AU2005201055B2 - Customer Relationship Management System And Method - Google Patents

Description

- 1 (followed by I a) Regulation 3.2 AUSTRALIA PATENT ACT, 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT ORIGINAL Name of Applicant: COMPUDIGM INTERNATIONAL LIMITED Actual Inventor: RYAN, Patrick Nicholas, a New Zealand citizen, of Level 16, Compudigm House, 49 3oulcott Street, Wellington, New Zealand Address for service A J PARK, Level 11, 60 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra ACT in Australia: 2601, Australia Invention Title: Customer Relationship Management System And Method The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us. 343107-I CuwtMR MT0oNSmP KANAGU ENT SYStEM AND )ETKOD FIE|LD or rvznoN 5 The invention relates to a customer relationship maaemnt sytem and method. BACKMROND TOEDIYDNUQN The low coat of data storage hardwr has led to the colledoan of largs volumes of 10 data. Merchant, for ample, genate and colct large volumes of data during the course of their business. To compete effectvely, it is neceatry for a merchant to be able to ideAr mnd use infrnatan hidden In the collected data. The task of idsntlWng this hidden information has proved very difficult for merchants. 15 In the as of a promotional campaign on an exuting customer database, it Is often vry difficult for a memhant to estate the efectiveness of the promotional campaign In mary cases, the merchat need. to rnm eval complcated queries on a customer database and so require. vast technical knowledge to formula the appropriata quedes. 20 ilt understandlg the change. in behaviour of different customr demographic1 can be a difficut task, and without much undrtmnding an effective Promotional caMpaign Cannot be Systenatically formulated. 25 OURMWART OP MVUZIOI In broW tenms in one form the invention compries a customer reladIonship ma mnaMt system comprising a mommy in which is maintained an interaction database of intaction data representing Interactions between customer and 30 merchmnta; a retrieval device arranged to reUve from the interaction database, based on a set of criteria, at-leat one target group gubmet of the cuatocser to which promotional ewrts wili be diretd, mud at leat on control group subset of cuStors to which promotional efforts will not be directed; a pmotion analyser ranged to retdeve from the Intuun database data representing interactions 35 involving customer in the target group and/or customs in the control group; and a di a anged to displays reprstation of the retrieved interaciiun data.

In broad terms in another form the invention comprises a method of managing customer rlationuhips comprising the steps Ofmaintainng ht a mmory an interaction database of interaction data representing interactions between customers 5 end merchants; retrieving, based on a set of criteuriat least one target group subset of the customers to which promotional efforts will be directed, and at least onw control group subset of custom to which promotional eforts will not be directed; retrieving from the Interactio database data rprasenting interactione involving customers in the target goup and/or cuStomers in the control group; and displaying 10 a representation of the refrieved Interaction data. In another form In hoad tms the invention comprie. a customer relatonship management computer program which enables mantainng in a memy a interactIon database of interaction data repreatiag Interaction between customers 15 and merchants; retrieving, based en a met of criteria, at least one target gmup subset of the cuetomrs to which promoinal efforts will be directed, and at least one control grup subset of cuutomurs to which promotinat Cifta wfltntbe d.ecMt A etrieving from the interacdon database data, representing interactians involving customers In the target group and/or customers in the control group; and displaying 20 a representatin of the retrieved inraton data, 2 ra DESCRPTION OF TEE PIGURES Prefened forms of the customer relationship management system and method wil now be described with reference to the accompanyig fgures in which: 5 Figure 1 show. a block diagram of the system in which one form of the invention may be implemented; Figure 2 shqws the preferred system architecture of hardware on which the present 10 invention may be implemented showing the promotion manager and promotion anaer Figum 3 is a flowchart showing operation of the promotion manager of Figure 2; 15 Figures 4 to 10 are screen shots showing use of the preferred promotion manager of Figure. 2; Figure 11 is a campaign screen; 20 Figure 12 is a flow chart showing operation of the promotion analyser of Figure 2; Figure 13 is an example display produced by the promotion analyser of Figure 2; and Figures 14 to 16 show typical display. geneuted for a user identifying trends in 25 customer demographic groups. DBTAUD DsCmtlP N OF PfREPRRED PORA Figure I ilmustrates a block diagram of the preferred system 10 in which one form of 30 the present invention may be Implemented. The system includes cue or mom cents 20 for exmple 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20E and 20F, which each may comprise a personal computer or workstation described below. Each client is interfaeed to the system 10 an shnwn in Figure 1. Each client 20 could be connected tu ti byutCm 10 through a local area network or LAN, or could be connected through the Internet. 35 3 Clients 20A and 20B, for example, re connected to a network 22, such as a local area network or IAN. The network 22 could be connected to a suitamc network server 24 and communicate with the et of the system 10 as shown. Client 20C is shown connected dhectly to the system. Clients 20D, 20E and 20F are shown 5 connected to the system 10 through the Internet 26. Client 20D is shown as connected to the Internet 26 with a dial-up onnection and chats 20E and 20? are shown connected to a network 28 such as a local area network or LAN, with the network 28 connected to a suitable network server 30. 10 The preferred system 10 further comprises a data repository 40, for example a data warehouse maintained in a memory. It is envisaged that the data repository may alternatively comprise a single database, a collection of databases, or a data mart. The preferred data repository 40 includes data from a variety of source.. The data repository may include, for example, interaction data 42 representing interactions 15 between customers and merchants, as will be more particular described below. The data repository may also include data from other sources, for example census data 44, scan data 46 obtained from scanning barcode. on products, data from merchant customer databases 48, data from merchant loyalty prograens 50 and/or promotion data 52 held by a merchant or other organisation. The preferred 20 data repository 40 could be implemented on an AIX database platrm in RM (Sybase adaptive aerver% Sybase IQ and/or SQS. One preferred form of the system 10 further comprises an application server platform 60 intefaced to the daa repository 40 via a Gigabit network. The server platform 60 25 preferably operate under Windows NT or any other suitable operating and applcatio software. The server platform 60 preferably includes a data memory 62, a regnest server 64 and a multi-media server 66. A user of the system, for example a merchant, could request the creation of a business object which could be a data viSmalisatijn in the form of a map or graph. The system 10 preferably includes a 30 specific memory 68 known as a SeeStore in which such business object creation requests are placed. The request server 64 is interfaced to the Seetore 68 and passes the requests on to the multi-media server 66. The multi-media server 66 creates the requested husin*e object and stores this business object in the SeeStore 68. The resulting business objects am then displayed on a client workstation 20, as 35 wi be described below. 4 A flanker preferred form system 10 includes a metadata interpreter 70 and a memory 72 specIfic for storing metadata. The metadata store 72 and the metadata interpreter 70 enable the system to be mapped onto diverse business domains, while still presenting a very simple interface to the end user. The combination enable 5 business rules to be encoded in a way which is domain independent Figure 2 shows the pferred system architecture of a client 20. The computer system 100 typically comprises a central processor 102, a main memory 104 for example RAM and an input/output controller 106. The computer system 100 also 10 comprises periphrala such as a keyboard 108, a pointing device 110 for example a mouse, track ball or touch pad, a display or screen device 112, a mass storage memory 114, for example a bard disk, floppy disk or optical disc, and an output device 116 for example a printer, The system 100 could also include a network interface cand or controller 118 and/or a modem 120. The individual components of 15 the system 100 could communicate through a system bus 122. The preferred client system 100 further comprises a promotion manager 130 and a promotion analyzer 140 stored in the mass storage memory 114. The functionality of the promotion manager 130 and promotion analyser 140 is further described below. 20 It is envisaged that the promotion managr 130 and promotion analyser 140 could be installed on individual client machines 20, could be installed on the application server 60 or could be installed on a further server in the system 10. In one form the invention is arranged to display data representing customer 25 rnationsip involving one or more merchants. Typically, a merchant will operate in a commercial premises or store from which a customer purchases goods or services. The merchant may, for example, operate a petrol station in one or more geographic locations. The merchant may alternatively operate a wagering or betting service, or operate a casino or other gaming facity in which a number of gaming machines and 30 stations are positioned in one or more rooms at a common venue. The merchant may also operate a warehouse facility, manufacturing facility, car parking premises, telecommunications network or web site. The merchant may also offer a range of financial or insurance services. 35 The merchant does not necessarily need to operate from a commercial premises or store. For sample, the merchant may operate from strategically placed machines 5 for example vending machine or amusement machine The merchant may also operate a man order catalogue service operate a cell centre, direct market goods or services, or operate from a webeite or other electronic medium. It will be appreciated that the nature of business of a merchant includes a wide range of activities. As a customer interacts with a merchant, the interaction generates interaction data which is then migrated to the data repository 40. The interaction data could be stored in a number of records in a relational databae. Each record may include a merchant identifier used to identify a particular merchant, and where a merchant 10 operates from more than one geographic location, the merchant identfier or some other identifier included in the record may identifry the geographic location in which the interaction occurs. The record could also-include a customer identifier. The merchant may, for example, 15 issue an te-aupported customer loyalty card which is then used by the customer during interactions with the merchant. The loyalty card preferably has stored on it a customer identifier and may have stored other data, for example residential address and family size of the customer. Such data is stored in loyalty programme database 50 and could be migrated to the data repository 40. 20 Where the merchant operates retail premises, the merchant may have installed apparatus fMr reading the bar codes of products sold Akernatively, each product may be identified by a code assigned by the merchant which is recorded at the time of sale. Such data is stored in a scan database 46 and could be migrated to the data 25 repository 40. In this way, the record may also include a suitable goods or services identifier, for example a product or service code to identify which goods or services were involved in the interaction. The record may also include data such as the date and/or time at which the 30 interaction between the customer and merchant took place and/or the cash value of the transaction. The interaction data in migrated to the data repository 40, generally by way of daily Updates or in real time. It is advantageous to cleanse, catalogue and validate the 35 interaction data during migrazion of the data to the data repository, and this task could be performed by either the merchant or by a third party. Once stored in the 6 data repository 40, the data could be linked to other sources of data for subsequent retieval, for example the census data 44, scan data 46, data from the merchant customer databa 48, data from a merchant loyalty programme s and/or promotion data 52 held by the merchant. 5 The data repository 40 could be maintained by a merchant or alternatively could be maintained by a third party. Updates to the data repository could be carried out by the merchant directly, or alternativey the merchant could provide batched data to a third party for updating the data. Alternatively, a third party could be entrusted with 10 the task of collecting the interaction data and migrating the data to the data repository. It is good commercial practice for a merchant to conduct campaigns to attract more business from existing customers and also to attract new customers. Rferring to 15 Figure 3, a preferred form of the invention permits a user to define a campaign, indicated at 200. Details of the campaign are stored in memory, for example the SeeStore 68. As shown at 202, the user defines a promotional group as part of the campaign. This promotional group may be selected on characteristics such as age group, gender, and/or other criteria, as will be particularly described below. 20 It is envisaged that the promotional group could comprise all customers stored in memory having stod transactions with a particular merchant. Alternatively the promotional group could comprise a subset of the group of Customers having stored transactions with a particular merchant. Where data involving more than one 25 merchant is stored in memory, the promotional group could comprise customers having stored transactions with different merchants. As a further alternative, it is envisaged that the promotional group could include customers not having stored transaction with a particular merchant, for emple 30 potential customers. The term "customers" as used in the specficaton includes potential customer Once the promotional group has been defined by the user, that promotional group is stored in memory. The system could store, for eanple, the set of customer 35 identifier. uniquely identifying the aet of customers. 7 Once the pmmotional group ha been identied and stred, the usr idetin a subset of the prcmodonal.group to which promotional efforts will be directed. This subset is called the target smup as indicated at 204. The customer idennhre of customers in the target goup ae stord in nom-y 5 The target group could comprise the enire promotional group, or it could comprise a subset of the pumodonul group. In one prfurrod farm the use may bc pcrmlttad to wlnt the se of the target group, fbr example. The members of the targt group could be ae'cted at random or could be elected by the usr from a list displayed to 10 the user. Once the target ioup Is Identifed and stored, the yetm definas a control grup, aS indicMtd at 206. The control group in useg in asesing the sfetivsus of a campaign, as will be dehcrbod below. 15 Tbe control roup is a subset of customers in the promotional group which arn not in the target group. The control aup is .pwarr Wdat~d by a act of customer Identir and is sanrd in many. It is envisagad that the control group will be .PPr"'"l'"te the am i as the rget group. Altrnaiv*, the control group 20 noi be Iar r rnII1 than the target group. It is envisaged that the target roup and/or control group could be compiled by rand=n* selecting cuatomera from the promodonal group. The prefnerd an permits one or more target groups and one or more central 25 groups to be denied and staed for each prowodonal group, as indicated at 208 and 210, In turn, the preferred quizm permits one or more promotional goup. to be defined and mored for each empalgn, as Indicated at 212. The user may also selet mare than one campaign, as Indicated at 214, 30 Once the target groups) an stored, the user may retrieve successive target groups from mmy. Using the customer identifiers from the target group, the watam can rtrien Atz infonnation from memory about oach customer, for example contact details, using the customer Idenfder as & primay ke. a The preferred system may permit the user to select a particular target group and then generate a mailing list automatically. It will be appreciated that a single campaign may target distinct promotional groups. These distinct promotional groups may have different demographics and personal characterisdcs and so S promotion may be taiored depending on the characteristic of the individual promotionalgroups. For example, a group of elderly women may require a different =um of promodonal initiatives to another group consisting Prmrily of young males. 10 The preferred system provides a simple wisard to assist a user in defining individual promotinal groups. This wizard wil now be described with reference to Figures 4 to 10 in a series of seven simple steps. Figure 4 shows the window presented to the user when first selecting the wizard. 15 The preferred window comprises a query panel 300, a group summary panel 302, and a group percentage 304. Figure 4 Illustrates the first query presented to the user in the query panel 300. The user is asked whether the user wishes to specify an age group or whether the age group is not important to the user. Preferably, the user is provided with a drop down list box permitting the user to select the 20 appropriate age category. The group summary panel 302 shows the user which characteristics have been selected to date to define the promotional group. The preferred characteristics ae age, sex or gender, spending habits, visit frequency and address mesh block or area. 25 It is envisaged that this list of characteristics may be reduced or may be added to by a user. Panel 304 shows the percentage of the available customers the new promotional group represents. Initially, the new group represents all available customers. 30 Using the buttons on the navigational panel 306, the user may navigate between the different steps. As shown in Figure 5, the age of the group is not important to the user and has not 35 been selected. The information is indicated to the user in the group summary panel in Figure 5. As shownin Figure 5, the user may select a particular gender. 9 Refening to Figure 6, the user has specifed that the promotional group must be males and so this criteria is shown in the group summary panel in Figure 6. The group percentage panel in Figure 6 has been updated to show that the current 5 promotional group comprises half of the avalable customers. The query panel in Figure 6 allows the user to specify the average amount of money spent per visit by the customer of interest. The categories could be, for example, less than $10, $10 $50, $50-$2oo, $2o0-$1,000, $1,000-$10,000 and/or greater than $10,000. 10 Referring to Figure 7, the user has specified that the promotional group must spend between $10 to $50 on average per visit at the casino. The group summary panel in Figure 7 is updated to reflect this information and the promotional group now represents 29% of the available customers. The user may specify in the query panel the average number of times individual customers visit the casino. The categories 15 could be, for enunple, once a year, once every six months, once every three months, once a month, once every two days, once a week, twice a week, once a day and/or twice a day. Referring to Figure 8, the group summary panel is updated with the visit frequency 20 specified as once a month and the promotimal group now represents 11% of the avaable customers. The query panel in Figure 8 displays a topographical map of the region. The preferred map is centred around the location of the casino with ams defined as concentric circles centered on the casino, further divided into quadrants. The user may select one or more areas in the vicinity of the casino by 25 clicking in the area of interest. This selects customers who reside in a particular area, or whose customer provenance is within the selected quadrant. As shown in Figure 8, the particular area selected is shaded. It will be appreciated that the user may select more than one area, for example by holding down a control 30 key and clicking in two or more areas. Alternatively, the user may click in one area and drag the cursor over more than one area while holding down the mouse button to select neighboring sectors. The map may also be provided with scroll bars to permit the user to select areas not immediately visible in the query window. The system may also provide the user with buttons to adjust the scale of the map. 35 10 As shown in Figure 9, the user may enter a group description and store this description with the promotional group. For example, there may be some characteristic behaviour which can be associated with the particular group and entering this characteristic behaviour may assist a user to recall the reasons behind 5 selection of the individual characteristics. As shown in Figure 10, the user may specify a descriptive name by which to index the group and this descriptive name is updated in the group summary panel. 10 Referring to Figure 11, the system provides the user with a campaign screen to ailow users to define promotions and associate them with particular campaigns. The campaign screen may comprise, for example, a campaign panel 350, a promotion panel 352 and a graph panel 354 showing graphical representations of individual promotion durations. 15 Campaign panel 350 may display, for example, a campaign identifier, description explanation and notes relating to the campaign, and other details, for example the beginning and end dates for the campaign. The campaigns are preferably stored in memory and indexed by a campaign identifier. 20 The promotion panel 352 displays to the user the individual promotions forming part of a particular campaign. The promotion panel in particular displays Carateritics of the promotion. Individual promotions are preferably stored in memory, together with and indexed by a promotion idenfier and preferably also by a campaign 25 identifier. The graph panel 354 could display to the user the durations of individual promotions, together with start dates and end dates. The graph panel may include a legend identifying the individual promotions and may also include the promotion 30 identifier (shown as a 5 digit promotion number) and the promotion name. The campaign window preferably includes navigation buttons shown at the bottom of the screen permitting the user to navigate between promotions and to navigate between campaigns. 35 11 Once a campaign has been identified and Is under way, it in important for the merchant to monitor the efcdvansu of the campaign as a whole and of dividual promotion. within the campaign. The system provides a promodon analyser to assist the uer in this regard. Figure 12 ilustraica the preferred method followed by 5 the promotion analyser. The promotion analyser begsi by removing from mormy the oanpaign to be anaml y "i-cated eneraly at 400. Preferably the cmpaiga Identider is used as a primary eey to reimn an indlviduai campaign. Once the campaign han been 10 mtr kold fom mamoay, the individual promotions associated with that campaign are also retired from memory, indicated at 402. Target groups and control groups relevant to a particular promotion are then etreved from mmory, a indate at 404 and 406 rapectively. 15 Once the target end control gaupa have been retrieved from memory, 1"";'"*"""' 2amth. target group and central group are displayed on a client display device a indicated at 408 and 410 rupectiv*. FIgure 13 flnustratea how the qaysm may display reopmnuttona of the target and control groups. The 20 invEntio in -e prrTd g-m could be &MaMd to diplay ga c urad aoprcentation of data auriposed on a gruphcal spatial repreentation of the prmie of the merchant gnerated by the qstem. Contoured npresentatn are frther decribed I= our patent eWIcation WO 00/77682 to Compudlgm Jntmemtonal Lihme, fled on 14 June 2000 entitled "Data visualiuation system and 25 method" which is Inorparuted by refuranm. Fipe 13 iiustrates one auqI af a display generated by the system where the merchant operats a casino or alziar pming venue. In this example, a presentation of the meant i genrted md dIsplyed in acordance with the 30 invention. The gaphici represntaion comprise a apa re-resNttion=of e n ama of the caino showing the k*out of individual gaming machinem and station. It will be appMeiated that where a mohat operates from a retai store, the graphics rmpraentan could include a grapic' apatial repreentation of the store. 35 W&ere the merchant opuratm from a number of retail stors, the graphical cpumantst could hickde spatial reprefentations of each tore and could also 12 Include a large scale map of the geog hicmj area in which the merchant's stores are located. Where the merchant operates a warehouse, the representations could show the 5 layout of various goods stored by the merchant. When the merchant provides services, for example financial services, the representation could include schematic represenmtias of the different areas of services offered by the merchant. Referring to Figure 13, the system may display a graphical representation of the 10 promotion or target group shown at 500 and may also display phally a representation of the control group indicated at 502. Panels 500 and 502 show the layout of individual waning machines, one of which is indicated at 504. Using customer identifier, as primary keys, the system retrieves data on each 15 customer from nemoay. This data could include, for example, dates and times of visits to the casing and details of individual transactions. This data is superimpoeed on the spatial presentation of the casino shown in panels 500 and 502. The preferred system represents these inancial details as contours around or adjacent to individual. gaming machine The example provided in Figure 13, for example, 20 contours the inf ation based on net revenue. This net revenue could be obtained by the sum of the total money spent by individual customers at the casino during the period of interest. The revenue for each machine is prefezbly graphically represented adjacent or near 25 to the repreentatjon of the indivudal machine. There are a fEmite number of machines in the casino, and the individual revenues generated from each machine represent a finite set of data values. These data values are graphically illustrated as data points in the representations 500 and 502. 30 The Pfltted zpreaentations are colour-coded and the value of revenue of each machine is lutrated by representing the corresponding data points in the appropriate colour to represent the correct value of revenue of each machine. The areas of the mpmsentations 500 and 502 around each data point are shown as 35 contours. The nature of the contours for each data point are preferably represented to pradually drop oJ' or fall away from each data point. Each data point could be 13 presented by x and y co-ordinaes indicating the relative position of each data point in the peSentation. Each data point could also have a z value representing the height or magnitude of the data point. This z value could indicate, for example, the revenue or data value at a particular data point. Each data value is therefore 5 centred on a data point Net revenue is one of the key performance indicators (10P) which may be represented. Other indicators could be turnover, vales, gross profit, net profit, gross margin return on inventory investment (CMROII), net margin return on inventory investment 10 (NMROII), and return on net asaset (RONA). A legend may be displayed to the user to assist in clarifying the information presented in panels 500 and 502. 15 The promotion analyser permits the user to examine a visualisatin of interaction data involving customers. This data visaliatton is a useful complement to other reporting tool. such as the use of charts and graphs. The promotion analyzer permits a user to make sense of and obtain useful data without requiring technical knowledge. Patterns in the data can be quickly identified and compared. 20 For example, by displaying representations of the target group in panel 500 and displaying representations of the control group in panel 502, the user can quickly and readily identify the effects a campaign has had on the behaviour of the customers. 25 It is envisaged that the system may display to the user snapshots at particular times and dazes throughout a particular campaign. The system may altenatively or in addition display to the user animated sequences of customer behaviour over a period selected by the user. 30 The promotion analyser may also automatically correct for effects extemal to the promotion. For example, external factors such as school holidays, weather, and the economy in general, may effect the behaviour of individual customers. Them factors will affect the customers in a promotional group, whether or not the customer is in a 35 target group. 14 The promotion analyuar may, for enmple, subfct the weighted offet of the control group In a promotion gmup from the target group in that promotion group, This removes the noise from the data sample, leaving only data patterns directly attributable to the promotion or campaign. S In somechmmna, a user will wish to ldent* urnd in interactions with cutomr of a particular demogaphIc categoy. As described above, the invenion enables a promotional group of customers to be defined using a @et of criteria The set of rteria used to define such a gmup is refaed to as a praie. Such a pmfle 10 could be aU fMaln under 21 who an customers of a mchanL Such a profile Is an. abstract dftdon of a set of behaviors to which customers mWa conform in order to qualify for group membership. Alternatively, the profde could be simply a Aied group of customers, changing through time. 15 The set of customers who are wmbero of a group during a given time period to Iown as a tnapahot of the prfile. Such a snapshot could Inchde all members of a given proSe Irc with a merchant on a particular day. The Invention prferably cnablo. an arbitray mnber of Mnapehot of a proIl, to be amated, and display to a us time series raiphs of (PI. associated with the anapohots. 20 figure 14 illustrate. a ypical. display presented to a user, which would allow a user to quickly Identify changing trends within different castomer grouping. The invention is prefirly arranged to enab a user to defne arbitry events which could be overlayed on the tie series graphs, fir enmple promotions or external 25 even which sq Impact c= businw Iis. figure 14 show. two time series graphs for a set of anapshots for a profle of under 21 females who are cutlhrs of a particular merchant. The profile criteria are preferably shown in panel 600. The profile criteria have preferably been defined 30 usIng the Wizard described above with reference to Pgires 4 to 10. The invention could also display notes regarding the particular profile In panel 602 and a profile description in panel 604. Penal 606 preferably shows a bar chart containing all the KIG' moasurd for the S5 currently selected snapshot expressed as a percentage of these EPIs for a customers over the snapshot interval. Such EPIA could include, a Shown in FIgure 14, 15tumover, patron count, trip count, time played and occupancy. The same data could be shown numcricaly in panel 608. Display panel 610 graphically displays two Ki, turnover and trip count. It is 5 envisaged that the user could select other n shots by using a poitng devie to select the apprcprate snapshot on the time series charts shown at 612. Shown at 614 is a pmotional event instituted by a merchant, for example happy hour. It can be readily idntifie froM the re sentation shown in Figure 14 that the customer 9=op I this particular Profile shows increased turnover and trip count during the 10 course of the promote Referring to Figure 15, the invention could display in panel 620 a pre-defined quety called leaves and joiners, which would unable a merchant to identify those customers who have left, joined or remained in a profile over a predefined time 15 interval by performing the appropriate set operation on two snapshots of the profile. Mtemnatively, as shown in Figure 16, panel 630 could display the results of a further query enabling a user to identify members of a profile who have visited more or less than a certain threshold number of times, or who have spent more or less than a 20 threshold amount during a time period, over an arbitrazy time period. Such members could be the su4ect of a further promotion. In summary, the invention provides a customer relationship manaement system and method designed to assist a merchant to manage campaipns involving 25 customers of that merchant. The invention provides a system and method of selecting customers to include in a campaign and a system and method for evaluating the effectiveness of that campaign The invention also enables a user to track changes in customer habits over time. 30 The foregoing describes the invention including preferred fozus thereof Altratin and modification as will be obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be incorporad within the scope here, as defined by the accompanying claims, 16

Claims (21)

1. A customer relationship management system comprising: a memory in which is maintained an interaction database of interaction data 5 representing interactions between customers and merchants; retrieval means arranged to retrieve, based on a set of criteria, a promotional group subset of the customers stored in the interaction database wherein the promotional group subset of the customers consists of customers having stored transactions with a particular merchant, and the promotional group 10 subset including at least one target group of customers to which promotional efforts will be directed and at least one control group of customers to which promotional efforts will not be directed, and wherein the target group of customers and the control group of customers are based on the same set of criteria other than promotional efforts; 15 a promotion analyzer arranged to retrieve from the interaction database data representing interactions involving customers in the promotional group; and display means arranged to display a representation of the retrieved interaction data and arranged to allow examination of the target group and the control group of customers, which enables the control group to be useful in 20 assessing effectiveness of the promotional efforts,

2. A customer relationship management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the promotion analyser is arranged to retrieve from the interaction database data 25 representing interactions involving customers in the target group and data representing interactions involving customers in the control group,

3. A customer relationship management system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the retrieval means is arranged to randomly select the target group and/or 30 control group from the promotional group.

4. A customer relationship management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the promotion analyser is arranged to retrieve from the interaction database data representing interactions involving customers in the promotional group during a first 35 time period and a second time period, I5

5. A customer relationship management system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display means is further arranged to display a graphical representation of at least one merchant and to superimpose representations of the data retrieved from the interaction database on the 5 representation of the merchant.

6. A customer relationship management system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the merchant operates from one or more commercial premises, the graphical representation comprising a spatial representation of the premises of the merchant. 10

7. A customer relationship management system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display means is further arranged to display a topological map showing the origin of customers in merchant customer interactions. 15

8. A method of managing customer relationships comprising: maintaining in a memory an interaction database of interaction data representing interactions between customers and merchants: retrieving, based on a set of criteria, a promotional group subset of the customers stored in the interaction database wherein the promotional group subset 20 of the customers consists of customers having stored transactions with a particular merchant, and the promotional group subset including at least one target group of customers to which promotional efforts will be directed and at least one control group of customers to which promotional efforts will not be directed, and wherein the target group of customers and the control group of customers are based on the 25 same set of criteria other than promotional efforts; retrieving from the interaction database data representing interactions involving customers in the promotional group; and displaying a representation of the retrieved interaction data and allowing examination of the target group and the control group of customers, which enables 30 the control group to be useful in assessing effectiveness of the promotional efforts.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 further comprising: retrieving from the interaction database data representing interactions involving customers in the 35 target group and data representing interactions involving customers in the control group. 19

10. A method as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9 further comprising retrieving data through random selection of the target group and/or control group from the promotional group, 5

11. A method as claimed in claim 8 further comprising: retrieving from the interaction database data representing interactions involving customers in the promotional group during a first time period and a second time period.

12. A method as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 11 further comprising: 10 displaying a graphical representation of at least one merchant and superimposing representations of the data retrieved from the interaction database on the representation(s) of the merchant.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the merchant operates from one or 15 more commercial premises, the graphical representation comprising a spatial representation of the premises of the merchant.

14. A method as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 13 further comprising: displaying a topological map showing the origin of customers in merchant customer 20 interactions.

15. A customer relationship management computer program embodied on a computer readable medium comprising: an interaction database of interaction data representing interactions 25 between customers and merchants maintained in a memory; retrieval means arranged to retrieve, based on a set of criteria, a promotional group subset of the customers stored in the interaction database wherein the promotional group subset of the customers consists of customers having stored transactions with a particular merchant, and the promotional group 30 subset including at least one target group of customers to which promotional efforts will be directed and at least one control group of customers to which promotional efforts will not be directed, and wherein the target group of customers and the control group of customers are based on the same set of criteria other than promotional efforts; 35 a promotion analyser arranged to retrieve from the interaction database data representing interactions involving customers in the promotional group: and 20 display means arranged to display a representation of the retrieved interaction data and arranged to allow examination of the target group and the control group of customers, which enables the control group to be useful in assessing effectiveness of' the promotional efforts. 5

16. A computer program as claimed in claim 15, wherein the promotion analyser is arranged to retrieve from the interaction database data representing interactions involving customers in the target group and data representing interactions involving customers in the control group. 10

17. A computer program as claimed in claim 15 or claim 16, wherein the retrieval means is arranged to randomly select the target group and/or control group from the promotional group. 15

18. A computer program as claimed in claim 15, wherein the promotion analyser is arranged to retrieve from the interaction database data representing interactions involving customers in the promotional group during a first time period and a second time period. 20

19. A computer program as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein the display means is further arranged to display a graphical representation of at least one merchant and to superimpose representations of the data retrieved from the interaction database on the representations of the merchant. 25

20. A computer program as claimed in claim 19, wherein the merchant operates from one or more commercial premises, the graphical representation comprising: a spatial representation of the premises of the merchant.

21. A computer program as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 20, wherein the 30 display means is further arranged to display a topological map showing the origin of customers in merchant customer interactions.