ITMI991914A1 - PROCEDURE AND SYSTEM FOR MONITORING TRENDS TO PURCHASES - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION of the industrial invention entitled:

"PROCEDURE AND SYSTEM FOR MONITORING TRENDS TO PURCHASES"

DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a process and a system for monitoring purchasing trends and, more particularly, a process and a system for monitoring the volume and purchasing or sales trends of retail purchases.

Background Discussion

With the advent of the optical scanning device, manufacturers have at their disposal sophisticated data resources for analyzing retail purchases, provided by companies such as ems, Nielsen, and IRI. Data provided by these companies has developed in recent years, and provides manufacturers and retailers with detailed prospects of business trends and consumer behavior. Although manufacturers and retailers have improved and expanded their knowledge of their trades or businesses and consumers, the ability to react to these trends still remains limited. Under current conditions, the ability to react typically involves a post-trend ratio of 2-4 weeks and a period or so-called "turnaround" of 4-8 weeks for the execution of traditional media or supports, such as print media. By the time market trends and implemented response tactics are analyzed, it is often too late to react to trends or to implement response tactics. The time required by traditional media to implement response tactics may also be too long to take advantage of the analysis. Furthermore, these companies do not offer automated systems in which trend adaptations are implemented automatically.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a trend monitoring method and system which enables manufacturers to monitor volume and purchasing trends by reacting rapidly to purchasing dynamics of varying categories.

Another object of the invention is to provide a process and a system for monitoring trends which enable manufacturers to monitor purchasing volumes and trends by reacting in real time to purchasing dynamics of varying categories.

A further object of the invention is to provide a system and method that analyzes transactional scanner device data at the store / chain level, establishes trends within these data, and automatically reacts to them by distributing communications specifically addressed directly to consumers.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a system and process that analyzes transactional scanner device data at the store / chain level, establishes trends within this data, and automatically reacts to it by distributing specifically addressed or directly oriented coupons or coupons. to consumers.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a system and method offering real-time response to measurable trends when they occur at the level of individual stores or at the level of chain stores.

These and other purposes can be achieved by a trend response system having a point-of-sale system, a host or central processing system connected to the point-of-sale system, and a trend analysis system. electronically linked with the central system. The central system may have means for chaining a trend with a desired response, and the trend analysis system may have means for generating an instruction to produce an action in the store system to respond to the trend. The action can be an instruction to the central system. The trend analysis system may also comprise means for transferring the instruction to produce action in the point of sale system to respond to the trend. The point of sale system may also have a printer for printing a coupon in response to the instruction or means for issuing a discount for a product purchased in response to the instruction.

The trending system may have means for generating a response in the store system to a trend, an Internet connection, means for transmitting e-mails or e-mails related to the response using the connection, and means for transmitting information related to the response in the form of a "web" page. The trend analysis system may also comprise means for transmitting e-mail messages containing selected promotional information based on an analyzed trend using the Internet connection, and means for automatically transmitting selected trend-related promotional information to a web page on the Internet.

The store system may have a viewer or display and the trend analysis system may comprise means for generating a response in the store system to a trend and means for generating information related to the response to be displayed on the viewer. The store system may also have an electronic self-price tag and the trending system may comprise means for generating a response in the store system to a trend including the change in a price of a product displayed by the electronic self-pricing label.

The store system may have a transactional data store storing transactional data related to purchases made using the store systems and the trend analysis system may include means to automatically generate a desired response to a shopping trend using the transactional data .

The point of sale system may also have an operational data file storing operational parameters for the point of sale system. The operational data archive can store information related to at least one of a voucher or coupon associated with a purchase product, a price for the product and a discount for the product. The means for automatically generating the desired response may have means for automatically generating instructions for updating operational parameters. The means to automatically generate the instruction updating the operating parameters can activate the generation of the coupon, vary the price of the product or activate the discount for the product.

When the store system has a transactional data store storing transactional data, the trending system may comprise a computer programmed to automatically generate a desired response to a shopping trend using the transactional data. The store system may also have an operational data file storing operating parameters for the store system and the computer may be programmed to automatically generate an instruction updating the operational parameters. The operational data archive can also store information related to a coupon associated with the purchase product, a price for the product and a discount for the product. The computer can be programmed to generate an instruction to activate coupon generation, vary the price of the product, or activate the discount for the product.

The host system may have means for chaining a shopping trend or a volume trend of a purchased product by employing the point of sale system with a desired promotion, the trending system may include means for automatically generating an instruction to produce a action in the point of sale system to respond to at least one of the trends by employing the promotion. The point of sale system can be a transactional data store storing transactional data and the trend analysis system can determine the buying or liking trend or the trend or volume using the transactional data. The host or central system may include means for generating information containing the buying or liking trend or the "share" trend or the volume trend with the desired promotion and the means for automatically generating instructions may produce the action using that information.

When the point of sale system comprises the transactional data store, the host system may comprise means for generating information linking the trend to share or volume with the desired promotion and the trend analysis system may comprise means for automatically generating an instruction. to produce an action in the point of sale system to respond to one of the trends by employing promotion, transactional data storage and information.

The trend analysis system may have a database storing promotional information and a computer connected to the database. The host system may have means for chaining a trend with a desired response, and the trending system may have means for generating an instruction to produce an action in the store system in response to a trend using the promotional information. The point of sale system may also have a memory for storing promotional information and the trending system may have means for automatically generating an instruction for updating the promotional information in the memory using the promotional information stored in the database.

The point of sale system may have a viewer or display and the trend analysis system may comprise means for selecting promotional information from the database and transferring the selected promotional information to the point of sale system for display on the display. The point of sale system may also have a memory for storing information related to the terms of a promotional offer and the trending system may have means for automatically generating an instruction updating the terms of the promotional offer using the promotional information stored in the database. of data.

The point of sale system may also have an electronic self-price tag and the trending system may have means of varying a price of the product displayed by the electronic self-price tag using the promotional information stored in the database. .

The system may also consist of a master / slave or master / slave configuration in which the master or master terminal contains the trending system. In some configurations, other point of sale terminals (slave or slave terminals) can be connected with the master terminal. The master terminal can contain all the information and all the hardware necessary for the operation of a complete point of sale system. The trending system can adjust the terminal operating parameters to respond to trending.

These and other purposes may also be achieved by a method for analyzing trends comprising the steps of collecting transactional data related to a product purchase, analyzing at least one trend using the transactional data and automatically generating a response to the trend. Information linking the trend with the response can be generated and the response can be generated automatically using the information and transactional data. Transactional data can be collected using a point-of-sale system, and education can be automatically generated at the point-of-sale system to respond to the trend using transactional data.

Promotional information can be stored in the point of sale system and the instruction can be automatically generated to the point of sale system to respond to the trend using promotional information. The automatic generation of the instruction may also include updating the promotional information stored in the point of sale system.

The method may also include the steps of generating information linking a trend with a desired response and automatically generating the response using the information and transactional data. The generation of the information may include determining at least one of the share or liking and volume values using the transactional data, and correlating a desired response with at least one of the desired share and volume values, comparing at least one of the desired share and volume values. and a respective one of the share and volume values determined using the transactional data, and automatically implement the desired response based on the comparison.

Transactional data can be collected using a point of sale system and an instruction can be automatically generated to the point of sale system to respond to the trend using transactional data. Promotional information may also be stored in the point of sale system and automatic generation of the instruction to the point of sale system is performed using the promotional information. The use of promotional information may include printing a voucher or coupon, reducing a product price, or discounting a product. The automatic generation of the instruction may include updating the promotional information.

Promotional information can be stored remote from the point of sale system and the response can be generated automatically by transmitting the promotional information to the system. Promotional information can be stored in the point of sale system and the response can be generated automatically by automatically updating the promotional information stored in the point of sale system.

The process may also include the steps of electronically displaying the price of a product and automatically updating the price and trend response.

The automatic trend response may include generating a direct electronic communication containing promotional information to prospective purchasers of the product and automatically transmitting information containing the promotional information for transmission over the Internet. Information can be automatically transmitted for viewing at a company offering the product for sale.

The method may also comprise generating information linking at least one trend with a response, and automatically generating the response using the transactional information and data. The procedure may also include determining at least one of the share or liking values and the volume for product purchases and comparing at least one of the share and volume values with "historical" share and volume values for product purchases. " done if implementing the desired promotion can be based on comparison, and the response can be selectively implemented automatically using comparison.

The method may also comprise the steps of determining at least one of the share and volume information using the transactional data, generating concatenating chaining information of at least a desired share and volume value with a desired promotion, determining whether to implement the desired promotion in based on the comparison of at least one of the determined share and volume information with the respective desired share and volume information, and automatically selectively implement the desired promotion.

The invention may also take the form of a computer program comprising a recording medium or medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete evaluation of the invention and many of the consequent advantages thereof will be readily obtained as it is better understood with reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the system according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the system according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of response generating programs residing in the central or host systems and trends;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a response generation program residing in the trend system;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a shop system;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a third embodiment of the system according to the invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of the operation of the system according to the invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of generating trend responses according to the invention, and FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating steps of FIG. 6 in more detail.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED FORMS OF REALIZATION

Referring now to the drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate identical or corresponding parts in the various views, a first embodiment of the invention will be described. FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a first embodiment of the system according to the invention. Shop systems 1 are connected to central or guest system 2. A trend system 4 is connected to the guest system 2. An input device 5 allows information to be entered into the trend system 4 or "trend system". A data base 3 is also connected to the trend system 4 and stores data used by the trend system 4. An Internet connection 7 connects the trending system 4 to the Internet network allowing for electronic mail or "email" or other direct electronic communication capability 8 and connection to web pages 9.

The shop systems 1 generally consist of point-of-sale or "point-of-sale" computer systems having terminals which are capable of reading a bar code printed on the packaging of a product. System 1 may also distribute discount coupons or coupons based on a customer's purchases, and may also provide discounts. Such a system is described in US Patent US 5612 868 assigned to the assignees of the present application, the description of which is incorporated herein by reference. In this case, the shop systems 1 correspond to the shop control unit 10 and associated elements positioned in a shop. The central or host system 2 according to the present application corresponds with the host or central computer 12 and the data base 22 which control communications with the control units of individual stores and is responsible for generating various accounting information, as described in US Patent US 5612 868. The shop systems 1 are remotely chained with the host system 2 by means of the line 18 which may, for example, consist of a telephone line or other communications link. The trending system 4 can also be remotely chained with the central or host system 2 or it can reside within the host system 2. Thus, the trending system 4 can be a separate processor programmed to perform the operations to be described below. or it may be a programming module within the host system computer. Trend system 4 also has memory (not shown) for storing various information used by the system or data generated during operation of the system. In both cases, an input device 5, preferably a keyboard and / or a pointing device, allows the user to input appropriate information to the trending system 4.

In the first example of the system, the host system 2 represents a chain level system operated by the retailer. The host system 2 can be operated in cooperation with manufacturers to facilitate the placing of promotional offers. Host system 2 downloads transactional data to a separate trending system 4 remotely chained with system 2. Trending system 4 can receive transactional data from other (not represented) chains that can be processed with or separately from transactional data from the host system 2. Trend system 4 computes various values from transactional data, such as share and volume values for a product or a plurality of products.

Transactional data can include any information that is useful in following or stalking or tracking purchases made in a store or chain of stores. The computer systems currently used allow to store a large amount of information relating to the purchase of a product. Some examples of transactional data are the UPC code, a department number, a product category, the price of the product, the size or weight of the product, and whether the product was sold at full price or under sale conditions. details. The data may also include causal data, or data relating to attributes of a product sold. The causal data may include whether a coupon or voucher was used in connection with the purchase, where the product was placed in the store at the time of sale (e.g. the way it was displayed or displayed), the details of the sales information associated or labeling information, such as how the product is sold in-store or out-of-store) or the season of the year (such as when the product is purchased). A product category refers to groups of products accepted by the industry. Examples of categories are sweet carbonated drinks, canned vegetables, detergents for washing machines, etc.

Share values can take various forms. A liking or "share" can be determined within a product category or in the department of a warehouse or shop. An example would be the percentage of gross sales of the "deli" department in a grocery store. A share value can be calculated between competing categories such as dry dog food sales versus a product's wet dog food sales. An example of volume data would be the number of units of a product sold within a category as a percentage of total sales of a store or within a department. Volume data can also be tracked within a given time period or in connection with the pricing of a product.

Stored in database 3 are data relating to historical share and volume values for the product or products under analysis. Trend System 4 can compare calculated values with historical values to determine trends in share and volume values for purchased products. If the comparison of values shows that a desired trend is not being met, then corrective action, i.e. a response, can be implemented. If the trend is met, then no corrective action may be implemented, or the same corrective action or different corrective action may be implemented than that implemented when the trend is not met. The appropriate corrective actions (responses) are stored in the database 3 and accessed to them when required.

Historical data can be determined from a database of transactional data. This information can be collected by the retailer or manufacturer using its sales system (stored for example in the database 3) or it can be collected using the trend system (and here stored or stored in the database 3). The database would consist of all or selected types of the types of information that have been described above. The database allows a person to measure how good or bad the sales of a product, sales within a department, sales at the store level, etc. are against the corresponding values desired by the retailer or manufacturer.

Trend system 4 can generate a report 6 to be passed on to retailers / manufacturers. The trend system 4 also transmits modifications, which may take the form of instructions, back to the host or central system 2. The instructions can take the form of a string of data having various fields containing information relating to discounts, coupons, prices, incentives, etc., recognizable by the store systems and in the formats already in force in the store systems. The host or central system 2 transmits the modifications to the shop systems 1, to modify the appropriate archives for discounts, creating coupons, reducing prices, etc. The instructions can also augment or replace existing archives or routines in shop systems 1. The trend system 4 can also directly transmit the instructions to the shop systems 1.

In the first embodiment, the retailers and / or the manufacturers communicate the appropriate information to the trend system 4 to respond to the trends, preferably before the trend analysis. The appropriate response can also be determined after the trend system 4 has completed its trend analysis. Reports 6 generated and transmitted to retailers / manufacturers can help determine the appropriate response to trends. For example, retailers / manufacturers would identify selected products to be analyzed, and would identify appropriate responses such as issuing coupons, making discounts or price cuts, etc. The response or responses are transmitted to the trending system 4 and applied at the input, so that the instruction or instructions required to modify the operation of the shop systems 1 can be stored and / or implemented. Data required for the instruction or instructions, such as coupon image data can also be provided and is stored in and retrieved from the database 3 by the trend system 4.

In FIG. 1 also shows a connection 7 with the Internet. The system according to the invention can be provided with the ability to use the Internet for current post-offers on a web page for a particular shop, a particular chain of shops, particular groups of chains or on a web page of companies engaged in the trade. postal distribution of such offers. By means of trend correction according to the invention, the current offers can be adjusted so quickly when the adjustments are carried out in the shop systems 1. The system may also send special offers by e-mail or e-mail to home users with, for example, frequent retail sales programs.

In a second embodiment of the system, represented in FIG. 2, the trending system 4 resides within the host system 2. When the host system 2 collects transactional data from the store systems 1, trending analysis is performed. The appropriate responses are determined, and any information or instructions needed to implement the response, in addition to those already residing in the trending system 4, can be fed through the input device 5. As in the first example, the host or central system 2 of the second example transmits the modifications to the systems 1 of stores, to modify the appropriate archives for discounts, creation of coupons, reduction of prices, etc. The appropriate answer (s) can be generated automatically. A trend / response chaining program 35 may reside in the host system 2 allowing the retailer / manufacturer to generate instructions for use by the trend system 4 to produce the desired response (s) to the trends as represented in FIG. 3. While not shown, the host system 2 may also include an input device 5 to allow the retailer and / or manufacturer to input the appropriate information into the trend / response chaining program 35. Program 35 can be in the form of a series of commands concatenating a trend with a response. For example, the response may link a selected incentive product with a promotion - An incentive product is a product selected by the manufacturer or retailer to generate an action in the store system, such as distributing or dispensing a coupon or discount. of price. One type of such chaining is the creation of a coupon to promote the sale of a particular product. The coupon can be related to a competitive product with respect to the incentive product.

The host system 2 downloads the result of the response instruction program to a response instruction generation program 37 in the trending system 4. Program 37 generates the desired response using the results of the trend analysis and any necessary data stored in the data base 3. The generated instructions are transmitted to the guest system 2 for subsequent transmission to the shop systems 1. In the second embodiment, both programs 35 and 37 reside in the single system having both host system 2 and trend system 4.

An example of program 35 is one in which, under the control of the manufacturer and / or retailer, a basic set of "if-then" or "if-then" commands are generated to correlate a response to a trend with an incentive product or products and the associated promotion (s). The commands are transmitted to the trending system 4 for use in generating the appropriate response (s). The trending system 4 would then create the appropriate instructions which are transmitted to the host system 2 for subsequent transmission to some appropriate of the shop systems I. The operating parameters of the shop systems 1 are adjusted or adjusted, as described above.

The trending system can also generate a report suggesting a display or display or labeling variation for the product. The report can be transmitted in the form of an email message, or other direct electronic communication, employing the 8 capacity of email or other direct electronic communication and the 9 connection of the Internet, to the store or stores, allowing monitoring essentially in real time. of exposure strategies and sales labeling.

Another example of the system according to the invention is represented in FIG. 4, where the host system 2 does not contain the program 35 but where the desired trend / response linkage information is fed for entry into the trend system 4. The program 39 residing in the trend system 4 contains the ability to translate or transform the trend / response linkage information into the desired response instructions. Again, the trending system 4 would then create the appropriate instructions which are transmitted to the host system 2 for subsequent transmission to some appropriate of the shop systems 1. The operating parameters of the shop systems 1 are regulated or ascertained, as described above. .

As a more specific first example, a manufacturer or retailer wishes to increase his "share" or market share of a particular product X. A "share" or market share can be a percentage of a particular product sold within a category, a percentage of a product within a department, etc. Data analyzed from the past year showed that product X had a 12% market share or rating within one category. The manufacturer or retailer wishes to increase his share by two share points to 14%. The manufacturer activates the chaining program 35 to create a response if the share of the product is less than 14% for the given reporting period. to achieve the desired answers in consumers or customers to achieve the desired goals, that is, they know which promotions would be effective. The manufacturer can also determine the desired response. An answer would be conceived and correlated with trend analysis. For example, the answer could be printing a coupon for product X or an automatic discount for product X incentivized by the purchase of product X, or a printed coupon or voucher for product X following the purchase of a product. competitive, in particular of a product whose "share" is increasing. The answer may also be related to changing the product display to a more favorable place, such as at the end of a display area, to increase sales. Whenever Trend System 4 analyzes transactional data, product X's share volume is checked. If the share is less than 14%, then the planned promotion is enabled, or remains enabled.

A more detailed view of the shop system 1 is shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 consists of the in-store system described in U.S. Patent 5 612 868 with the addition of a transactional data file 36, a display 28, and an electronic self-pricing tag 26. The store control unit 10 receives information relating to sales from terminals 12 and records transactional data such as the total number and identity of products sold, the total number of transactions, the establishment of the products, causal data, etc., as previously described, in archive 36 of transactional data. At a given interval, preferably weekly but possibly daily or as frequently as required, the transactional data in the file 36 is downloaded to the host system 2 from the store control unit 10. Host system 2 stores this information for each reporting store system, and may also create aggregate data for a plurality of store systems associated with a particular store chain. Trend system 4 then analyzes the data stored in guest system 2 at the store level, the chain level, or both, and analyzes whether desired trends are being met. These trends can be preliminarily entered into the trend system 4, or they can be entered on the spot using the input device 5.

Trends that need to be analyzed can be share or volume trends, market share or liking-share trends or volume can be measured within a given period, or data for a particular period can be compared against a given period. of time. For example, share or volume trends can be measured in the year up to the particular date, they can be a running average of eight weeks compared to an annual average, etc. Trends can be directed at category sales, departmental sales, store-wide sales, chain-wide sales, etc. A particular manufacturer or retailer may have certain share or volume trend milestones to meet. For example, if a product's share or market share falls below a predetermined percentage, then store systems 1 can be instructed to issue coupons or coupons or discount the price. If the product or object of measurement, such as an incentive product, is a competitive product, then coupons may be issued following the purchase of the competitive incentive or trigger product. An incentive or trigger product is a product that initiates or triggers a certain action in the system such as generating coupon data or an instant discount. The incentive product can be selected by a manufacturer, retailer, or system operator. Furthermore, if the volume of a particular product falls below a predetermined number of units within a predetermined number of transactions or a predetermined period of time, then corrective action can be taken, such as targeting heavy progressive users, for which subsequent purchases of the products are remunerated.

On the other hand, if the trends are met, then an incentive product can be removed, or the terms of the promotion can be shortened. For example, the amount or amount of a discount, or the value of a coupon can be reduced. Removing the incentive product will prevent coupon generation. The terms for receiving a promotion can be changed when a consumer or customer is paid only with the promotion (i.e. coupon, discount, etc.) if a purchase goes beyond a certain amount, in which there was previously no requirement. minimum purchase, or the minimum purchase can be increased. The exposure or marketing strategy of the product can be varied.

The store systems 1 may also include an electronic bulletin board or display, shown as in-store display 28 in FIG. 5. The display 28 can be constituted by a video monitor or by an LCD display electronically displaying articles and current offers active within a given period of time, such as for example a week. The displays 28 can be accessed directly by the guest system 2, and the particular information can be downloaded or derived from the trend system 4 and then displayed under the control of the host system 2. Displays 28 can be positioned in one or more central positions in a shop, or they can be placed directly on the shelves or other displays where products are placed. Trend system 4 can also be chained directly with displays 28 in individual stores. Connection to in-store displays can thus be made over communications links such as a telephone line. The system according to the invention can also transmit the information to be posted on the electronic bulletin boards to the host system 2 for a chain of stores, which then distributes the information in the associated stores as desired.

An electronic self-pricing label 26 can be connected to each store system. The electronic self-pricing label 26 displays the current price of the corresponding items placed on the shelf. Store system 1 contains software for concatenating the current price of an item, stored in item registration file 30, with a shelf tag location in the store.

The electronic pricing label is accessible by shop systems 1 for updating prices, changing product display positions, etc. The trend system 4 may also transmit appropriate instructions to the store systems 1 to adjust or adjust the price of an item stored in the item registration file 30 in order to offer temporary price reductions in selected products as a response to the trends.

A third embodiment of the system is shown in FIG. 6. In this embodiment, the trending system 4 resides within the outlet terminal 17. Terminal 17 acts as a main or master terminal and can consist of a mini-computer integrated with the functions of the point-of-sale terminals. The terminal 17 may also contain all the information and all the hardware necessary for the operation of a complete point of sale system, thus reducing or eliminating the need for a separate processor for the trending system. In some configurations, other point of sale terminals may be included, acting as slave terminals for the master terminal 17. Terminal 17 replaces the guest system 2 and / or the store control unit 10, and performs some or all of the functions of these two devices. In the system of FIG. 6, each of the terminals 12 and 17 collects transactional data, as described above, and the terminals 12, if included in the system, transmit the data to the terminal 17 for use by the trending system 4. The data can be transferred continuously, or can be collected in the terminals 12 and subsequently transferred with a desired interval, for example daily. In this embodiment, the terminal 17 contains both the response generation program and the chaining program, which can be integrated when they both reside in the same device.

Database 3 stores information such as product prices, product information (such as causal information), coupon information, coupon prospecting information, transactional data, historical trend and volume data, trend and volume data desired, etc. The data base 3 can be used to store any information required for the operation of the system, as described above. Part of this information may be stored in the terminal 17, under the direction of the user, based on system requirements or for efficiency reasons. Furthermore, the data base 3 can form part of the terminal 17.

Terminal 17 can be connected to the Internet through connection 7, and can transmit or receive information through connection 7, if desired. Information can be transmitted via email, or any other direct electronic communication procedure, and via one or more web pages 9, as described above for the previous embodiments. Terminal 17 contains appropriate hardware for making the connection and transmitting and receiving information such as a modem connected to a telephone line. Terminal 17 is also connected for preparing and transmitting reports 6 (as described above), and contains the ability to interface with and update electronic tag 26 as well as display 28 as described above. Although not shown, each of the terminals 12 and the terminal 17 may have a printer for printing coupons or other information. FIG. 7 illustrates the operation of the system in more detail. In step 40, the sales data and transactional data are obtained in one or more store systems 1, or via terminals 12 and 17. The transactional data is then transmitted or downloaded to trend system 4 via host system 2. In the case of the third embodiment, the transactional data is transferred to terminal 17. The data is analyzed to calculate the particular trends of interest (step 41). Trend system 4 then determines whether trends are satisfied (step 42) by comparing the calculated trends with the trend targets. The operation proceeds to step 43 to check if any adjustment is in the right order, such as the exclusion of an incentive or the reduction of production terms for each trend.

In the event that an adjustment or adjustment is required, the operation directs to step 44 where the adjustments, such as creation of coupons, instant discounts, price reduction, user of large quantities, etc., are appropriate to shift the trend towards the desired target are retrieved by the trend system 4 from the database 3. This can take the form of instructions to be transmitted to the shop systems 1 or to the terminal 17 for storage in the appropriate data store, to regulate the operation of the system 1 of the shop of the terminals 12 and 17. The operation moves to step 45 where any required data corresponding to the images of the coupons or other material is recovered. Some of this data may already reside in the shop system 1 or terminal 17. Steps 44 and 45 can be performed together, and the adjustments and data can both be stored in the same database.

Subsequently, in step 46, the instructions, adjustments and / or other data are processed by the trend system 4 and transmitted, if necessary, to the host system 2 or to the shop system 1. In step 46, the data is formatted for use by systems 1 and 2 and for transmission when the system is configured as in the first and second embodiments. When the last trend is analyzed (checked in step 47), the program proceeds to step 48 where the data is written to the appropriate file or storage area. In the case of the first and second embodiments, the new data is transmitted to the shop system 1 (which can take place through the host system 2) and archives, such as archives 30, 32 and 34, are updated under the control of the host system 2 and / or shop system 1, and ending at step 49. The data can be directly re-written in the case of the third embodiment. In the event that no trend adjustments are required, step 48 is skipped and the program ends in step 49. Otherwise, the program returns to step 43 and it is checked whether any adjustment or adjustment is required for the next trend. For example, if new coupons are to be created, these are retrieved from the database 3 (or retrieved remotely for example through a modem line or the Internet line) and are stored in the system, such as in the archive 34 of registration of coupons. The appropriate links between the new coupons and an incentive product or products are established in the system. In the shop system 1 this can be achieved, for example, through the coupon search archive 32 - If the coupons already reside in the system (as in the data base 3 or in the coupon registration archive 34, but the their activation was inhibited before the correction of the trend, then the data base 3 or the coupon search file 32 can be altered in such a way that the link between an incentive product and the particular coupon will be activated. Details of the coupon offer can be adjusted such as the discount amount, the validity period or the terms of the offer. The adjustments can consist of instant discounts, which are also established in the 1 store system as described in the Patent US 5612 868.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of upgrading a store system to implement the desired response (s). In step 50, linkages are generated between trend and response or responses, typically from the retailer or manufacturer. This can be accomplished using the "sequindi" or "if-then" format as described above. The chaining information is used to generate the appropriate response (s) in step 51. The responses can be a discount, a temporary price reduction, a coupon for a purchased product or a competitive product, etc. The store system operating system is updated to implement the generated response (s).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating steps 42-44 in more detail. Using transactional data, the trending system determines share volumes for a product (step 60) and volume values for the product (step 61). Steps 60 and 61 can be performed simultaneously. Historical share and volume information, stored in database 3 (or remotely, if desired), is retrieved (step 62) and compared with the determined share and volume values (step 63). linkage to determine if any desired response is to be implemented in step 64. The historical information required for the comparison may also be provided in (and retrieved from) the linkage information. For example, the trending system can determine the share and volume values, and the chaining information can consist of implementing an action if the share or volume values are above or below their respective desired levels. Thus, the trend analysis system can determine whether trends are met using stored historical data, and the linkage information indicates the desired action if the trend is not met. In a second way, the trend analysis system can determine the share and volume values and the chaining information indicates both the desired action and the desired share and volume values with which the respective share and volume values determined volumes are determined.

One way to accomplish this is to employ the systems of FIGs. 1 or 2, where the linkage information is created in the host system 2 and transferred to the trend system 4. The transfer can take place from a remote or distant guest system 2 or, when the host system 2 and the trending system 4 are resident in each other, the transfer is internal. The trending system 4 generates the desired response information and transfers it back to the host system 2. The host system 2 transfers the response information to the store systems 1 to update their operating systems to implement the response or responses.

Another way is to employ the master terminal 12 where all the computations, decision making and response generation take place. The terminals 12 could be constantly connected with the terminal 17, and the terminal 17 virtually controlling all the operations relating to whether to issue a coupon, price discounts, etc., or a certain amount of such functionality can be constituted in each terminal 12 , depending on system requirements, cost, efficiency, number of terminals 12, data flow restrictions, etc.

The system according to the invention is a powerful tool for allowing a virtually real-time response to trends in volumes and shares of retail sales. The system can quickly analyze each store and / or each chain to determine which ones are not meeting desired trends. Appropriate responses can be generated quickly and automatically to specifically target shoppers until desired trends are met. The system gives a single manufacturer within a category the power to control desired trends at the chain or store level. The system eliminates inefficiencies in commercial promotions by reducing credit and directing expenses towards category consumers when desired commercial trends are not met.

Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the previous teachings. For example, although the invention has been described using a store system by way of example, the invention is not limited thereto but can be applied to any store system where response to sales trends is desired. Further, although the invention is described as a system, it can also be implemented in software on a recording medium. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced differently from what has been specifically described herein.

Claims (1)

CLAIMS 1. A system for responding to trends, comprising: at least one point-of-sale system; a central computer or host system electronically linked with said at least one point of sale system; and a trend analysis system electronically linked with said central or host system. 2. A system according to claim 1, wherein: said central system comprises means for chaining a trend with a desired response; and said trend analysis system comprises means for generating an instruction for producing an action in said store system for responding to said trend. 3. A system according to claim 2, wherein: said point of sale system comprises a printer for printing a voucher or coupon in response to said instruction. 4. The system of claim 2, wherein: said point of sale system comprises means for issuing a discount for a product purchased in response to said instruction. 5. A system according to claim 2, wherein: said central or host system is remotely chained with said trending system; said central or host system comprises means for transferring information linking said trend with said desired response to said trend analysis system; and said trending system comprises means for generating an instruction using said information and means for transferring instruction to said central or host system. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein: said trend analysis system comprises means for transferring said instruction to produce said action in said point of sale system for responding to said trend. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein said trend analysis system comprises: means for generating a response to a trend in said store system; an Internet connection; means for transmitting direct electronic communications related to said response using said connection; and means for transmitting information related to said response to at least one web page using said connection. System according to claim 1, wherein: said point of sale system comprises a viewer or display; and said trend analysis system comprises means for generating a response to a trend in said store system, and means for generating information related to said response to be displayed on said display. 9. A system according to claim 1, wherein: said point-of-sale system comprises an electronic self-pricing label; and said trend analysis system comprises means for generating a response in said store system to a trend including varying the price of a product displayed by said electronic self-pricing label. A system according to claim 1, wherein said trend analysis system comprises: a database storing information related to at least one of historical market-share or volume "share" values per means for a product purchased using said point of sale system; and means for comparing at least one of said historical share and volume values with at least one of the share and volume values determined from transactional data obtained using said point of sale system. 11. System according to claim 10, wherein: said analysis system comprises means for automatically generating a response to a determined trend using at least one of said historical share and volume values and at least one of said share and volume values determined by said transactional data. The system according to claim 1, wherein: said point of sale system comprises a transactional data file storing transactional data related to purchases made using said point of sale system; and said trend analysis system comprises means for automatically generating a desired response to a shopping trend using said transactional data. The system according to claim 12, wherein said trend analysis system comprises: a database storing information related to at least one of historical share and volume values for media for said product; and means for comparing at least one of said historical share and volume values with at least one of the share and volume values determined by said transactional data. 14. A system according to claim 12 wherein: said point of sale system comprises an operational data file storing operating parameters for said point of sale system; and said means for automatically generating said desired response comprises means for automatically generating an instruction for updating said operating parameters. System according to claim 14, wherein: said operational data file stores information related to at least one of a coupon associated with the purchased product, a price for said product, and a discount for said product; and said means for automatically generating said instruction updating said operating parameters are a means of activating the generation of said coupons, variation of said price for said product and activation of said discount for said product. A system according to claim 1, wherein: said point of sale system comprises a transactional data file storing transactional data related to purchases made using said point of sale system; said trend analysis system comprises a computer programmed to automatically generate a desired response to a purchase trend using said transactional data. System according to claim 16, wherein: said point of sale system comprises an operational data file storing operating parameters for said point of sale system; and said processor programmed to automatically generate an instruction for updating said operating parameters. System according to claim 17, wherein: said operational data file stores information related to at least one of a coupon associated with a purchased product, a price for said product, and a discount for said product; and said processor is programmed to generate said instruction to one of activation of the generation of said coupon, variation of said price for said product, and activation of said discount for said product. A system according to claim 1, wherein: said central or host system comprises means for chaining one of a trend to share and a trend to volume of a purchased product using said point of sale system with a desired promotion; and said trend analysis system comprises means for automatically generating an instruction for producing an action in said store system for responding to at least one of said trends using said promotion. System according to claim 19, wherein: said linkage means generates information comprising at least one of a desired share volume and a desired volume value linked with said desired promotion; said trend analysis system comprises means for determining at least one of a share and volume value using said transactional data obtained from said point of sale system; said trend analysis system compares at least one of said desired share and volume values with at least one of a respective determined share and volume trend; and said trend analysis system automatically generates said response based on said comparison. A system according to claim 19, wherein: said point of sale system comprises a transactional data file storing transactional data related to purchases of a product; and said trend analysis system comprises means for determining at least one of said trend to share and said trend to volume using said transactional data. A system according to claim 21, wherein said trend analysis system comprises: a database storing information related to at least one of historical share and volume values for said product; and means for comparing at least one of said historical share and volume values with at least one of share and volume values, respectively, determined by said transactional data. A system according to claim 1, wherein: said point of sale system comprises a transactional data file storing transactional data related to purchases of a product; said central or host system comprises means for generating concatenating information of a tendency to share and a tendency to volume of a product purchased using said system of points of sale with a desired promotion; and said trend analysis system comprises means for automatically generating an instruction for producing an action in said store system for responding to at least one of said trends using said promotion, said transactional data and said information. A system according to claim 1, wherein said trend analysis system comprises: a database storing at least promotional information; and a computer connected to said database. A system according to claim 24, wherein: said central or host system comprises means for chaining a trend with a desired response; and said trend analysis system comprises means for generating an instruction for producing an action in said store system for responding to said trend using said promotional information. A system according to claim 24, wherein: said point of sale system comprises a memory for storing promotional purchase information; said trend analysis system comprises means for automatically generating an instruction for updating said purchase promotional information in said memory to use said promotional information. System according to claim 24, wherein: said at least one point of sale system comprises a viewer or display; and said processor is programmed to automatically generate a response to a determined trend using at least one of said historical share and volume values and at least one of said share and volume values determined by said transactional data. 33. Trend analysis system, comprising: at least one point of sale terminal; and a trend system connected with said point of sale system. 34. A system according to claim 33, wherein said trending system resides within said point of sale terminal. A system according to claim 34, comprising: at least one second point of sale terminal connected to said at least one terminal. A system according to claim 33, wherein: said terminal comprises means for chaining a trend with a desired response; and said trend analysis system comprises means for generating an action in said terminal to respond to said trend. A system according to claim 33, wherein at least one of: said at least one terminal comprises a printer for printing a coupon; and said at least one terminal comprises means for issuing a discount for a purchased product. 38. A system according to claim 33, comprising: said trending system having means for generating a response to a trending in said at least one terminal; an Internet connection; means for transmitting direct electronic communications related to said response using said connection; and means for transmitting information related to said response to at least one web page using said connection. A system according to claim 33, wherein: said at least one terminal comprises a viewer or display; and said trend analysis system comprises means for generating a response to a trend in said at least one terminal, and means for generating information related to said response to be displayed on said display. 40. A system according to claim 33, comprising: an electronic self-pricing labeling connected to said terminal; and said trend analysis system comprises means for generating a response to a trend in said at least one terminal including change in a price of a product displayed by said electronic self-pricing label. A system according to claim 33, wherein said trend analysis system comprises: a database storing information related to at least one of historical share and volume values per media for a product purchased using said at least one terminal; and means for comparing at least one of said historical share and volume values with at least one of the share and volume values determined from transactional data obtained using said at least one terminal. 42. A system according to claim 41, wherein: said trend analysis system comprises means for automatically generating a response to a determined trend using at least one of said historical share and volume values and at least one of said determined share and volume values from said transactional data. A system according to claim 33, wherein: said terminal comprises a transactional data storage device storing transactional data related to purchases made using said terminal; and said trend analysis system comprises means for automatically generating a desired response to a shopping trend using said transactional data. A system according to claim 43, wherein said trend analysis system comprises: a database storing information related to at least one of historical share and volume values per media for said product; and means for comparing at least one of said historical share and volume values with at least one of the share and volume values determined by said transactional data. A system according to claim 43, wherein: said terminal comprises an operational data file storing operational parameters; and said means for automatically generating said desired response comprises means for automatically generating an instruction for updating said operating parameters. A system according to claim 45, wherein: said operational data file stores information related to at least one of a coupon associated with a purchased product, a price for said product, and a discount for said product; and said means for automatically generating said instruction updating said operating parameters are one of activation of generation of said coupon, variation of said price for said product, and activation of said discount for said product. A system according to claim 33, wherein: said terminal comprises means for chaining one of a tendency to share and a tendency to volume of a purchased product with a desired promotion; and said trending system comprises means for automatically generating an instruction for producing an action in said terminal to respond to at least one of said trending using said promotion. 48. A system according to claim 47, wherein: said chaining means generates information comprising at least one of a desired share volume and a desired volume value with said desired promotion; said trend analysis system comprises means for determining at least one of a share and volume value using said transactional data obtained from said terminal; said trend analysis system comprises means for comparing at least one of said desired share and volume values with at least one of a respective determined share and volume trend; and said trend analysis system automatically generates said response based on said comparison. 49. System according to claim 47, wherein: said terminal comprises a transactional data file storing transactional data related to purchases of a product; and said trend analysis system comprises means for determining at least one of said trend to share and said trend to volume using said transactional data. 50. System according to claim 48, wherein: said system comprises a database storing information related to at least one of historical share and volume values for media for said product; and said trend system comprises means for comparing at least one of said historical share and volume values with at least one of the share and volume values, respectively, determined by said transactional data. A system according to claim 33, wherein: said terminal comprises a transactional data file storing transactional data related to purchases of a product; said terminal comprises means for generating concatenating information of a tendency to share and a tendency to volume of a product purchased using said system of points of sale with a desired promotion; and said trend analysis system comprises means for automatically generating an instruction for producing an action in said store system for responding to at least one of said trends using said promotion, said transactional data and said information. System according to claim 33, wherein said trend analysis system comprises: a database storing at least promotional information; and a computer connected to said database. 53. A system according to claim 52, wherein: said terminal comprises means for chaining a trend with a desired response; and said trend analysis system comprises means for generating an instruction for producing an action in said terminal for responding to said trend using said promotional information. 54. System according to claim 52, wherein: said terminal comprises a memory storing promotional purchase information; said trend analysis system comprises means for automatically updating said purchase promotional information in said memory to use said promotional information. 55. System according to claim 52, wherein: said terminal comprises a viewer or display; and said trend analysis system comprises means for selecting promotional information from said database for display on said viewer or display. 56. System according to claim 52, wherein: said terminal comprises a memory storing information relating to terms of a promotional offer; said trend analysis system comprises means for automatically updating said terms of said promotional offer using said promotional information. A system according to claim 52, comprising: an Internet connection; means for automatically transmitting direct electronic communications containing first promotional information selected based on an analyzed trend using said connection; and means for automatically transmitting second selected promotional information related to said trend to at least one page v and b using said connection. 58. A system according to claim 52, comprising: an electronic self-pricing label; and means for varying a price of a product displayed by said electronic self-pricing label using said promotional information. 59. System according to claim 52 wherein: said database stores information related to at least one of historical share and volume values by means for a product purchased using said terminal; and said trend system comprises means for comparing at least one of said historical share and volume values with at least one of the share and volume values determined by transactional data obtained using said terminal. 60. A system according to claim 59, comprising: means for automatically generating a response to a determined trend using at least one of said historical share and volume values and at least one of said share and volume values determined by said transactional data. 61. A process for analyzing trends, comprising: collecting transactional data related to purchases of a product; analyzing at least one trend using said transactional data; and automatically generate a response to said at least one trend. A method according to claim 61, comprising: generating linking information about at least one trend with a desired response; and automatically generating said response using said information and said transactional data. 63. A method according to claim 62, wherein generating said information comprises: determining at least one of share and volume values using said transactional data; correlating a desired response with at least one of the desired share and volume values; comparing at least one of said desired share and volume values and a respective one of share and volume values generated using said transactional data; automatically implement said desired response based on said comparison. 64. The method of claim 61 comprising: collecting transactional data using a point of sale system; and automatically generating an instruction to said store system to respond to said trend using said transactional data. 65. A method according to claim 64 comprising: storing promotional information remote from said point of sale system; automatically generate a response to said trend by transmitting said promotional information to said system. 66. A method according to claim 64, comprising: storing operational information in said point of sale system; automatically generate a response to said trend by automatically updating said operational information. 67. A method according to claim 64, comprising: electronically displaying a price of said product; automatically update said price in response to said trend. 68. A method according to claim 64, comprising: storing promotional information in said point of sale system; and automatically generating said instruction to said store system to respond to said trend using said promotional information. 69. A method according to claim 68, wherein: the use of said promotional information comprises printing a voucher or coupon. 70. The process of claim 68 wherein: the use of said promotional information comprises reducing the price of said product. 71. A method according to claim 68, wherein: the use of said promotional information comprises discounting said product. 72. A method according to claim 68, comprising: automatically responding to said trend by automatically generating a direct electronic communication containing promotional information for possible purchasers of said product. 73. A method according to claim 68, comprising: automatically responding to said trend by automatically transmitting information containing promotional information to be placed on the Internet network. 74. The process of claim 68 comprising: automatically transmitting information including promotional information for display at an offering company wherein said analysis step comprises: determining at least one of the share and volume values for said purchases of said product? and comparing said at least one of the share and volume values with historical share and volume values for purchases of said product. A method according to claim 80, comprising: determining whether to implement said desired promotion based on said comparison; and automatically selectively implement said desired promotion. The method of claim 80 wherein said generation step comprises: automatically generating said response using said comparative values. 83. The process of claim 82 comprising: automatically generating said response using preselected promotional information. A method according to claim 61, comprising: determining at least one information share and volume using said transactional data; generating concatenating information linking at least one of a share information and a desired volume information with a desired promotion; determining whether to implement said desired promotion based on the comparison of at least one said determined share and volume information with at least one respective said desired share and volume information; and automatically selectively implement said desired promotion. 85. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to claim 61. 86. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to claim 61. claim 62. 87. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to claim 63. 88. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implement the method according to claim 64. 89. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to claim 65. 90. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to claim 66. 91. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing The method according to claim 67. 92. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to claim 68. 93. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information computer coded to implement the method according to claim 69. 94. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information coded for implementing the method according to claim 70. 95. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to claim 71. 96. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing The method according to claim 72. 97. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to claim 73. 98. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information computer coded to implement the method according to claim 74. 99. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to claim 75. 100. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having encoded computer readable information for implementing the method according to claim 76. 101. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having encoded computer readable information for implementing the method according to claim 77. 102. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to claim 78. 103. Computer program product comprising a. recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to claim 79. 104. Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to claim 80. 105. Program product Computer program comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to claim 81. 106. A computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method according to claim 82. 107 Computer program product comprising a recording medium having computer readable information encoded for implementing the method of claim 83 and said product for sale. The process of claim 68, wherein: the automatic generation of said instruction comprises updating said promotional information. 76. A method according to claim 75, wherein: the use of said promotional information comprises printing a coupon. 77. A method according to claim 75, wherein: the use of said promotional information comprises reducing the price of said product. 78. The method of claim 75 wherein: the use of said promotional information comprises discounting said product. 79. A method according to claim 61, comprising: generating information linking said at least one trend with said response; and automatically generating said response using said information and said transactional data. 80 Process according to claim 61,