14a to transmit to the back office 12.

Once the first data package 30 has been created and made ready for sending (including optional encryption of the first data package 30) a communication channel 19 is established between the mobile communication device 20 and the remote back office 12 in a known way and the first data package 30 is electronically sent from the mobile communication device 20 to the remote back office 12 over the communication channel 19. Alternatively it is also possible that when the user 22 signs in at the back office system using its user ID a communication channel is established which channel is maintained all through the shopping activity and is only terminated when the User 22 closes its mobile application (the program 21a for carrying out the inventive method) or finishes the shopping in which scenario this information is sent to the back office 12 over the already available communication channel.

Upon receipt (and optional decryption), the first data package 30 is processed at the back office 12 which includes retrieving the merchandize information 14a from the first data package and other data that might optionally have been sent as well, such as the user identification information.

Based on the retrieved information the back office 12 provides one or more promotional offers. Preferably the back office 12 generates a query 34 based at least on the merchandize information 14a and. sends the query 34 to the database 24 where detailed merchandize information and related promotions, recommendations and sales offers are stored. In a more sophisticated configuration the promotional offer is created dynamically taking also into account user specific data, like personal information, shopping history, the combination of merchandizes already selected, the inventory of the store and potentially other factors which a CRM system may consider and manage.

When the required data 36 is obtained from the database 24 or generated by the back office a second data package 32 is created that comprises the promotional offer or it may be the promotional offer itself.

Once the second data package 32 is ready for sending (optionally after encryption) it is electronically transmitted to the mobile communication device 20 over the communication channel 19 where it is processed by the program 21a. The processing includes retrieving at least the promotional offer from the second data package 32, after which the promotional offer is displayed for the user 22 on the display of the mobile communication device 20. The promotional offer which is sent back to the user 22 relates to the purchase of the merchandize 14 to which the merchandize information 14a relates. Such a promotional offer may contain the detailed merchandize information the price information, other purchase conditions, etc. as ell as the actual promotion, which may take the form of price reduction (e.g. 10% discount), or volume discounts (e.g. buy two get the third one free), or other benefits generally used by retailers to motivate customers to buy their products. Alternatively the promotipnal offer which is sent back to the customer relates to the purchase of at least one recommended merchandize that is different from the merchandize 14 to which the merchandize information 14a relates which was sent to the back office 12 in the first data package 30. The promotional offer relating to the recommended merchandize may be based on the received merchandize information 14a, in which case those merchandizes may be recommended which are generally bought together with the user-selected merchandize 14, or which are often .preferred by customers who buy the selected merchandize 14. The promotional offer relating to the recommended merchandize may be based on specific information related to the individual ser if user identification information is available to the back office 12 based on prior registration and/or sign-in by the user. In this case the user identification information may serve to generate the promotional offer based on the user's 22 shopping history, e.g. a user 22 generally buying cosmetics may be provided with promotional offers relating to cosmetics irrespective of the kind of merchandizes 14 whieh has been currently selected.

The promotional offer relating to the recommended merchandize may contain similar information as the promotional offer relating to the user-selected merchandize 14, i.e. detailed merchandize information, price information, purchase conditions, discounts, etc. According to a preferred embodiment the promotional offer relating to the recommended merchandize comprises merchandize location information relating to the physical location of the recommended merchandize in the store 16. Such a merchandize location information may for example be a map of the store 16 indicating the location of the recommended merchandize. The merchandize location information may also be a text describing the location (e.g. 2nd floor, IT merchandizes section, 3rd aisle of the home entertainment section).

A special form of providing discounts can be based on an electronic coupon system: electronic coupons stored on the user's mobile communication device 20 or by the back office 12 may give various types of discounts (e.g. volume discount, price discount, etc.) in connection with certain merchandizes or any merchandizes. Hungarian patent application P1100732 discloses such an electronic coupon system, the contents of which are fully incorporated as reference.

In case the electronic coupons are also registered with the back office

12 the promotional offer may comprise coupon information of such electronic coupons which can be used by the user 22 when paying for a merchandize (the user-selected merchandize 14 or an other recommended merchandize) to which the promotional offer relates. In this case the coupon information may be retrieved from the database 24 upon receiving the user identification information in the back office 12 and querying what coupons are available to the user 22 that can be used in connection with the merchandize (the user-selected merchandize 14 or an other recommended merchandize) to which the promotional offer relates.

In case coupons are sent to the user 22 as part of the promotional offer users 22 may decide whether to store these coupons in the mobile application for later use, or redeem them while performing payment for the current shopping activity. In this sense coupons may also work as kind of deferred promotions which may be redeemed any time based on the user's preference before the expiry date of the coupon.

The discounts related to the promotional offers and coupons may show up on the display 20c of the mobile communication device 20 of the user 22 in the form of reduced price associated with the selected merchandize.

According to a preferred embodiment the user is allowed to accept one or more promotional offers and is allowed to purchase the merchandize(s) to which the at least one selected promotional offer relates. Preferably this includes allowing the user 22 to select a mode of payment via the mobile communication device 20. The mode of payment can be bank card payment, loyalty card payment, cash payment, partial or complete payment using electronic coupons, etc. An electronic payment request 38 is generated based on the selected payment mode and sent to the back office 12 by the mobile communication device 20 over the communication channel 19 established between the back office 12 and the mobile communication device 20.

The back office 12 either arranges the payment itself like in case of loyalty card payment - deducts the used points or value from the loyalty account balance of the user 22 maintained by the back office 12 or another operator- or in the case of payment using coupons - deactivates the used coupons in the back office 12 or in the user's 22 mobile communication device 20 -, or transfers the payment related information to a cashier desk in ease of cash payment - the payment information may also contain reduced price in case when coupons or loyalty points have been used for partial payment -, or responds with the necessary transaction information to the program 21a like in case of remote bank card payment. Detailed description of carrying out such a mobile remote bank card payment can be found in the international patent application PCT/HU2011/000088. If the back office 12 is authorized to arrange for the payment a confirmation message 40 is generated and sent back to the mobile communication device 20 once the payment has been performed.

In case of specific merchandize types, which can be used directly by, or through the mobile communication device 20 (e.g. tickets to be presented with the NFC interface of the mobile communication device 20, or showing a QR code on the display 20c, or videos to be watched on the device 20) the confirmation information may also serve the purpose to activate the merchandize 14 purchased. In this case advantageously when the merchandize is selected it gets stored in the mobile communication device 20, but it remains inactive, useless, until payment is performed.

Furthermore the payment confirmation information may also contain a specific code which is associated with the at least one merchandize 14 the user 22 was buying. This code represents that the one or more merchandize 14 was paid for, and when presented to a security reader (e.g. by showing the corresponding barcode on the display 20e of the mobile communication device 20, or transmitting the information through the NFC or other proximity interface of the mobile communication device 20) exiting the store 16 is permitted as the security reader (e.g. the security gate 26) can check with the back office 12 the status of the specific transaction the code is referring to, or this information has already been transmitted to it for off-line authorization.

The above-described embodiments are intended only as illustrating examples and are not to be considered as limiting the invention. Various modifications will be apparent to a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of protection determined by the attached claims.

Claims

1. Method for enhancing commercial efficiency comprising:

- reading in merchandize information relating to a merchandize, by a mobile communication device,

- creating a first data package by the mobile communication device which data package comprises the merchandize information,

- electronically sending the first data package to a remote back office over a communication channel,

- processing the first data package whereby at least the merchandize information is retrieved from the first data package,

- providing at least one promotional offer based at least on the merchandize information,

- creating a second data package which comprises the promotional offer,

- electronically sending the second data package to the mobile communication device over a communication channel_s

- processing the second data package whereby at least the promotional offer is retrieved from the data package,

- displaying the promotional offer on a display of the mobile communication device.

2. The method according to claim 1 , Wherein the at least one promotional offer relates to at least one merchandize which can be purchased.

3. The method according to claims 1 or 2, wherein the at least one promotional offer relates to at least one merchandize that is different from the merchandize to which the processed merchandize information relates.

4. The method according to claim 3 wherein the at least Ohe promotional offer comprises merchandize location information relating to the location of the promoted merchandize in a store.

5, The method according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first data package further comprises user identification information and the step of processing the first data package includes, retrieving the user identification information.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the at least one promotional offer is further based on the user identification information.

7. The method according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the at least promotional offer comprises coupons which can be used when paying for a merchandize to which the promotional offer relates.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the first data package further comprises user identification information and the step of processing the first data package includes retrieving the user identification information, and the method further comprises providing the coupon information by retrieving information from a database on the coupons available to the user based on the user identification information and selecting the coupons that can be used in connection with the merchandize to which the promotional offer relates.

9. The method according to any of claims 1 to 8, comprising allowing the user to accept at least one promotional offer and purchase the at least one merchandize to which the at least one promotional offer relates,

10. The method according to claim 9, allowing the user to select mode of payment chosen from a group consisting of bank card payment, loyalty card payment, payment with electronic coupons, cash payment.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein Upon selecting loyalty card payment decreasing the loyalty points registered with the user in accordance with the price of the at least one selected merchandize.

12. The method according to claims 10 or 11 , wherein upon selecting payment with electronic coupons reducing the purchase price in accordance with the electronic coupon value and optionally allowing selecting a further mode of payment.

13. The method according to any of claims 10 to 12, comprising allowing the user to pay with the selected mode of payment for a merchandize and upon the successful completion of payment sending an activation code for the purchased merchandize to the mobile communication device.

14, The method according to any of claims 10 to 13, comprising:

- allowing the user to pay with the selected mode of payment for a merchandize,

- sending an electronic payment performance notice of the performed payment from the back office to the mobile communication device,

- communicating the electronic payment performance notice to a security gate.

15. The method according to any of claims 10 to 13, comprising:

- allowing the user to pay with the selected mode of payment for at least one merchandize,

- sending an electronic payment performance notice of the performed payment from the back office to the mobile communication device, which electronic payment notice allows the deactivation of a security tag placed on the purchased merchandize,

- using the electronic payment performance notice to modify the status of the security tag via the mobile communication device.

16. The method according to any of claims 10 to 13, comprising:

- sending an electronic payment performance notice of the performed payment from the back office to the mobile communication device, which electronic payment notice can be presented to a security control system proving that payment has been performed.

17. The method according to any of claims 10 to 13, comprising:

- sending information about the products being paid for to an electronic security control system to allow the system to compare products leaving the store with products being paid for, and upon discrepancy allowing the control system to initiate action to prevent theft.

18. Method for enhancing commercial efficiency comprising:

- reading in merchandize information relating to a merchandize, by a · mobile communication device,

- electronically receiving a first data package over a communication channel which first data package comprises at least merchandize information read from a merchandize by a mobile communication device,

- providing a promotional offer based at least on the merchandize information, which promotional offer relates to at least one merchandize that can be purchased,

- creating a second data package that comprises the promotional offer,

- electronically sending the second data package to the mobile communication device over a communication channel.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the promotional offer relating to the merchandize comprises merchandize location information relating to the location of the promoted merchandize in a store.

20. The method according to claims 18 or 19, wherein the first data package further comprises user identification information and the step of processing the first data package includes retrieving the user identification information.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the promotional offer is further based on the user identification information.

22. The method according to any of claims 18 to 21 , Wherein the promotional offer comprises coupon information of coupons that can be used when paying for a merchandize to which the promotional offer relates.

23. Method for enhancing commercial efficiency comprising:

- reading in merchandize information placed on a merchandize by a mobile communication device,

- electronically sending the merchandize information to a remote back office over a communication channel,

- providing a promotional offer relating to at least one merchandize based on at least the received merchandize information,

- electronically sending the promotional offer to the mobile communication device over a communication channel,

- allowing for accepting the promotional offer relating to at least one selected merchandize and for paying for the at least one selected merchandize,

- generating an electronic payment performance notice in accordance with the payment of the at least one selected merchandize,

- electronically sending the electronic payment performance notice to the mobile communication device, - using the electronic payment performance notice via the mobile communication device to perform an action selected from a group consisting of deactivating a security tag placed on the purchased merchandise, modifying the content of the security tag, and communicating the electronic payment performance notice to a security gate.