WO2015103020A1 - Techniques destinées à offrir à un consommateur une expérience transparente et individualisée de découverte et d'achats - Google Patents

Techniques destinées à offrir à un consommateur une expérience transparente et individualisée de découverte et d'achats Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2015103020A1
WO2015103020A1 PCT/US2014/072047 US2014072047W WO2015103020A1 WO 2015103020 A1 WO2015103020 A1 WO 2015103020A1 US 2014072047 W US2014072047 W US 2014072047W WO 2015103020 A1 WO2015103020 A1 WO 2015103020A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
customer
shopper
information
store
vendor
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Application number
PCT/US2014/072047
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English (en)
Inventor
William G CRUTCHFIELD, Jr.
Original Assignee
Crutchfield Corporation
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Crutchfield Corporation filed Critical Crutchfield Corporation
Priority to CA2935031A priority Critical patent/CA2935031A1/fr
Publication of WO2015103020A1 publication Critical patent/WO2015103020A1/fr

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/01—Customer relationship services
    • G06Q30/015—Providing customer assistance, e.g. assisting a customer within a business location or via helpdesk
    • G06Q30/016—After-sales
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
    • G06Q30/0201—Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
    • G06Q30/0241—Advertisements
    • G06Q30/0251—Targeted advertisements
    • G06Q30/0255—Targeted advertisements based on user history
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
    • G06Q30/0281—Customer communication at a business location, e.g. providing product or service information, consulting
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions
    • G06Q30/0601—Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
    • G06Q30/0623—Item investigation
    • G06Q30/0625—Directed, with specific intent or strategy
    • G06Q30/0629—Directed, with specific intent or strategy for generating comparisons
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions
    • G06Q30/0601—Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
    • G06Q30/0641—Shopping interfaces
    • G06Q30/0643—Graphical representation of items or shoppers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/50—Network services
    • H04L67/535—Tracking the activity of the user
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W4/00—Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
    • H04W4/02—Services making use of location information
    • H04W4/029—Location-based management or tracking services

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to sale systems, and more particularly, to techniques for providing retail customers a seamless, individualized discovery and shopping experience.
  • R etail stores with large inventories of products typically require a large amount of physical space to shelve, and store their goods.
  • retail stores with limited amounts of physical space typically do not have the benefit of displaying most of their inventory.
  • These retail stores may resort to shelving or displaying only a fraction of their entire line of goods, which may only appeal to a small subset of the vendor's customer base. This is problematic for vendors because it limits a vendor's ability to customize the sales process to the particular needs and traits of a customer. For example, after a vendor has determined that a particular good would be suited to a customer's needs or traits, the vendor could create a sales experience by displaying or demonstrating that particular product to the customer while in the retail store.
  • Retail stores typically display their goods for customers to visually inspect for themselves. This allows customers to obtain a tangible familiarity with the product. For example, this allows customers to feel a product's texture, and see the product's dimensions, allowing the customer to visualize how the product may look in their home.
  • retail stores with limited physical space find it difficult to provide a tangible, mteractive experience for the full range of their products in terms of iook-and-feel within the home.
  • retail stores sometimes provide product catalogs that describe most of their goods, these catalogs do not provide the same tangible experience as being able to physically interact with a product; customers normally will not have the benefit of estimating how the product may look, feel, or integrate in their home. Accordingly, there is a need for retail stores to allow customers to visually inspect most of a vendor's line of goods in an interactive and instructive manner, using a limited amount of physical space.
  • Some retail stores display images or videos of products from their product catalogs on in-store displays, such as flat-screens or television monitors.
  • retail stores do not typically provide an intuitive interface that allows customers to interact with in-store displays.
  • Research has shown that customers respond to in-store shopping experiences that offer an intuitive shopping interface while simultaneously providing visually compelling images and videos, and similar content.
  • customers typically find touch or gesture interfaces commonly used for tablets, PCs, smartphones and other mobile devices offer an intuitive interface for browsing and shopping for products.
  • touch screen interfaces for these mobile devices are not suitable for the in-store shopping experiences because of their smaller size and limited display capabilities. Thus, retailers find it difficult to adapt the intuitive touch or gesture interfaces used for mobile devices to large in-store displays.
  • retail stores that integrate sensors and other input devices into retail displays typically design and install retail fixtures that are unique to each retail layout space.
  • interactive retail fixtures built for fashion and department stores typically require designing a fixture and installing sensors that are unique to the physical layout of each store.
  • Interactive retail fixtures may use projected light and motion sensors for user to interact with display products positioned on retail tabletop counters. While these displays can sense when and where a product is touched and examined, these sensors are usually installed based on the physical layout of the store, tabletop and products.
  • retailers typically design an interactive fixture for every store, without reusing the designs for fixtures already created. Accordingly, retailers find, it difficult to create retail fixtures that integrate sensors and retail devices in a reusable and modular manner.
  • Retail stores typically employ sales representatives to provide customers in-store sales assistance. These representatives engage the customer in the sales process, ask customers questions about their needs or preferences, and answer any questions the customer may have. This benefits the customer by providing individualized, targeted information, and also benefits the vendor by allowing the vendor to qualify the customer according to the customer's personal, demographic, or psyehographie information. For example, by interacting with the customer, the store sales representative may determine the customer's age, marital status, personal preferences, and opinions on certain products. This information may allow the sales representative to make a recommendation for a particular product to the customer, based on these customer features.
  • retail stores are typically limited in the number of skilled, career-oriented sales representatives they can employ to assist and engage with customers.
  • Retail stores that have enough physical space to demonstrate some of their inventory typically demonstrate their products in a generic way. That is, the retail stores typically demonstrate their products, such as televisions or speakers, in a standard showroom, playing nonspecific music or video content.
  • these demonstration spaces typically do not reflect the environment the customer intends on using the products accurately. For example, the dimensions or layout of the room where a customer actually intends on using a television or set of speakers may be drastically different from the retail store's showroom, significantly changing the way the television or speakers may look or sound.
  • the customers do not typically appreciate how a particular product, such as a television or speaker, may look or feel in their particular intended environment while at the retail store. Accordingly, there is a need to provide customers with a way of accurately simulating how a vendor's products would perform and integrate into the customer's intended environment.
  • in-stores sales representatives often perform the role of providing recommendations or suggestions to customers for products that are tailored to the customer's particular demographic or psychographic traits. That is, sales representatives typically base their recommendations and suggestions on information about the customer that the sales representative can directly observe. Normally, sales representatives do not have access to any other information about the customer other than what they can directly observe, limiting their ability to provide customized recommendations for products. For example, a vendor may have information about the make and model of a customer's automobile; with this information, a sales representative would be enabled to recommend audio equipment that is compatible with the customer's particular automobi le. While this information would improve the sales process, vendors generally find it difficult to provide this non-observable, previously stored customer information to the sales representatives during the in-store sales process. Accordingly, there is a need to better integrate stored information about a customer into the in-store sales process in a manner that allows such targeted marketing in smaller stores with fewer in-store sales representatives,
  • retail stores typically do not incorporate this information into the sales process in real-time. For example, while some retail stores may monitor foot traffic in a store, stores frequently only use this information in time-late off-line analysis to change the physical placement of products in a store. Retail stores typically do not use current or real-time foot traffic information to make recommendations for a particular product or solution while the customer is still shopping in the store. Accordingly, there is a need to better integrate monitored information about a customer into the sales process in real-time.
  • online retail stores typically do not allow vendors to monitor the customers or provide in-person assistance the same way they could as with a physical store.
  • the information presented to a customer on an online retail website may be overwhelming or difficult for the customer to digest without a personal sales representative.
  • vendors typically cannot monitor a customer's body language or social cues while the customer is shopping online, limiting the amount of information the vendor has to make a recommendation for a particular product to the customer. Accordingly, there is a need for a customized retail experience that bridges the gap between online retail stores and physical stores.
  • retail stores typically do not provide a way to track this information so that the consumer can later decide to learn more about the product or purchase the product after leaving the store.
  • retail stores typically do not integrate customer information collected from their online website, such as the customer's online shopping history, into the in-store sales process.
  • customer information collected from their online website such as the customer's online shopping history
  • retail stores do not typically access a customer's online shopping history to recommend a product when the customer makes a visit to the physical store. Accordingly, there is a deficiency in terms of the lack of integration or synthesis of information from online retail stores and physical stores to improve the sales process.
  • online retail websites require a customer to register an account with the vendor, or to allow the vendor to store information about the customer locally in the customer's browser cache. Because vendors usually require a customer to create an account, vendors typically cannot make recommendations to new customers visiting their online website for their first time, or who have not yet registered an account with the vendor. Similarly, because vendors usually require a customer to allow the website to store information locally to a browser's cache, vendors typically cannot make recommendations to new customers with strict privacy control settings that forbid websites to store information to their cache. Usually, online retail websites will gather information about new customers by directly prompting the customers on their website. However, online retail websites generally do not have a way to gather information that may be used for determining a customer's demographic or psychographic information without directly asking the customer for this information.
  • vendors have difficulty in deriving helpful psychographic and demographic characteristics in other alternative channels of commerce.
  • vendors may allow customers to shop for their products via kiosks, telephone call centers, interactive television services, mobile software applications, social networks, and the like, in addition to their physical stores.
  • vendors are typically limited in the manner they may determine a customer's psychographic or demographic characteristics shopping via these alternative channels of commerce. Unlike the physical store context, these channels of commerce typically do not allow vendors to visual !y determine these characterist cs with sales representatives, or detect these characteristics through the use of sensors.
  • vendors In physical retail stores, i.e., physical stores, vendors often do not guide customers through the sale process from a single location.
  • the location where a customer demonstrates a product is typically different from the location where a customer may ask questions to a store sales representative, which is also typically different from the location where a customer provides their payment information to finalize a sale, or request post-sale sendees such as product installation or delivery.
  • a store sales representative which is also typically different from the location where a customer provides their payment information to finalize a sale, or request post-sale sendees such as product installation or delivery.
  • the simulation apparatus simulates a real-world environment that is defined by the customer.
  • the simulated environment may simulate the physical characteristics and dimensions of a customer's living room, garage or bedroom.
  • Figure 7 is an illustration of a user interface for interacting with an intelligent display according to another embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 9 is an illustration of a user interface for interacting with an intelligent display according to another embodiment of the in vention.
  • Figure 25 shows an exemplary use of wireless technology in a retail store according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the vending location of step 101 is a physical retail store, having physical space for storing, stocking, demonstrating, and/or displaying products offered by a vendor.
  • the physical retail store may have enough physical space to store, stock, demonstrate, or display its catalogue of products.
  • the physical size of the retail store may only have enough physical space to store, stock, demonstrate, or display a fraction of the store's line of products.
  • the vendor may identify the customer.
  • the vendor identifies the customer using previously stored customer information.
  • the customer may have provided their personal information, such as their name, address, phone number, e-mail, username and the like, when registering for an account with the vendor.
  • Customers may identify themselves by providing this information to a mobile device, sales representative, simulation apparatus, or intelligent display system.
  • the customer may have created a unique customer ID or user name when registering for an account with the vendor's website.
  • the customer may provide a code or information from a cookie established during a customer interaction with the vendor's website.
  • the mobile device may be programmed with a software application that enables the mobile device to communicate to the vendor.
  • the software application may be a mobile app developed by the vendor, and distributed to customers through an app store such as Apple iTunes, or Google Play
  • the software application may be a third-party application, such as a mobile browser, connected to a web app hosted by the vendor.
  • the software application may be a mobile browser such as the Safari Mobile Browser, connected to Crutchfield's mobile-friendly online website.
  • the software application may also be specialized native software designed for use on mobile devices, or intelligent display systems operated by sales representatives and vendors.
  • the software applications may be installed and maintained privately, without being distributed through a public third party app distributor, such as Apple i'Tunes, or Google Play.
  • the mobile device may use a variety of different sources of information to identify the customer.
  • the information the mobile device communicates to the vendor may be personal identification information, such as their name, address, phone number, e-mail, usemame and the like, or a unique customer ID stored in memory on the phone.
  • This information may be stored in non-volatile or volatile memory.
  • this information may be a file stored in non-volatile memory on the mobile device, or it may be information stored in volatile memory such as a mobile Web browser's cache.
  • a software application running on the mobile device can communicate this information to the vendor with its cellular or Wi-Fi capability.
  • the vendor may identify the customer without using personally-identifying information.
  • the vendor may identify the customer simply based on the customer's entrance into the store.
  • the vendor may identify a customer entering the store using sensors located at the store, or using software on the customer's mobile device.
  • motion detection sensors may be installed near the entrance of the store that enable a vendor to identify a customer when a customer has entered the store.
  • a customer's mobile device may similarly be used to identify a customer without communicating personally-identifiable customer information.
  • the vendor may provide mobile device software that merely communicates to the vendor when the mobile device is located at a vendor location.
  • the software application can communicate this information to the vendor without any active customer involvement. That is, upon entering the store, the vendor or the mobile device may automatically detect the customer's identification information on the mobile device. For example, the customer's mobile device may be programmed to use its geo-location capabilities, such as GPS or cell tower tri angulation, to detect when a customer has entered a store. The mobile device may then automatically communicate the customer's identification information to a receiver or server at the vendor using any of the methods described above, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or the mobile device's cellular connection. Thus, a sales representative may greet the customer by name as soon as the customer enters the store, without the customer ever introducing himself or herself.
  • the customer's mobile device may be programmed to use its geo-location capabilities, such as GPS or cell tower tri angulation, to detect when a customer has entered a store. The mobile device may then automatically communicate the customer's identification information to a receiver or server at the vendor using any of the methods described above, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or the mobile device's
  • the customer may be identified by their personal information, such as name, address, or telephone number.
  • a sales representative may ask for this information from the customer, and enter this information into their mobile device (e.g., Advisor Tablet) or a store computer to retrieve the customer's account information.
  • the vendor begins the qualification stage of the sales process by collecting information about the customer.
  • the qualification process is a recognition process in which the vendor detemiines information about the customer's needs, preferences, and traits.
  • the qualification process may be implemented by retrieving a customer's personal, demographic, or psychographic information stored in a vendor's databases 205 or 206.
  • This information may be information that the customer has previously provided when registering an account with the vendor. For example, when registering for an account with the vendor, the customer may provide information that identifies personal features about the customer, such as their name, address, phone number and the like. Personal information may also include information about the customer's car, home, or any intended place of use for the products. For example, Crutchfie!d Corp. may collect data about the cars a person drives when registering at www.crutchfield.com. The vendor may store information about the make and model of the customer's car, which may later be used to recommend products that are compatible with the customer's car make and model type.
  • This information may also include demographic information about the customer, such as their gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, financial status (e.g., affluence), employment status, and the like.
  • This information may further include psychographic information about the customer's personality, values, subject matter expertise, attitudes, interests, lifestyles, and the like.
  • this information may also be information from previous transactions with the customer that the vendor has stored, such as the customer's purchase history, browsing history, and history associated with one or more Connect IDs as previously described. As explained in more detail below, such information is used to make customized recommendations for products or solutions to the customer.
  • the vendor may collect information in real-time at the vendor's store.
  • the vendor may collect this information from the store sales representatives or from sensors installed throughout the store.
  • a store sales representative may collect this information from general observations about the customer and by engaging and interacting with the customer. For example, the representative can determine a customer's demographic information such as age or gender visually, while determining a customer's psychographic infomiation, such as preferences or tastes, after interacting with the customer. That information can be entered into the Advisor's Tablet.
  • sensors may be installed throughout the store to monitor the customer and electronically determine information about a customer using a computer. As described in more detail below, these sensors may comprise part of a sensing system that may include motion detection or optical sensors.
  • sensors may include facial recognition programs enabling vendors to determine demographic information about the customer. As described in more detail below, these sensors may record and analyze video and audio information of customers to determine demographic customer information such as age range, gender, and race.
  • programs on the vendor's computers may similarly analyze information received from sensors located throughout a stored to determine or derive or project demographic or psyehographie information about the customer. Sensors may be used to determine demographic customer information such as age range, gender, race, number of people and time spent of the customers. Additionally, sensors may also determine what products or solutions the customer may be interested in based on the information, such as the customer's foot traffic patterns. This information may be stored by the vendor , or communicated directly to the software application running on the customer's mobile device to make a customized recommendation or a product or solution to the customer.
  • the vendor may facilitate the interaction between the sales representative and the customer by providing a software application that can be executed on a customer's mobile device.
  • customer may download the software application from the vendor's website or from a centralized software provider, such as Apple iTunes or Google Play.
  • the application comprises one or more sequences of processor executable instructions or program modules. These instructions may be stored in a volatile or non-volatile memory in the mobile device.
  • the mobile devices include at least one processor with the capability to execute the software applications, computer programs, or executable code downloaded from the vendor's website or from the centralized software provider.
  • the processor executable instructions stored in volatile or non-volatile memory are executed by the processor on the mobile device to perform the functions and specific operations described herein.
  • hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement the methods described herein.
  • the software application engages the customer in a similar manner as the store sales representative, and collects personal, demographic, and/or psychographic information about the customer through an interactive mobile interface.
  • the software application may ask the customer questions about the customer's musical interests, preferences in music, or listening habits, such as where in the customer's house the customer prefers to listen to music.
  • the customer may provide his or her musical interests by entering the name of an artist or song into the mobile device interface.
  • the customer may describe how he/she prefers to listen to music by interacting with a blueprint of the customer's home on the mobile device.
  • the vendors may provide customers with mobile software applications that customers may use before in-store shopping for the vendor's products (i.e., "pre-shopping apps").
  • the pre-shopping app may be a software application that allows customers to view or simulate products, learn information about particular products, view current vendor sales, receive marketing discounts, or find out mfomiation about the vendor (such as retail store locations and hours), before entering the store.
  • customers may provide the pre-shopping app with personal, demographic, or psychographic customer information. This information can be collected by the vendor's website or otherwise at a vendor server.
  • this pre-shopping app may allow vendors to capture demographic and/or psychographic information about the customer, before the customer enters the physical store.
  • the vendor may determine demographic or psychographic information about the customer by collecting information from the mobile device itself, without directly asking the customer for this information.
  • vendors determine a customer's demographic or psychographic characteristics by directly asking the customer for this information, for example, during a customer account registration process. Vendors typically store this demographic and psychographic information about the customer, for vendors to later use as the basis for a recommendation for a product.
  • vendors typically require a customer to create an account, vendors usually cannot make a recommendation to new customers who have not yet registered an account with the vendor.
  • vendors similarly find it problematic to make customized recommendations to new customers visiting the vendor's online retail website for the first time.
  • vendors make customized recommendations to online customers by storing information about the customer, such as shopping or web browsing history, locally in the customer's web browser cache.
  • vendors typically cannot make a customized recommendation to a new customer, or to customers with strict privacy control settings that forbid or restrict websites from storing information to their cache.
  • vendors may determine or derive or estimate this information from a customer's web browsing behavior and hardware information, without requiring a customer to create an account or to store that information in a web browser's cache.
  • a customer's web browsing behavior and hardware information may provide useful information that vendors may leverage for making recommendations for specific products.
  • the vendor may gather information about a customer's computer or mobile device, such as the computer or mobile device's make and model, software applications installed on the computer or mobile device, music or movies stored on the computer or mobile device, computer or mobile device processing capabilities, and the like. Using this device information, the vendor may determine demographic or psychographic information about the customer. For example, if the vendor determines that the mobile device or computer is a new model of an Apple iPhone or MacBook, the vendor may make demographic or psychographic approximations about the customer that usually distinguish Apple users from other computer users, such as PC users. Studies suggest that self-identified Apple users are more likely to be younger, more politically progressive, and more artistic than PC users.
  • the vendor may estimate or predict demographic information, such as a customer's financial status or income information.
  • the software application may estimate psychographic information, such as musical preferences, about the customer. In this way, the mobile device may be used to gather psychographic or demographic information about the customer, without prompting the customer for information or using previously-stored information about the customer. This improves the vendor's ability to make recommendations of products to new customers who have no prior information stored with the vendor.
  • the vendor may estimate or predict the customer's psychographic or demographic and make recommendations without using any prior customer information.
  • the vendor may determine demographic or psychographic information about the customer through a retail website. As with mobile devices discussed above, the retail website may collect this information by prompting the customer from the web for responses. However, in another aspect of the invention, the vendor may gather this information about the customer by collecting information about the customer's browser, user access device (tablet versus PC, iOS-based v. Android-based, etc.), and/or the internet connection itself, without prompting the customer for information.
  • the vendor may estimate demographic or psychographic information about the customer. This information may, in turn, be used to improve the vendor's ability to make recommendations for specific products or solutions. For example, the vendor website may detect a customer's general ⁇ address by analyzing a customer's HTTP request. With this information, the vendor may determine a customer's ISP and general location. Metadata in HTTP requests may also be used to identify the device type.
  • the vendor website determines that the customer has a general address located in Florida or Hawaii, the vendor may recommend car audio solutions that require installation, whereas if the general address were located in Michigan or Maine, the vendor may recommend car audio solutions that do not require installation, because car audio installations are typically difficult to complete in cold climates.
  • Other information in the HTTP request may be used to approximate demographic or psychographic information about the customer. For example, vendors may determine what language a customer speaks by identifying the language field in a HTTP header. This may further be used to guess a customer's nationality or origin. Vendors may also determine which document a customer has requested, which web page the customer came from to get to the destination page, and other information that may be stored in a cookie,
  • the vendor may collect information about the customer's real time browsing behavior of products sold on the website, such as the speed with which a customer views particular web pages, which parts of a web page the customer has viewed, which links, audio clips and video clips the customer has played, or any other type of browsing behavior.
  • the vendor may then determine a customer's interests or preferences based on the browsing behavior of the web pages the customer viewed. For example, the vendor website may detect that a customer is scrolling quickly through car audio solutions priced below $100 without auxiliary or built-in iPho e connections, while pausing at car audio solutions priced between $200-5400 with auxiliary or built-in iPhone connections.
  • the vendor may recommend audio solutions with these particular features, i.e., priced between $200- $400 with auxiliary or built-in iPhone connections.
  • the vendor may detect a customer's scrolling speed, cursor position, and similar browsing behavior with the use of JavaScript or scripting software packages such as jQuery.
  • the mobile device may gather psychographic or demographic information about the customer, without prompting the customer for information, or using any prior information about the customer.
  • the vendor may then use this information to make recommendations for products or solutions on the website.
  • this information may be saved, and used to make a recommendation to the customer, if the customer later decides to visit the store.
  • the information from the online website may be saved by the customer and taken to a vendor's site. This improves the vendor's ability to make recommendations for products to new customers, and in particular, new customers who would have no prior information other than the online stored with the vendor.
  • the vendor may determine the customer's psychographic or demographic characteristics and make recommendations without ever directly asking the customer for this information.
  • vendors may extend the use of information about a customer's device to any alternative channel of commerce, and serve as the basis for vendors to determine a customer's demographic or psychographic characteristics.
  • vendors may allow customers to shop for their products via intelligent display systems, telephone call centers, interactive television services, mobile software applications, social networks, and the like, in addition to their physical stores.
  • vendors are typically limited in the manner they may determine a customer's psychographic or demographic characteristics when customers shop via such alternative channels of commerce. Unlike the physical store context, these alternative channels of commerce typically do not allow vendors to visually determine these characteristics with sales representatives. However, vendors may detect information about the device the customer is using to shop in the alternative channel of commerce.
  • the vendor may gather information such as the computer or mobile device's make and model, age, processing capabilities, and the like. Using this device information, the vendor may determine demographic or psychographic information about the customer. For example, if the vendor determines that the customer is using a new model of an Apple iPhone or MacBook, the vendor may make demographic or psychographic approximations about the customer that usually distinguish Apple users from other computer users, such as PC users. As discussed above, studies suggest that self- identified Apple users are more likely to be younger, more liberal, and more artistic than PC users. Thus, if a vendor determines that a customer is using an Apple product, the vendor may recommend products targeted to young, liberal, and artistic consumers.
  • the vendor may gather information about the customer's phone number to determine the customer's geographic location. Using a customer's device information allows vendors to profile a customer's demographic and psychographic characterist cs in any channel of commerce. Thus, whether a customer is shopping via a physical store, intelligent display system, online website, software application, social network, etc., the vendor may make a recommendation to the customer tailored to the customer's particular demographic and psychographic characteristics.
  • the vendor may collect information from sensors already installed on the customer's device to analyze and use in determining a customer's demographic or psychographic characteristics.
  • vendors may record audio from customers shopping via telephone call centers, and analyze different components of a customer's voice and speech, such as phonation, resonance, intonation, pitch, respiration, phonology, language, morphology, syntax, grammar, semantics, pragmatics, and the like, to determine the customer's demographic and psychographic characteristics.
  • certain phrases or tones that a customer may use may be used to guess or predict the customer's age, gender, socioeconomic status, etc.
  • a vendor may instal l cameras and audio recorders at an intelligent display system to monitor and analyze the customer in a similar manner as the EyeSee Mannequin, described below. The vendor may then use this information in the same manner as described above to profile a customer's demographic and psychographic characteristics in any channel of commerce, and make a recommendation tailored to these characteristics.
  • the vendor may bridge the gap between physical retai l stores and alternative channels of commerce, such as online retail websites, by allowing the software application to access information about the customer's out-of-store shopping history.
  • This shopping history may include, without limitation, the customer's online browsing and purchase history, and the history of any communications made to the vendor, such as by telephone or e-mail.
  • a vendor may store a customer's browsing history when the customer visits their website from a computer located off-site from the vending location. This information may include products or solutions the customer viewed, or questions the customer may have asked to an online customer service representative.
  • the vendor may then retrieve the customer's browsing information from the vendor's database. This information may then be used to engage the customer during the sales process. For example, if the customer has been viewing a particular line of speakers or asked a particular question about the speakers on the vendor's website, a sales representative may use this information to skip over the introduction or qualification steps of the sales process and directly engage the customer on the speakers the customer viewed and inquired about on the vendor's web site.
  • the customer's browser history may be stored locally on the customer's mobile device, instead of on the vendor's database.
  • the software application may retrieve this information and communicate it to the system using the NFC, RFID, or cellular capabilities described above.
  • the software application may he operated to navigate to any stage of the sales process. For example, the customer may iterativeiy cycle through the qualification and recommendation stages until the customer is satisfied with a product or solution.
  • the software application may also be used to bookmark the stages of the sales process that the customer completed. Thus, if the customer was only able to provide the application with demographic information, leaving the psychographic information incomplete, the customer could bookmark their place in the application (or the software could automatically bookmark the location) such that the next time the customer launched the application, the application would bring the customer to the interface for entering their psychographic information.
  • a sales representative may also supplement the customer information collected by the software application running on the customer's mobile device.
  • the sales representative may have a separate mobile device (Advisor Tablet) running a software application that he or she may use while engaging a customer in the sales process.
  • the software application running on the sales representative's mobile device may allow the sales representative to provide personal, demographic, or psychographic information about the customer to the vendor. For example, if the sales representative learns about the customer's specific taste in a particular kind of music, the sales representative may enter this information onto his or her mobile device, which may then be communicated directly to the vendor's database or customer's mobile device for making a customized recommendation of products or solutions.
  • the sales representative's mobile device may be referred to herein as an "Advisor
  • Tablet although the person of ordinary skill will appreciate that the device can be a tablet, mi - tablet, smart phone, netbook, lap top, personal computer, and so forth, as appropriate for the particular environment and application.
  • the mobile device used by the customer whether the customer's own device or a store-provided device, may be referred to herein as the "Customer Tablet", and take various forms as with the Advisor Tablet,
  • the software application recommends products or solutions to the customer based on the personal, demographic, and/or psychographic information the vendor has collected. For example, if the vendor has col lected information about the customer's age, gender, residence, financial status, expertise, or personal tastes, the vendor may recommend a package of audio equipment that is tailored to the customer's specific age, gender, financial status, expertise or personal taste. In one aspect of the invention, the vendor may use information stored in its sales records to tailor a recommendation to the customer.
  • the vendor may use information about what types of products and solutions customers with similar demographic and psychographic profiles have purchased in the past to recommend a product tailored to the customer's specific age, gender, financial status, expertise and taste. For example, if the vendor has determined that the customer is a 25 year old, single, upper middle class male, who enjoys listening to pop music in his living room, with significant experience and expertise with home audio electronics, the vendor may search its sales history for purchases made by customers with similar profiles and determine what audio equipment this particular segment of customers enjoys. This is sometimes referred to as "collaborative analysis” or "like-minded filtering.”
  • the software application may base its recommendation off previous sales history using statistical or probabilistic algorithms. For example, the software application may use Bayesian probability to determine the likelihood the customer would purchase particular audio equipment, given the fact that the customer is 25, male, and single,
  • the demonstration of a product may include either or both of steps 105 and 106.
  • the software application visually displays the recommended product or solution to the customer on the mobile device.
  • the software application interface may allow the customer to zoom and pan to different parts of the product or solution.
  • the software application interface may also al low the customer to rotate the image of the product or solution enabling the customer to view the product from different angles.
  • the application may dis lay the product or solution as a holographic or 3-D display.
  • Devices and techniques exist for displaying content on mobile devices in three dimensions. Such devices and techniques output video and sometimes involve the use of special glasses for resolves 3-D images displayed on a screen. Displaying products or solutions in 3-D or as holograms provides a more tangible and meaningful simulation experience for the customer.
  • the software application may visually display detailed information about the recommended product or solution to the customer on the mobile device.
  • This information may include a product description, features, specifications, dimensions, reviews, and category information.
  • the software application interface may allow the customer view details about the product or solution that a customer would not otherwise be able to view on a physical embodiment of the product. For example, a customer viewing information about a set of speakers can view the speaker's frequency response, power range, sensitivity, and customer or expert reviews of the product.
  • the customer may discover new products or solutions, or new capabilities of previously known products and solutions.
  • the vendor may then demonstrate the recommended products or solutions to the customer using the software application running on the customer's mobile device or a store simulation apparatus.
  • the store may have a simulation apparatus that is configured to simulate an environment defined by the customer.
  • the simulation apparatus may simulate how the recommended audio equipment would sound in a bedroom, living room, or vehicle.
  • the apparatus is a physical console that resembles the environment the customer is attempting to simulate.
  • a simulation apparatus simulating the audio characteristics of a car may include an automotive interior, car seats, and dashboard.
  • a simulation apparatus simulating the user's home theatre may include a room with a projection screen and theatre seating, mimicking the layout of the customer's home theatre room. Providing a physical setting to simulate a particular environment assists the customer visualize how a product or solution may look and feel in their intended environment.
  • the vendor may simulate the performance of audio speakers using an audio simulation as described and/or claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos., 7,069,169 and 7,899,656, each entitled “Virtual Speaker Demonstration System and Virtual Noise Simulation” and assigned to Crutchfield Corp.
  • the vendor might simulate the performance of display units using a display simulation as described and/or claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,487,1 18, entitled “System and Method of Image Display Simulation", assigned to Crutchfield Corp..
  • the vendor might simulate the performance of image capture devices (cameras, camcorders, etc.) using an image capture simulation as described and/or claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,676,403, also assigned to Crutchfield Corp.
  • Each of the aforementioned patents is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
  • the simulation apparatus may include reference equipment for simulating the characteristics of various different brands and models of product.
  • a simulation apparatus for simulating a set of speakers may include reference speakers that may be programmed to simulate the audio characteristics of different brands and models of speakers.
  • the simulation apparatus may further include a user display for showing the customer information about the product being simulated.
  • the simulation apparatus user display may show the customer the audio characteristics and product information about the speakers being simulated.
  • the simulation apparatus user display may be controlled by a software application running on the user's mobile device.
  • the software application running on the mobile device may further enable the customer to control the simulation apparatus. For example, the customer may select which speakers to simulate using the software application running on the mobile device.
  • a set of reference speakers may have a touch screen user interface affixed onto the front side of the speakers.
  • a customer may select which speakers to simulate by interacting with the user interface directly affixed to the speakers.
  • the simulation apparatus may include reference equipment to simulate the sound system inside an automobile.
  • the simulation apparatus may include a steering wheel, car seats, reference speakers, and a dashboard with a user interface, emulating a car-like environment, in this and similar embodiments, the simulation apparatus may be engaged by interacting with the user interface on the car dashboard.
  • the characteristics of the simulation apparatus can be programmed to reflect the physical characteristics of the customer's particular environment.
  • a simulation apparatus simulating a customer's bedroom can be programmed to simulate how audio equipment would actually sound in the customer's bedroom.
  • the vendor may determine the acoustic characteristics of the customer's environment.
  • the simulation apparatus may then apply these acoustic characteristics to an audio input, such as a music track, reproducing how the audio input would sound in the customer's particular environment.
  • an audio input such as a music track
  • the simulation apparatus may engage the customer automatically when the customer approaches the apparatus with their mobile device. For example, when a customer walks into a bedroom simulator, the simulation apparatus will automatically display information tailored to the customer, without the customer initiating any interaction.
  • the simulation apparatus may display the customer's name, home layout, and recently viewed products and solutions.
  • the simulation apparatus may receive this information from the software application miming on the customer's mobile device.
  • the mobiie device may communicate to the simulation apparatus using its NFC, RFID, or cellular capabilities described above.
  • the simulation apparatus may be automatically triggered when the customer approaches by the mobile device's NFC or RFI D proximity capabilities, or the store's optical and motion sensors.
  • the vendor may then close the sale and purchase the product or solution directly from the mobile device or simulation apparatus.
  • the mobile device allows the customer to store products and solutions that the customer decides to purchase in a virtual shopping bag.
  • the selected products or solutions may be stored in a volatile or non-volatile memory on the mobile device or simulation apparatus.
  • the selected products may be stored in the vendor's database.
  • the customer may decide to complete the sale from the mobile device. Using the software application's interface, the customer may provide payment information, such as their debit or credit card information, and place an order for the selected product or solution directly from the mobile device.
  • payment information such as their debit or credit card information
  • the customer may decide to save the product or solution in their virtual shopping bag, and complete the purchase transaction at a later time. For example, the customer may decide to view more information about the products or solutions in the virtual shopping bag when they return home. From their home, the customer may then provide their payment information and place an order for the selected product or solution.
  • the mobile device and simulation apparatus may further allow the customer to configure post-sale sendees. From the same mobile device user interface, the customer may request post-sale services such as product delivery and product installation. Using the mobile device to complete the sale and satisfy requests for post-sale sendees allows vendors to yield higher conversion rates. Allowing the customer to place an order in the very same location the customer demonstrated the product or solution improves convenience for the customer and avoids forcing the customer to wait in a check-out line.
  • FIG. 2 is an exemplary system for customizing a vendor's sales experience for a customer according to one embodiment of the invention.
  • the system comprises a brick and mortar store that may include sensors 201, a simulation apparatus 202, a first mobile device 203, a second mobile device 204, a database for storing inventory and customer information at the store 205, a store server 208, a store receiver 208; and an off-site location that may include a database for storing customer information remotely from the store 206, and a computer 207.
  • the sensors 201 may monitor and record information about a customer located at the brick and mortar store.
  • the sensors 201 may communicate the information to the store receiver 209 to be stored at the store server 208 or customer and inventory information database 205.
  • Simulation apparatus 202 enables vendors to simulate different products as discussed above.
  • the simulation apparatus 202 may be controlled by the first and second mobile devices 203 and 204.
  • the first mobile device 203 may be a customer-operated mobile device.
  • the second mobile device 204 may be a representative-operated mobile device.
  • the representative can use his or her mobile device 204 to control what is displayed on the customer's mobile device.
  • the representative may also use the second mobile device 204 to control the simulation apparatus 202,
  • the first and second mobile devices 203 and 204 may communicate information to the store receiver 209, the store server 208, and the inventory and customer information database 205.
  • the first and second mobile devices may communicate to the store receiver 209, the store server 208, and the inventor ⁇ ' and customer information database 205 using one of the methods described above, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or the mobile device's cellular connection.
  • the computer 207 may be connected to the customer information database 206 and the brick and mortar store using a network connection such as an internet connection.
  • the brick and mortar store depicted in Figure 2 may include in-store sales representatives to provide in store customer assistance, and to help customize the sales process to the customer's needs, preferences, and traits.
  • vendors may not employ enough sales representatives to assist each customer in a store, forcing some customers to wait until a sales representative becomes available
  • different stages of the sales may be facilitated with a software application on a mobile device and/or on an intelligent display system.
  • the software application performs many of the same functions as the sales representative; it answers questions, engages the customer, and asks the customer questions to determine the customer's needs, preferences, and traits. As described in more detail above, it may also collect personal, demographic and psychographic information about the customer. This allows vendors to engage each customer individually, without having customers wait in long lines for sales representatives to become available.
  • the sales representatives may complement the software-based sales processes on the mobile device.
  • the sales representatives may use their personal experience or expertise with certain products to provide more useful answers to questions that the application may provide.
  • the vendor can benefit from the advantages of the personal, face-to-face assistance of human sales representatives, and the streamlined computerized processes of the mobile device.
  • both the customer and the sales representative may have mobile devices, shown as 203 and 204 in Figure 2 running software applications that communicate to the vendor.
  • This allows the sales representative to change, modify, or supplement the information collected by the software application on the customer's mobile device.
  • the sales representative can make specific recommendations of products or solutions to be displayed on the customer's mobile device.
  • the sales representative can provide personal, demographic, or psychographic customer information to the software application, in addition to the customer information the vendor has stored in its databases.
  • the sales representative may enter this information into his or her own mobile device, which then relays this information to the software application on the customer's mobile device.
  • the software application on the customer's mobile device may then make recommendations for certain products or solutions taking this additional information into account.
  • the vendor may collect this information from the store sales representatives or from sensors, depicted as 201 in Figure 2, installed throughout the store.
  • a store sales representative may collect this information from general observations about the customer and by engaging and interacting with the customer. For example, the representative can determine a customer's demographic information such as age or gender visually, while determining a customer's psychographic information, such as preferences or tastes, after interacting with the customer. This information can be entered into the Advisor's Tablet as described above.
  • sensors 201 may be installed throughout the store to monitor the customer and electronically determine information about a customer using a computer.
  • these sensors may comprise part of a sensing system that may include optical and infrared sensors, video image processors, acoustic sensors, magnetic sensors, vibration sensors, and the like. Examples include Microsoft's Kinect iM product, Morpho Trust USATM product, Wii Remote PlusTM product, PlayStation MoveTM/PlayStation EyeTM product, and similar sensor systems. These sensing systems may integrate associated software, such as the inect for Windows product, the Kinect Software Development Kit (SDK), and/or various open source drivers that are available to process data read by the sensors. These sensing systems may be used to monitor a customer's motion, such as their foot traffic patterns, or body language, throughout the store. These sensing systems may perform Mi-body 3D motion capture and voice recognition. These sensing systems may be programmed to recognize hand gestures and voice commands. One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that these sensors and programs may be used to analyze other features of the customer to determine demographic or psychographic information.
  • a sensing system may include optical and infrared sensors, video image processors, a
  • sensors may include facial recognition programs enabling vendors to determine demographic information about the customer.
  • systems such as the EyeSee Mannequin exist that build cameras, sensors, and computers into retail store mannequins. Cameras and sensors are discretely embedded into retail store mannequins to record and monitor video and audio of customers who view the mannequin. This information is then analyzed by a computer to determine demographic customer information such as age range, gender, race, number of people and time spent of the customers who have viewed the mannequin.
  • Microsoft's KinectTM product can be used to collect facial data, and analyzed in the manner described above with facial recognition processing.
  • programs on the vendor's computers may similarly analyze information received from sensors located throughout a store to determine demographic or psychographic information about the customer.
  • sensors may be used to determine demographic customer information such as age range, gender, race, number of people and time spent of the customers. Additionally, sensors may also determine what products or solutions the customer may be interested in based on the customer's psychographic information, such as the customer's foot traffic patterns. This information may be stored in the vendor's database 205 or 206, or communicated directly to the software application naming on the customer's mobile device 203 to make a customized recommendation or a product or solution to the customer.
  • the software application engages the customer in a similar manner as the store sales representative, and collects personal, demographic, and/or psychographic information about the customer through an interactive mobile interface.
  • the software application may ask the customer questions about the customer's musical interests, preferences in music, or listening habits, such as where in the customer's house the customer prefers to listen to music.
  • the customer may provide his or her musical interests by entering the name of an artist or song into the mobile device interface.
  • the customer may describe how he/she prefers to listen to music by interacting with a blueprint of the customer's home on the mobile device.
  • the software application may allow the customer to describe the architectural layout of the customer's home, such as the location and dimensions of their bedrooms, living rooms, and entertainment areas. Using this blueprint, the customer may then visuall specify where and how the customer would like to listen to music. For example, the customer may specify that they would like to have control over the music being played from their living room, but would like to listen to this music in common areas such as the pool and garage.
  • the software application may qualify other features about the customer and the customer's environment, such as what types of electronic capabilities they have in their house, what type of internet connectivity they have, where they listen to music, where they get their music, what devices they listen to music on in their house, and what type of computer systems and devices they have.
  • the software application may store this information in the vendor's databases 205 or 206 for making recommendations for products or solutions to the customer.
  • the vendor may bridge the gap between physical retail stores and alternative channels of commerce, such as online retail websites, by allowing the software application to access information about the customer's out-of-store shopping history.
  • This shopping history may include information such as the customer's online browsing and purchase history, and the history of any communications made to the vendor, such as by telephone or e-mail.
  • the information may include information about which products or solutions the customer viewed.
  • the information may include information about what questions the customer may have asked to an online customer sendee represe tative.
  • a vendor may store this out-of- store information in a database 206 for later use when the customer visits the store.
  • the vendor may retrieve this information from the database 206. This information may then be used to engage the customer during the sales process. For example, if the customer has been viewing a particular line of speakers or asked a particular question about the speakers on the vendor's online website from their home computer, the vendor may retrieve this information and use it to skip over the introduction or qualification steps of the sales process and directly engage the customer on the speakers the customer viewed and inquired about on the vendor's web site.
  • a customer may interact with a single interface, 302, such as an intelligent display system, without the use of a mobile device, or simulation apparatus. That is, a customer may perform steps 101 through 110 shown in Figure 1 by interacting with a single interface, 302, such as an intelligent display system, described in more detail below, without the use of a mobiie device or simulation apparatus.
  • a single interface such as an intelligent display system, described in more detail below, without the use of a mobiie device or simulation apparatus.
  • customers may identify themselves by interacting with a user interface at the intelligent display system, in a similar manner as described in step 102 above in Figure 1 .
  • the vendor may qualify the customer by collecting information about the customer at the intelligent display system, in a similar manner as described in step 103 above in Figure 1.
  • the intelligent display system interface may prompt the customer with a series of questions and elicit responses from the customers that allows the vendor to determine information about the customer's needs, preferences, and traits, as discussed above.
  • the intelligent display system may also retrieve a customer's personal, demographic, or psychographic information stored in a database, 303, as noted above. For example, the intelligent display system may prompt the customer about the customer's musical interests, preferences in music, or listening habits, such as where in the customer's house the customer prefers to listen to music.
  • the customer may provide his or her musical interests by entering the name of an artist or song into the intelligent display system interface.
  • the customer may describe how they prefer to listen to music by interacting with a blueprint of the customer's home on the kiosk.
  • the kiosk may allow the customer to describe the architectural layout of the customer's home, such as the location and dimensions of their bedrooms, living rooms, and entertainment areas. Using this blueprint, the customer may then visually specify where and how the customer would like to listen to music. For example, the customer may specify that they would like to have control over the music being played from their living room, but would like to listen to this music in common areas such as the pool and garage.
  • the intelligent display system recommends products or solutions to the customer based on the personal, demographic, or psychographic information the vendor has collected, in a similar manner as described in step 104 above in Figure 1.
  • the vendor may recommend a package of audio equipment that is tailored to the customer's specific age, gender or personal taste.
  • the vendor may use information stored in its sales records to tailor a recommendation to the customer.
  • the intelligent display system may base its recommendation off previous sales history using statistical or probabilistic algorithms.
  • the intelligent display system visually displays the recommended product or solution to the customer, in a similar manner as described in step 105 above in Figure 1 .
  • the intelligent display system interface may allow the customer to zoom and pan to different parts of the product or solution, using, for example, a touch screen or input devices such as a mouse and keyboard, or the like.
  • the intelligent display system interface may also allow the customer to rotate the image of the product or solution enabling the customer to view the product from different angles.
  • the intelligent display system may visually display detailed mformatkm about the recommended product or solution to the customer.
  • This information may include a product description, features, specifications, dimensions, reviews, and category information.
  • the intelligent display system may have simulation equipment that is configured to simulate an environment defined by the customer.
  • the simulation equipment may be a set of reference speakers that may be configured to simulate how the recommended audio equipment would sound in a bedroom, living room, or vehicle.
  • the characteristics of the simulation equipment can be programmed to reflect the physical characteristics of the customer's particular environment in a similar manner as described in step 107 above.
  • the simulation equipment simulating a customer's bedroom can be programmed to simulate how audio equipment would actually sound in the customer's bedroom.
  • the vendor may determine the acoustic characteristics of the customer's environment. The simulation equipment may then apply these acoustic characteristics to an audio input, such as a music track, reproducing how the audio input would sound in the customer's parti c ular environm e t.
  • the vendor may then close the sale and the customer may purchase the product or solution directly from the intelligent display system in a similar manner as described in steps 109-110 above.
  • the customer may provide payment information, such as their debit or credit card information, and place an order for the selected product or solution directly from the intelligent display system.
  • the intelligent display system may allow the customer to save products and solutions in a virtual shopping bag that the customer may later retrieve from a mobile device or home desktop and decide to purchase. For example, the customer may decide to view more information about the products or solutions in the virtual shopping bag from a mobile device or desktop computer when they return home. From their home, the customer may then provide their payment information and place an order for the selected product or solution.
  • the customer may add the product to a virtual shopping bag, which the customer may later view or purchase from an off-site or computer, 307.
  • the customer may save the product to a shopping bag, which the vendor may store in a database 303. Subsequently, the customer may later retrieve the product for viewing or purchasing from an off-site computer, 307 by identifying themselves with the vendor, and retrieving the product from database 303.
  • the vendor can display products and solutions to the customer on displays or touch panels as depicted in Figure 4 for providing an intuitive and visually compelling in-store shopping interface.
  • touch screen interfaces for tablets, PCs, smartphones and other mobile devices can offer an intuitive interface for browsing and shopping for products
  • touch screen interfaces are not typically integrated into in-store shopping experiences because of their smaller size and limited display capabilities. This in turn, limits the type and quality of pictures, videos, and other product-related media content that vendors can display to customers.
  • large screen devices such as flat screen TVs, provide a way to display visually compelling images of a vendor's products, these devices do not typically offer customers an intuitive way to interact with and control what is displayed on the screen.
  • an Intelligent Display System may include intelligent displays 401 , an intelligent display processor 403, gesture and voice recognition sensors 402, touch panels 404, wireless remotes 406, video sensors 411, ID and Barcode Scanners 412, and product displays 405.
  • Intelligent displays 401 are coupled to an intelligent display processor 403, gesture and voice recognition sensors 402, touch panels 404, wireless remotes 406, video sensors 411, and ID and Barcode Scanners 412 as depicted in Figure 4.
  • Intelligent displays 401 may be coupled to a light fixture 413 that illuminates when customers request assistance. Intelligent displays 401 may also be coupled to a store server 407 for receiving alerts, and a store receiver 408 for receiving information from an intelligent display 401 or intelligent display processor 403. The intelligent displays may also be coupled to off-site representatives 410 for providing customer assistance. Customers may interact with the intelligent displays 401 to view and shop for vendor products. The customer may control how the intelligent displays 401 are used to view and shop for information by providing input to gesture and voice recognition sensors 402, video sensors 411, ID and bar code scanners 412, or wireless remotes 406. The input is processed by the intelligent display processor 403. Customers may interact with the intelligent displays 401 to view and shop for vendor products.
  • the customer may also view and shop for information using the touch panels 404.
  • the touch panels be used independently from the intelligent displays 401.
  • customer may provide input to the touch panels 404 using gesture and voice recognition sensors 402, or a touch screen interface,
  • the intelligent display system depicted in Figure 4 provides customers an intuitive interface for browsing and shopping for products by accepting input from the customer through the gesture or voice sensors, the touch panels, or wireless remotes.
  • the intelligent display processor processes the input received through the gesture or voice sensors, touch panels, or wireless remotes, and controls what is displayed on the display based on the customer input.
  • the intelligent display 401 may be a large screen display (also known as "large format displays") for displaying visually compelling images, such as a monitor, a flat-screen TV, or a Smart TV, As described in more detail below, the intelligent display is used to interactively display menus and product information to a customer in response to customer input provided through a gesture and voice sensor, touch panel, or wireless remote.
  • the intelligent display 401 is a 55" Samsung ME-B Series LED LCD Integrated TV Display, protected by a Samsung CY-TM55LBC 55" Touch Overlay.
  • the menus and product information shown on the intelligent display are controlled by an intelligent display processor 403, According to some embodiments of the invention, the intelligent display processor is a desktop computer.
  • the computer processor is a Lenovo® ThinkCentre M82, connected to the intelligent display via VGA cable, DVI connection, HDMI connection or similar audio/video connection.
  • the intelligent display processor 403 may be connected to a network, such as a wired or wireless local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), wireless personal area network (PAN) and other types of networks via a network adapter or switch or interface.
  • the network switch may be a Netgear® Prosafe 16-port Gigabit Desktop Switch GS116.
  • the Lenovo® ThinkCentre M82 may be connected to the Netgear® switch via a cat 5e network cable.
  • the intelligent display processor 403 controls what information is viewed on the intelligent display 401 based on input received from a customer through the gesture and voice sensor 402.
  • the customer may control what is viewed on the large screen display, navigate through menus, and/or select product information using gesture or voice commands.
  • the gesture and voice commands issued by the customer are detected and processed by a gesture and voice recognition sensor 402 coupled to the intelligent dis lay 401 .
  • the sensor input from sensor 402 could be directed to intelligent display processor 403 where the sensor data could be processed by software interpreting and applying gestures and/or voice commands.
  • the gesture and voice recognition sensor 402 is a computer device that detects customer movement and/or speech.
  • gesture and voice recognition sensors include the Microsoft's Kinect iM product, Morpho Trust USA liV! product, Wii Remote PlusTM product, PlayStation MoveTM/PlayStation EyeTM product, and similar sensor systems. These sensing systems may integrate associated software, such as the Kinect for Windows product, the Kinect Software Development Kit (SDK), and/or various open source drivers that are available to process data read by the sensors Microsoft inect iM System, Playstation Move, and the Nintendo Wii ' M System. In one aspect of the invention, the gesture and voice recognition sensor 402 may also detect customer attributes, such as height, for making recommendations or suggestions of products based on this information,
  • customer attributes such as height
  • a touch panel 404 is a mobile device that comprises a computer and an interactive touch screen for displaying a graphical user interface or keyboard.
  • the interactive touch screen may be integrated with the computer in a single casing, such as the HP Touch Smart iM , or the touch screen may be in a separate casing from the computer, and coupled to a computer located externally to the touch screen.
  • the touch screen is preferably a Planar® 22" Multi-Touch Widescreen LCD Monitor with Speakers or an Acer® 27" Full HD Touch Monitor with Speakers.
  • the Planar® Multi-Touch Monitors and Acer® Touch Monitors are preferably connected to a Lenovo ThinkCentre M72e desktop computer via USB and VGA cables.
  • the integrated touch screens or external computers may be connected to a network, such as a wired or wireless local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), wireless personal area network (PAN ) and other types of networks via a network adapter or sw tch or interface, in preferred embodiments of the invention, the network switch may be a Netgear® Prosafe 16-port Gigabit Desktop Switch GS116 or CISCO Campus LAN Switch.
  • the Lenovo® ThinkCentre M72e or BP Touch Smart 1M may be connected to the Netgear® switch via a cat 5e network cable,
  • the touch panels may be mobile personal computers, such as laptops, notebooks, netbooks, tablets, PDAs (personal digital assistants), smart phones (e.g., the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Amazon Kindle and Kindle Fire, etc.), and other forms of portable computer devices.
  • mobile personal computers such as laptops, notebooks, netbooks, tablets, PDAs (personal digital assistants), smart phones (e.g., the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Amazon Kindle and Kindle Fire, etc.), and other forms of portable computer devices.
  • customers may use the touch panels 404 as remote controls or keyboards to control what is viewed on the large screen display.
  • customers may control the interface on an intelligent display 401 with a wireless remote 406.
  • the wireless remotes 406 may contain motion sensing technology that enables customers to input gesture commands to control what is viewed on the intelligent display.
  • the input a customer provides to the touch panels 404 or wireless remotes 406 are then communicated to the intelligent display processor to control what is viewed on the intelligent display.
  • One advantage to using a wireless remote 406, is that wireless remotes allow customers control the intelligent display when customers cannot or prefer not to use the gesture and voice sensors 402.
  • the touch panels 404 have menus and graphical user interfaces for shopping for products and displaying product information such as product images, videos, tutorials, descriptions, and reviews on the touch screen.
  • product information such as product images, videos, tutorials, descriptions, and reviews on the touch screen.
  • customers may use the touch panel to control what is displayed on the intelligent display 401
  • customers may use the touch panels to browse and shop for products independently from the intelligent display 401. This allows customers to browse and shop for products with a touch panel while the intelligent displays are in use by or for other customers.
  • the content displayed on the intelligent display 401 or touch panel 404 may be provided from a central repository stored on a store server 407.
  • the central repository may store detailed information about products, such as product images, videos, tutorials, descriptions, and reviews.
  • the intelligent displays 401 and touch panels 404 communicate to the store server 407 via a network connection.
  • the intelligent displays 401 and touch panels 404 operate in different modes that depend on the proximity of customers to the intelligent displays 401 or touch panels 404.
  • the intelligent displays 401 may detect when there are no customers in close proximity or interacting with the displays 401, and operate in an attract mode.
  • the intelligent displays 401 show a series of images or videos relevant to a particular product being sold in that region of the store.
  • an intelligent display located in the camera and video equipment section of the store may display images or videos of the cameras and video recorders the store offers for sale, enticing customers to approach the display.
  • the touch panel 404 may operate in an attract mode.
  • the gesture and voice recognition sensor 402 can likewise detect when customers approach an intelligent display 401 or touch panel 404, or are in close proximity, triggering the intelligent display or touch panel to switch to an interactive mode. In the interactive mode, the customer may interact with and control the intelligent display 401 or touch panel 404.
  • the customer may use the intelligent display 401 or touch panel 404 to learn about products by navigating through menus featuring product descriptions, reviews, images and videos of products.
  • the customer may input gesture commands to pan through images or videos of a product, such as a camera, on the intelligent display.
  • a customer may pantomime swipe movements with their hands and arms to "scroll" through images or videos being displayed on the screen of the intelligent display 401 .
  • a customer may input a gesture command to zoom into pictures, or gesture to play and pause video clips.
  • a customer may provide voice commands to interact with the large screen, and browse through products or navigate through a menu.
  • images of the products displayed on the large screen of the intelligent display 401 may have hotspots that enlarge the image when a customer hovers over the hotspot with their arms and hands.
  • an image of a camera may have a hotspot on the camera lens, such that the image of the lens is enlarged when the customer hovers over the lens portion of the image.
  • the hotspot may display a pop-up containing detailed information about a specific feature encompassed in the hotspot.
  • a hotspot on a camera lens may display a pop-up containing detailed information about the camera lens such as its zoom, focus and metering capabilities.
  • customers may also use the intelligent displays or touch panels to shop for the products. For example, customers may add products to a shopping cart, or save products to a wish-list with the intelligent display.
  • Figures 6-1 1 illustrate graphical user interfaces for customers to shop for products on touch panels.
  • the customer's interaction with the intelligent display may be captured in a shopping session stored in memory at the intelligent display 401, touch panel 404, or intelligent display processor 403.
  • the customer's interaction information may be stored at store server 407.
  • the information stored in the shopping session may include any information about the customer's interaction with the intelligent display 401, touch panel 404, product display 405, or wireless remote 406, such as which products the customer has viewed, and which products have been saved to a shopping cart.
  • the intelligent display processor 403 can detect when a customer (or representative) has stopped interacting with one of the elements in the intelligent display system, such as the intelligent display 401 , or touch panel 404, and can transition into another mode, such as the attract mode. In one embodiment, the intelligent display processor 403 may determine whether there are customers interacting with the intelligent display system 401 based on the gesture and voice sensor 402, the touch panel 404, or information received from a representative 409. In another embodiment, the intelligent display processor may initiate a countdown timer that automatically switches to another mode after a specified amount of time has elapsed without user mteraction.
  • One advantage to detecting when a customer has stopped interacting with the intelligent display 401 or touch panel 404, is that the vendor may reset and clear stored shopping information left in memory from the previous customer using the intelligent display system. That is, after a customer stops using the intelligent display 401 or touch panel 404, the intelligent display system may reset and clear items the customer had added to the shopping cart, or items the customer wish-listed or viewed. This allows the intelligent display system to start a new shopping cart for the next customer to use the intelligent display system,
  • the touch panels 404 and intelligent display 401 may be used to detect when customers are interacting with physical products 405 placed near and around the intelligent display, and may display information about those physical products 405.
  • physical cameras or video recorders sold by the vendor may be put on a display table or fixture 405 near the intelligent display.
  • the intelligent display may detect when customers pick up and examine the cameras, and may display information related to that particular camera. The information may be product descriptions, reviews, visually compelling images, videos or tutorials about the camera.
  • the intelligent display may detect when a customer has picked up a product or is examining a product using proximity sensors, such as for example, magnetic clips sensors coupled to the camera (or other product).
  • the sensors may allow customers to save images, recordings and other media captured with the products. For example, a customer may take a picture using an SLR camera on display. The image captured by that SLR camera may then be displayed on the intelligent display 401 or touch panel 404 via the sensor connection to the external computer or intelligent display processor. The customer may then e-mail this picture to himself or herself as described below,
  • shopping session information such as which items were added to a shopping cart, which items wish-listed, and which items were viewed by the customer may be saved by the intelligent display processor by communicating the information to the store server 407 and store receiver 408, or wireiessly communicating the information directly to the representative's mobile device.
  • the representative's information associated with the customer's shopping session information the representative may bring the customer to other parts of the store and load the shopping information at touch panels or intelligent displays 401 throughout the store.
  • the representative may save this information, and then bring the customer to a different location in the store, such as a demonstration room with simulation apparatuses for simulating various different products.
  • the representative may then load the customer's shopping session information and simulate the performance of each product that was saved in the customer's shopping session.
  • vendors may use this information to track and analyze employee performance. For example, the vendor may determine from the sales records, that a particular representative exhibits higher closing ratios for particular products, such as cameras. The vendor may then use this information to optimize the assignment of representati ves to customers. For example, the vendor may decide to assign that particular representative to customers seeking assistance with cameras. As another example, the vendor could determine that a representative does better with women and older people. Again, the vendor may use this information to assign the representative to assist with this particular audience of customers. Thus, the vendor may use this information to optimize the use of its sales force by aligning the representative with the customer audiences they are most effective with.
  • the representative may retrieve the customer's shopping session information from the intelligent dis lay or touch panel in real-time while assisting the customer.
  • the shopping session information may include which products the customer viewed, which products are in the customer's shopping cart, or which products the customer added to a wish-list. The representative may then use this information to shape the conversation with the customer, and improve the assistance to the customer in the same manner as described above.
  • the representative may interact with the intelligent displays 401 or touch panels 404 from their Advisor Tablet or mobile device using point-to-point communications.
  • the intelligent displays 401, touch panels 404, Advisor Tablet, or representative mobile device may communicate via network sockets.
  • This information may further indicate which representatives assist customers the most, and cause the most customers to purchase products or save their shopping session for later use.
  • analytics packages exist, these analytics packages are typically designed for analyzing a user's internet activity on a web browser, and generally do not apply to analyzing a customer's browsing activity on an intelligent display or touch panel in the store.
  • a representative's mobile device includes a magnetic stripe reader for reading a customer's payment card information.
  • customers may input their payment information into the intelligent display or touch panels.
  • the intelligent display processor may generate a pick list of the purchased items and communicate the pick list to the vendor's warehouse. Purchased items that are stocked in the warehouse may then be retrieved and delivered to the customer in the store.
  • the customer may also coordinate and schedule the delivery of purchased items.
  • the home icon 501 enables a customer to return to the home screen of the intelligent display or touch panel; the back icon 502 enables a customer to return to the previous screen; the compare icon 503 enables a customer to compare different products; the email icon 504 enables a customer to e-mail himself or herself shopping session information stored at the touch panel or intelligent display as described above; the restart icon 505 enables a customer to reset and clear shopping session information stored at the touch panel or intelligent display as described above; and the filter icon 506 for filtering products according to customer defined criteria.
  • customers may interact with icons 501 through 506 by pressing the icons on the touch panel's touch screen.
  • customers may interact with icons 501 through 506 using a wireless remote, keyboard, or by providing gesture and voice input through the gesture and voice sensor described above.
  • the intelligent screen tiles 509 enable the customer to browse a category of products offered by the vendor. After selecting an intelligent screen tile 509, the user interface displays a screen of products associated with the selected product category in the interior 508,
  • the icons 501-506 and tiles 509 may be Apps or Tiles implemented in a touch design development platform, such as the Windows 8 development platform, using C++, C#, Visual Basic, Java, HTML, CSS, Javascript, XML, XAML, or similar programming languages.
  • a touch design development platform such as the Windows 8 development platform
  • One advantage to implementing the icons and tiles with a touch design development platform, such as the Windows 8 development platform, is the ability to enable customers to provide input using touch or gestures.
  • Another advantage to implementing the icons and tiles with a touch design development platform is the ability to implement a single user interface for different device types. For example, the same basic user interface may be implemented for both a touch panel and intelligent display.
  • Figure 6 is an illustration of a user interface for displaying vendor products in an intelligent display system according to one embodiment of the invention. Similar to the user interface described above, the user interface depicted in Figure 6 may include a home icon 601, a back icon 602, a compare icon 603, an e-mail icon 604, a restart, icon 605, a filter icon 606, an icon border 607, an intelligent screen interior 608 and intelligent screen tiles 609. According to the embodiment depicted in Figure 6, the intelligent screen tiles 609 are tiles that represent the different brands and models of a particular category of a product. Selecting an intelligent screen tile 609 changes the screen interior 608 to display information about the particular brand and model of product selected.
  • icons 601 through 606 may be placed in an icon border 607 and enable the customer to input navigational commands for controlling what is displayed in the intelligent screen interior 608.
  • the intelligent screen tiles 609 may be tiles of the particular product category the customer has selected in the screen depicted in Figure 5.
  • a customer selecting the Digital SLR Camera tile 509 may change the screen to display a variety of different Digital SLR Cameras, as depicted in Figure 6.
  • Figure 7 is an illustration of a user interface for filtering vendor products in an intelligent display system according to one embodiment of the invention. Similar to the user interface described above, the user interface depicted in Figure 7 may include a home icon 701, a back icon 702, a compare icon 703, an e-mail icon 704, a restart icon 705, a filter icon 706, an icon border 707, an intelligent screen interior 708 and product filters 709.
  • the user interface depicted in Figure 7 allows customers to filter the products displayed in the intelligent screen interior.
  • the user interface depicted in Figure 7 may be displayed by selecting the filter icon 706.
  • the customer may filter the products according to retail information such as brand, price, and stock status; technical specifications, such as optical zoom, megapixels, and screen size; and vendor-provided information, such as customer ratings, customer reviews, vendor ratings, and vendor reviews.
  • retail information such as brand, price, and stock status
  • technical specifications such as optical zoom, megapixels, and screen size
  • vendor-provided information such as customer ratings, customer reviews, vendor ratings, and vendor reviews.
  • the information tables 809 enable a customer to compare the information between different products, such as retail information, technical specifications, and vendor-provided information, such as ratings and reviews.
  • the user interface depicted in Figure 9 displays detail information 909 about a particular product in the intelligent screen interior 908.
  • the detailed product information may include product high-level descriptions of the product features, technical specifications, price, and stock status. More detailed information about the product may be accessed by selecting one of the product menus 912-915 displayed on the top of the screen.
  • the user interface enables the customer to purchase the product by providing a purchase icon 91 1. Selecting the purchase icon adds the product to the customer's shopping cart, which is stored in the customer's shopping session, as discussed in more detail above.
  • the user interface further enables the customer to compare the currently displayed product to other products, by selecting the "add to compare" icon 910. Selecting this icon adds the product to a product comparison table, as explained above with respect to Figure 8.
  • Figure 10 is an illustration of a user interface for viewing detailed product information and purchasing products in an intelligent display system according to another embodiment of the invention. Similar to the user interface described above, the user interface depicted in Figure 10 may include a home icon 1001, a back icon 1002, a compare icon 1003, an e-mail icon 1004, a restart icon 1005, a filter icon 1006, an icon border 1007, and an intelligent screen interior 1008.
  • the user interface for viewing detailed product information may further include expandable menus 1010.
  • the expandable menus allow customers to accessed detailed information about a specific topic. As Figure 10 illustrates, the expandable menus may enable customers to access detailed information such as the research conducted on the product, a complete list of features and specifications of the product, or what materials are typically shipped with the product (shown as "what's in the box").
  • FIG. 11 is an illustration of a modular intelligent display assembly for affixing intel ligent display system components according to one embodiment of the invention.
  • a modular intelligent display assembly for affixing intelligent display system components may include an intelligent display 1101, touch panel 1 102, intelligent display stand 1103 for supporting an intelligent display, touch panel stand 1104 for supporting touch panels, product stand 1105 for supporting products, intelligent display base 1 106 for supporting the intelligent display stand, touch panel base 1107 for supporting the touch panel stand, and product base 1 108 for supporting the product stand.
  • the intelligent display stand 1 103, touch panel stand 1 104, and product stand 1105 may be supported by their respective bases, intelligent display base 1106, touch panel base 1107, and product base 1 108.
  • the intelligent display stand 1103, touch panel stand 1104, and product stand 1105 allow vendors to support and assemble the elements of the intel ligent display system, such as the products, the intel ligent displays, and touch panels, in a modular fashion, and into an integrated retail unit.
  • the intelligent display stand is secured to a base 1106 that stabilizes and secures the intelligent display stand 1103 to the floor.
  • the intelligent display stand 1103 may be hallowed to provide for an encasing for electrical connections to the intelligent display 1 101 , and sensors (not shown), such as the gesture, voice, and video sensors described above.
  • a touch panel stand 1 104 may include a first beam 1108 horizontally disposed, extending laterally from the intelligent display stand 1 103.
  • the first beam 1108 may be affixed to the intelligent display stand 1103 by suitable mechanical fastening means, such as a plate or bracket with bolts and nuts, adhesive bonding, or any other suitable process.
  • the first beam 1108 may be supported by a second beam 1109 vertically disposed, extending upwardly from the floor.
  • the second beam 1 109 may be secured to a base 1 107 that stabilizes and secures the second beam 1 109 to the floor.
  • the second beam 1109 may be fastened to the first beam 1 108 suitable mechanical fastening means, such as a plate or bracket with bolts and nuts, adhesive bonding, or any other suitable process.
  • suitable mechanical fastening means such as a plate or bracket with bolts and nuts, adhesive bonding, or any other suitable process.
  • the first and second beams 1 108 and 1 109 are rectangular-shaped.
  • the end of the first beam 1108 opposite the intelligent display 1103 may be attached to a mount 1112 for supporting a touch panel 1 102.
  • the mounts for supporting a touch panel may be Samis VisionMoimt V8T15-B1 Tilting Wall Mounts.
  • the mount may be attached to the first beam 1108 by suitable mechanical fastening means, such as a plate or bracket with bolts and nuts, adhesive bonding, or any other suitable process.
  • the mount 1 1 12 may be shaped to have a fin- like or half-trapezoidal shape, as depicted in the Figure.
  • the mount 1 1 12 may be flexibly affixed to the backside of a touch panel 1 102 with a suitable mechanical fastening means, such as a plate or bracket with bolts and nuts, adhesive bonding, or any other suitable process, to allow customers to adjust the angle of the touch panel 1102.
  • a product stand 1104 may include a first beam 1 1 13 horizontally disposed, extending laterally from the intelligent display stand 1103.
  • the first beam 1113 may be affixed to the intelligent display stand 1103 by suitable mechanical fastening means, such as a plate or bracket with bolts and nuts, adhesive bonding, or any other suitable process.
  • the first beam 1 1 13 may be supported by a second beam 1115 vertically disposed, extending upwardly from the floor.
  • the second beam 1115 may be fastened to the first beam 1113 by suitable mechanical fastening means, such as a plate or bracket with bolts and nuts, adhesive bonding, or any other suitable process.
  • the intelligent display stand 1103, touch panel stand 1104, and product stand 1105 may be constructed of any suitable material in any suitable manner. Some variations may be comprised of a polymeric material that is filled or unfilled. Other variations may be comprised of a composite wood product. Yet other variations may be comprised of a composite material such as a polymeric base including a high loading of fiberglass. Variations may also be comprised of metallic materials. In certain variations the stands are integrally formed using a molding process such as injection molding or rotomolding. In other variations the stands may comprise separate pieces or sections that are joined together by mechanical fastening adhesive bonding welding or any other suitable process.
  • the intelligent display stand 1103, touch panel stand 1104, and product stand 1 105 may be reused in a modular manner to adapt to retail spaces of varying different shapes and sizes wit relatively little effort .
  • the stands are modular by allowing the vendor to link each stand to multiple other stands.
  • a touch panel stand 1104 may be linked to two additional touch panel stands, by adjoining a new touch panel stand 1104 at the end of each lateral beam 1108.
  • the product stand 1 105 and touch panel stand 1104 may be assembled in different spatial configurations.
  • a series of product stands may be linked together to form an L-shape; a first series of product stands may be linked together in one direction, for example from left-to-right, and connected to a second series of product stands linked together in another direction, for example from forward to backward.
  • the product stand 1105 and touch panel stand 1 102 may be adjoined to the narrow sides of the intelligent display stand 1103.
  • the product stand 1105 and touch panel stand 1104 may be adjoined to the broad sides of the intelligent display stand 1103.
  • the dimensions of the intelligent display stand 1 103, touch panel stand 1 104, and product stand 1 105 are easily scalable, allowing vendors to adjust the dimensions these elements to fit retail spaces of varying different sizes.
  • Another advantage to affixing the intelligent display system components to a modular intelligent display assembly is that multiple customers may interact with different elements of the intelligent display system simultaneously.
  • the product stand 1105 and touch panel stand 1104 may be adjoined laterally to the intelligent display stand 1103, enabling one customer to interact with a touch panel 1102 while another customer may interact with the intelligent display 1101.
  • the first beam 1209 may be supported by a second beam 1207 vertically disposed, extending upwardly from the floor.
  • the second beam 1207 may be secured to a base 1208 that stabilizes and secures the second beam 1207 to the floor.
  • the second beam 1207 may be fastened to the first beam 1209 by suitable mechanical fastening means, such as a plate or bracket with bolts and nuts, adhesive bonding, or any other suitable process.
  • suitable mechanical fastening means such as a plate or bracket with bolts and nuts, adhesive bonding, or any other suitable process.
  • the first and second beams 1207 and 1209 are rectangular-shaped.
  • the end of the first beam 1209 opposite the intelligent display 1202 may be attached to a mount 1206 for supporting a touch panel 1205.
  • the mount may be attached to the first beam 1209 by suitable mechanical fastening means, such as a plate or bracket with bolts and nuts, adhesive bonding, or any other suitable process.
  • suitable mechanical fastening means such as a plate or bracket with bolts and nuts, adhesive bonding, or any other suitable process.
  • the combination of the first beam 1209, second beam 1207, base 1208, mount 1206, and touch panel 1205 may be adjoined laterally to the narrow side of the intelligent display stand 1202, as well as adjoined to the front and back facing broad sides of the intel ligent display stand 1202,
  • the intelligent display stand 1202 may be laterally adjoined by a touch panel stand 1204 on each side.
  • the touch panel stand may be adjoined to the intelligent display stand in the same manner as described above with respect to Figure 11.
  • the intelligent display stand 1202 may adjoined by product stands on each side. In other variations, different combinations of touch panel stands and product stands may be used.
  • Figure 13 is an illustration of a modular intelligent display system assembly according to another embodiment of the invention.
  • the system in Figure 13 may include a first horizontal beam 1301, supports 1302 for supporting the opposing ends of the first horizontal beam 1301, support bases 1303 for stabilizing and securing supports 1302 to the floor, a second horizontal beam 1304 traverse to the first horizontal beam 1301 , supports 1304 for supporting the opposing ends of the second horizontal beam 1304, support bases 1306 for stabilizing and securing supports 1305 to the floor, mounts 1307 attached to the outward facing ends of the first and second beams 1301 and 1304, and platforms 1308 for displaying physical products to customers.
  • the first beam 1301 may be horizontally disposed, supported on each opposing end by a vertically disposed support beam 1302 extending upwardly from bases 1303 grounded to the floor.
  • the support beams 1302 may be fastened to the first beam 1301 by suitable fastening means, such as a metal plate or bracket, and screws. bolts and nuts, or bonding adhesive.
  • a second beam 1304 may horizontally traverse the center of the first beam 1301, and may similarly be supported by support beams 1305 at opposmg ends of the second beams 1304, which extend upwardly from bases 1306 grounded to the floor.
  • the ends of the first beam 1301 , and the ends of the second beam 1304 may be attached to mounts 1307 for supporting a platform 1308 that displays physical demonstrative products.
  • Vendors may preferably place the free-standing stand in close proximity to an intelligent display, to enable the intelligent display to engage with customers interacting with the physical products being displayed, as described above.
  • the stand depicted in Figure 13 may communicate information about which products a customer is interacting, using a wireless or wired connection, as described above.
  • the platforms 1308 may be rectangular- shaped. Other variations may include oval, circular, trapezoidal or similar shapes. In some embodiments of the invention, the platform 1308 may extend along the entire lengt of the first or second horizontal beams 1301 or 1304, as described in more detail below.
  • Figure 14 is an illustration of a modular intelligent display system for affixing intel ligent display system components according to another embodiment of the invention. Similar to the system illustrated in Figure 13, the system depicted in Figure 14 may include a first horizontal beam 1401, supports 1402 for supporting the opposing ends of the first horizontal beam 1401, support bases 1403 for stabilizing and securing supports 1402 to the floor, a second horizontal beam 1404 traverse to the first horizontal beam 1401, supports 1404 for supporting the opposing ends of the second horizontal beam 1404, support bases 1406 for stabilizing and securing supports 1405 to the floor, a first platform 1407 attached to the outward facing ends of the first beam 1401, and a second platform 1408 attached to the second beam 1404 for displaying physical products to customers.
  • the mount may be attached to the first and second beams 1401 and 1404, by suitable fastening means, such as plates or brackets, and screws, nails, or bonding adhesive.
  • suitable fastening means such as plates or brackets, and screws, nails, or bonding adhesive.
  • the mounts 1407 may be shaped to have a fin-like or half-trapezoidal shape, as depicted in the Figure.
  • the invention may be practiced with various computer system configurations, including hand-held wireless devices such as mobile phones, tablets or PDAs, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.
  • the invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network.
  • program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.
  • the operating system may be or include a variety of operating systems such as the Macintosh® OS or iOS operating systems, Microsoft Windows® operating system, the Unix operating system, the Linux operating system, the Xenix operating system, the IBM AIXTM operating system, the Hewlett Packard UXTM operating system, the Novell NetwareTM operating system, the Sun Microsystems SolarisTM operating system, the OS/2TM operating system, the BeOSTM operating system, the ApacheTM operating system, an OpenStepTM operating system or another operating system of platform.
  • operating systems such as the Macintosh® OS or iOS operating systems, Microsoft Windows® operating system, the Unix operating system, the Linux operating system, the Xenix operating system, the IBM AIXTM operating system, the Hewlett Packard UXTM operating system, the Novell NetwareTM operating system, the Sun Microsystems SolarisTM operating system, the OS/2TM operating system, the BeOSTM operating system, the ApacheTM operating system, an OpenStepTM operating system or another operating system of platform.
  • Microsoft Windows® operating system
  • instructions and/or data used in the practice of the invention may utilize any compression or encryption technique or algorithm, as may be desired.
  • An encryption module might be used to encrypt data.
  • files or other data may be decrypted using a suitable decryption module.
  • the computing environment may also include other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media.
  • a hard disk drive may read or write to non-removable, nonvolatile magnetic media.
  • a magnetic disk drive may read from or write to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic disk
  • an optical disk drive may read from or write to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk such as a CD ROM or other optical media.
  • Other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media that can be used in the exemplary operating environment include, but are not limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solid state ROM, and the like.
  • the storage media is typically connected to the system bus through a removable or nonremovable memory interface.
  • the processing unit that executes commands and instructions may be a general purpose computer, but may utilize any of a wide variety of other technologies including a special purpose computer, a microcomputer, mini -computer, mainframe computer, programmed microprocessor, micro-controller, peripheral integrated circuit element, a CSIC (Visitor Specific Integrated Circuit), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a logic circuit, a digital signal processor, a programmable logic device such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), PLD (Programmable Logic Device), PLA (Programmable Logic Array), RFiD processor, smart chip, or any other device or arrangement of devices that is capable of implementing the steps of the processes of the invention.
  • a programmable logic device such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), PLD (Programmable Logic Device), PLA (Programmable Logic Array), RFiD processor, smart chip, or any other device or arrangement of devices that is capable of implementing the steps of the processes of the invention.
  • processors and/or memories of the computer system need not be physically in the same location.
  • processors and each of the memories used by the computer system may be in geographically distinct locations and be connected so as to communicate with each other in any suitable manner. Additionally, it is appreciated that each of the processors and/or memory may be composed of different physical pieces of equipment.
  • Passport achieves the above functions by controlling what information the retail merchant collects, retrieves, collates and disseminates in order to provide the finest personalized shopping experience.
  • the controlled dissemination is made at one level to the shopper and at another level to the sales advisor.
  • Passport organizes the digital tools that allow for personalized product solutions while seamlessly traveling between Apps, websites, interactions with the retail merchant via various communication channels (for example, phone, chat or email) and technology-enabled store devices (e.g., intelligent fixtures, virtual listening rooms, smart kiosks, etc.).
  • the Passport tool may also enable operational functions (e.g., checkout, post-sale sendee scheduling, etc.).
  • Passport may allow any advisor assisting a customer to retrieve and/or be pushed relevant information pertaining to that particular customer in order to facilitate more personalized assistance based on data known about the customer and through the use of predictive logic. For the company's marketing function, Passport may collect and organize key analytics.
  • Session ID is another encoded cookie that could be placed on a shopper's machine, relates to the browsing history of the individual shopper within the past two hours or as long as the shopper remains actively connected to the retailer's website. In the absence of other information (e.g., email address), the Session ID does not identify the shopper.
  • a System ID may be encoded data received from a fixture's computer, which only relates to the machine and not to browsing history. If multiple people use the same intelligent fixture, there is no way to distinguish between them. In the absence of other information (e.g., email address), the System ID of the intelligent fixture does not identify the shopper.
  • the System ID is defined by the period between when the intelligent fixture PC starts up to when it shuts down.
  • a Session ID is encoded data received from a fixture's computer, which relates to the browsing history of an individual shopper between the time that shopper selects "touch” and "restart.” If "restart" is not selected within a certain time frame, the session will time out. In the absence of other information (e.g., email address), the Session ID does not identify the shopper.
  • the shopper can be identified when an email address is entered, or by scanning a QR code, or with other identification schemes.
  • the retailer may be currently employing any one or more of the following schemes of customer accounting.
  • a rewards card number may be tied to a generated number that requires an email address.
  • a customer with multiple Rewards Cards will need multiple corresponding email addresses.
  • a CID number may be a generated number that is tied to a customer's physical address information.
  • the CID may be the main depository of customer information. However, the CID does not contain any session tracking data.
  • My Account is another customer accounting scheme which requires an email address and a password.
  • a control number associated with My Account is internal and not transparent to the customer.
  • My Account may contain the customer's physical address and payment information as well as order history and other information relative to their experience with the retailer (e.g., Master Sheets, Manuals, Advisor, etc.).
  • Passport tool with respect to each individual customer/shopper may be controlled by a unique identifier that links to the customer/shopper information in the retailer's other accounts (e.g., System ID, Session ID, Connect ID, Rewards Card, CID, and My Account).
  • Passport may verify and optimize the complete virtual shopping cart process including, for example, the pre-selection of speakers to be demonstrated in the virtual listening rooms and/or at headphone kiosks.
  • Passport may manage cart maintenance, email optimization and homepage optimization across customer devices.
  • Passport may facilitate customer operational functions (e.g., checkout, post-sale service scheduling, etc.).
  • the Passport tool may provide sales advisors with relevant information about the shopper and, through the use of predictive logic, help guide the sales advisor through the sales process. And, the Passport tool may enable a more effective system of managing marketing analytics.
  • a retailer may be able to (a) track or log consumer activities on its website before they ever step into a store and (b) link the logged online activities to the person once he/she enters the store. This allows the online activity to be linked with consumer activity in the store.
  • some data is used to detect the shopper and link him/her to the online log.
  • an intelligent fixture, beacon detector, or other store devices could detect the shopper's presence by sensing his/her mobile device, or causing him her to read a QR code, perform a biometric scan, or enter an email address, for example, at the fixture, etc.
  • the retailer can effectively unify and enhance the shopping experience and create more opportunity for sales.
  • Figure 15 is a block diagram illustrating the use of a Passport tool in providing an improved retail shopping experience according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the Passport tool facilitates a smooth transition to In- Store Discovery (2) by linking the shopper's Out-of-Store Discovery (1) session and using that and other shopper-specific information to provide customized data, guidance, and recommendations concerning the contemplated purchase.
  • the Out-of-Store Discovery (1) and ]n-Store Discovery (2) sessions may be repeated a few times before any final purchase decision is made and carried out.
  • the shopper's Passport account may be used to track and transition among these sessions and to organize the information collected therefrom for personalized shopping assistance.
  • the Passport, account may again be employed for arranging check-out, payment, deliver ⁇ ' , installation, and/or any other related transactional functions.
  • the Passport account may provide a digital wallet function to fill in all the necessary payment and personal data.
  • Passport may automatically submit product or warranty registration on behalf of the shopper and collect ail warranty information in his/her Passport account.
  • the retailer may leverage the Passport account information for
  • the shopper/customer may be engaged by the Passport system.
  • the Passport account ensures that the shopper's initial interest in any product gets the retailer's attention, that the shopper's product discovery process is seamlessly integrated whether it takes place online or in store, and that the shopper's interactions with the retailer's servers, intelligent displays/fixtures, or personnel are monitored and fruitful .
  • the potency of the Passport account extends well beyond the moment when a purchase is completed and further into various post-sale functions and activities, may facilitate targeted marketing and promotion which can lead to more future sales.
  • Figure 16 is a system diagram illustrating a retail merchant's operations according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 16 shows from a system poi nt of view how the Passport tool is implemented in a retailer's operations to improve shopping experience.
  • In the center of the system 1600 may be a Passport server 1602 that is networked and communicates with various computing equipment operated by or for the retailer.
  • the Passport server 1602 may be embodied in a
  • CCM customer relationship management
  • the pertinent data may include but are not limited to: data in existing customer relationship management (CRM) schemes (e.g., System ID, Session ID, Connect I D, CID, Rewards Card and My Account); the retailer's historic demographic and psychographic information on shoppers and customers; vehicle ownership data used in product fit determination and for modeling in the virtual listening rooms/kiosks; listening area characteristics of their homes used in modeling in our virtual listening rooms/kiosks; shopping patterns in retail stores as determined by various in-store sensors; sales advisors, customer service agents and technical experts with which they have had past contact; phone numbers and smart phone identifier such as iPhone UDID (Unique Device ID); credit card data; rewards points earned and the nature of redemptions in the retailer's rewards program; returns behavior; products contained in a shopper's virtual shopping cart; newly available or meaningful demographic, psychographic, and technology ID information on shoppers and their devices; engagement and email click/open rates;
  • CRM customer relationship management
  • the Passport server 1602 is in communication with a data repository 1608 which may contain a variety of data such as shopper/customer data (including shopping history, purchase history, and other individual- specific information organized by Passport accounts), product data (including product description, pricing, support documentation, etc.), shopper/customer communications or interactions data, and so on,
  • shopper/customer data including shopping history, purchase history, and other individual- specific information organized by Passport accounts
  • product data including product description, pricing, support documentation, etc.
  • shopper/customer communications or interactions data and so on
  • the retailer may operate an e-commerce web server 1604 to support its online store.
  • the Passport server 1602 may communicate and coordinate with e-commerce web server 1604 to identify an online shopper/customer who visits the online store from a personal computing device 1606 (e.g., desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet, or smart phone). Whether the shopper accesses the online store website via a web browser or mobile app, the Passport server 1602 may become alerted to the shopper's presence and activities, identify and link the shopper's Passport account, and provide the most relevant, customized information to the shopper directly and/or via the e-commerce web server 1604.
  • a personal computing device 1606 e.g., desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet, or smart phone
  • the retailer may also operate an in-store server 1611 in each of the retailer's physical store or shopping kiosk 1610.
  • the in-store server 1611 may control or communicate with a number of equipment such as intelligent fixtures (or displays) 1612, real-time product tags 1614, advisor ⁇ ' tablets 1616, and point-of-sale (POS) equipment 1618.
  • POS point-of-sale
  • one or more sensors may be deployed in the store/kiosk 1610 to detect or interact with shoppers' devices 1620 such as smart phones (or mobile apps thereon) and Passport, identifier card.
  • the shopper's identification and/or other information may be forwarded from the intelligent fixture 1612 to the Passport server 1602 via the in-store server 1611.
  • the Passport server 1602 may select and forward to the in-store server 161 1 the most relevant information and sales strategy personalized for the shopper.
  • the in-store server 1611 could then control the intelligent fixture 1612, real-time product tags 1614, and/or advisor tablet 1616 to provide personalized assistance and recommendation to the shopper.
  • the intelligent fixture 1612 may be instructed to pull up product information of most interest or use to the shopper based on the shopper's prior product discover ⁇ ' session mformation.
  • the Passport account may be provided to a retail shopper in any of several physical and digital ways.
  • a physical card and/or a digital App may be issued to each retail customer.
  • the Passport account could make it available to shoppers (i.e., prospects) which may include people who have requested catalogs, spoken to telephone sales advisors, used chat, taken part in email dialogs, and visited the retailer's stores.
  • a person does not have to register with the retailer before he or she starts using Passport.
  • a shopper may start benefit from Passport without
  • FIG 18 shows an exemplary Passport card according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the physical Passport card 1800 may be as renowned- loo king as most "platinum" credit cards although it may be of a different size than a typical credit card.
  • the card 1800 may have visual identifiers (e.g., aiphanumericai account number 1802, QR code or barcode 1804, etc.) printed on it.
  • the card 1800 may alternatively or additionally have recognition technology embedded therein such as a smart chip 1806 or other electronic or magnetic sensing/detection mechanism such as near-field communications (NFC), radio-frequency (RF) scanning, or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). These features may make it extremely simple for cardholders to start the Passport process.
  • NFC near-field communications
  • RF radio-frequency
  • BLE Bluetooth Low Energy
  • FIG 19 shows an exemplar ' Passport App 1900 and its functional modules according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the Passport App 1900 may be downloaded to and installed on a personal computing device 1901 such as a desktop or laptop computer, handheld or tablet computer, smart phone, or a wearable device. Passport could recognize multiple devices that the shopper may use.
  • the shopper's personal computing device 1901 may employ a combination of technologies such as QR codes, iBeacon, BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), and NFC (near field communications) to provide secure communications with a retailer's computing equipment such as Passport server or intelligent fixtures.
  • a Secure Communications module 1906 of the Passport App 1900 may facilitate and/or take ad vantage of these communications.
  • the Passport App 1900 may use conventional Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for less-secure, more robust communications. SMS/text could be accommodated as well.
  • Identification / Authentication (1902) which identifies the associated Passport account when communicating with a retailer's computing equipment such as Passport server or intelligent fixtures.
  • a user of the device 1901 may supply a Passport account identifier to the Passport App 1900 or have the user's Passport account recognized through an authentication procedure.
  • the Passport App 1900 may also provide an Electronic Wallet (or e- Wallet) function (1904) in connection with the Shopper Identification / Authentication function (1902).
  • the shopper may pre-store or pre-designate payment information or set up payment options for online and store purchases in the App 1900 and/or in connection with the shopper's Passport account.
  • the e- Wallet (1904) may accelerate store checkout and/or post-sale scheduling process.
  • Passport could also provide a server-side, digital wallet. To accelerate checkout, a customer may allow Passport to retain their credit card information. Then, only the Passport number would be used for checkout.
  • the physical Passport card [00258] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the physical Passport card
  • an vn-store sales advisor may be discreetly alerted in Step 21 16 and the relevant Passport information concerning the shopper and his/her shopping endeavor may be pushed to an advisor tablet. With the custom tailored information, the sales advisor may then approach the shopper to provide personalized assistance.
  • the advisor tablet and its data connection to the in-store server and " ultimately the Passport server may allow the sales advisor to access the retailer's vast database of product and educational information without leaving the shopper.
  • the advisor tablet can serve as a complete information resource for both the sales advisor and shopper, thereby reducing the training requirements of sales advisors.
  • a sales advisor can perform with the same level of professionalism and expertise that a highly experienced sales advisor performs in a conventional retail environment.
  • the in-store advisor tablets and/or intelligent fixtures may facilitate the shopper's video conferencing with additional sales or technical support people at a central location.
  • the advisor tablet may allow the sales advisors to perform all the store's sales and sendee function at one location.
  • Step 2120 after completing in-store discovery, the shopper may decide to either make a purchase or do more research.
  • Step 2128 when another interaction is detected between the shopper and the retailer (online or in-store), continued discovery concerning automotive speakers may be facilitated.
  • the system may leverage data collected from previous sessions to provide the shopper with more personalized information and recommendations.
  • Figure 22 is a flow chart illustrating another exemplary retail shopping process according to another embodiment of the present invention.
  • a shopper may be interested in purchasing an LED
  • Step 2202 the shopper may start by interacting with a retailer's in-store device or sales advisor regarding LED TV sets.
  • the Passport system may identify and link the shopper to his/her existing Passport account or assign a new Passport account if this is a new shopper,
  • Step 2206 after the shopper completes the visit to the retail store, the in-store discovery session may be recorded in connection with the shopper's Passport account.
  • the saved session may include such information as to which LED TV models the shopper searched for, viewed, or inquired about and what technological features the shopper cares about,
  • Step 2208 if the shopper does not resume the research of LED TV for a while, then, after a period of inactivity, the Passport system may send reminders or promotional messages to the shopper regarding LED TV offerings.
  • Step 2210 when the shopper visits the retailer's online store for further research, information from the saved in-store discovery session and other customized information may be loaded to the shopper's web interface. For example, the shopper may be reminded of the TV models previously viewed or compared in store and may be presented with information of new products that might match the shopper's preferences. In response to the shopper's concerns or confusions, educational information may be selectively presented to the shopper concerning TV products, such as a comparison between 4K Ultra HD vs. 1080P Full HD, 3D vs. non-3D, LCD vs. OLED vs. plasma display technologies, and smart/networked vs. non-networked.
  • Step 2212 the Passport e ⁇ Wallet may be used to complete the online checkout and arrange for deliver ⁇ ' and/or installation.
  • Step 2214 the product registration or warranty registration may be automatically completed for the purchased TV set based on information of the product as well as the shopper's information maintained in the Passport account.
  • the product manual, setup guide, and other related documentation may be compiled and stored in the shopper's Passport, account.
  • the Passport system may forward any manufacturer communications such as recall alert and software update reminders to the shopper, in Step 2220, the Passport system may further identify and recommend accessories and related products for the purchase TV model such as cables, remote control, and sound bar.
  • RTPT which is used to disseminate personalized shopping information at the store's product level. Like with every other aspect of Passport, RTPT is designed to provide the shopper with the most individualized shopping experience.
  • FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary use of real-time product tagging according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • a number of electronic price tags 2302 may be deployed to show information next to corresponding products.
  • eSignage tags manufactured by ZBD Solutions may be used for the electronic price tags 2302.
  • each electronic price tag 2302 may be caused to display a variety of static and dynamic data such as product name & brief description, customer (online) ratings, current price, and sales or promotion information.
  • An in-store server 2301 with wireless capabilities may communicate with the electronic price tags 2302.
  • the data shown on the electronic price tags 2302 may be continuously updated whenever any change is made to the dynamic data in the data repository 2303 and/or e-commerce web server 2305.
  • a batch update of the electronic price tags 2302 may be performed, where the tags may be first switched to an Update mode and then any data that have changed since the last time the tags were put in Update mode may be pushed to the tags.
  • the electronic price tags 2302 may be may switched to Store (or Display) mode.
  • both the in-store electronic price tags 2302 and the e-commerce web server 2305 may be scheduled for periodic, simultaneous updates, for example, every one hour, every two hours, or every four hours, w r hen both the online and in-store data are synchronously updated and refreshed.
  • Figure 24 shows an exemplary real-time pricing tag according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • the electronic price tag has a black-and-white, fully graphic display with e-paper technology, which shows the product name ("Nikon D5200 Kit”), item number, customer ratings of the product (i.e., five stars), the number of reviews, current price ("$799.95”), and current sales information ("Was $899.95, Save $100.00”).
  • the electronic price tags may also be used to provide shoppers with real-time, personalized information displayed alongside a featured physical product.
  • the shopper's name may be displayed on the tag welcoming him or her to the product display.
  • an electronic price tag may display to a shopper the actual cost of the product after the shopper's rewards points are subtracted and, for car audio products, whether they will fit in the shopper's particular vehicle.
  • similar information can be displayed on the shopper's personal device or on the intelligent fixture's display which is in closest proximity to the shopper.
  • proximity sensors may detect the shopper and an electronic price tag may only show personalized message(s) when the shopper is sufficiently close to a particular product display.
  • the displayed information could be secured through the use of technology like NFC.
  • personalized information may only be displayed when the shopper's portable device is on an intelligent fixture.
  • the intelligent fixture(s) and/or related beacon or sensor devices may gather data to provide at least gross statistics on store performance, such as foot traffic patterns in the store, activity levels in the store for different days of the week and/or times of day, advisor ⁇ ' conversion rate, website return conversion rate (i.e., how often a consumer viewing a product in the store returns home and purchases it online), and so on.
  • store performance such as foot traffic patterns in the store, activity levels in the store for different days of the week and/or times of day, advisor ⁇ ' conversion rate, website return conversion rate (i.e., how often a consumer viewing a product in the store returns home and purchases it online), and so on.
  • the Passport app may work with in-store wireless beacons or other indoor positioning or geo-location solutions to provide better navigational assistance to shoppers, such as an interactive (2-D or 3-D) store map that provides walking directions to guide the shopper to where the items on his/her shopping list are located.
  • the navigation instructions could accommodate multiple waypoints and might subtly direct foot traffic to where the retailer wants shoppers to be.
  • the interactive store map could preferably provide a function similar to Google Map Street View such that a shopper planning an in-store visit could even preview where he or she is going to be and potentially start browsing the shelves or displays even before physically coming into the store.
  • the retailer's in-store server could have one-way or two-way communications with the shopper's device 250 in a variety of manners.
  • an alert message may be pushed to the shopper's device 250 or an app (e.g., Passport app) on the device 250 could generate a message telling the shopper how to get to the Electronics section (Location Y) from the shopper's current location (Location X). For instance, an in- store map with turn-by -turn directions might be automatically presented on the device 250 showing Route A.
  • the shopper may be guided from Location X to Location Y via Route B (which passes by or through Location Z) instead of Route A.
  • various incentives such as discount coupons, reward points, and rebate offers could be generated and pushed to the shopper's device 250 in substantial real-time, for example, to boost the shopper's interest in certain products and/or to extend the shopper's stay in the store.
  • the generation and communication of incentives may he based on the detection and measurement of the shopper's in-store activities such as navigation and dwell time with products and departments.
  • Another type of in-store wireless technology may embed small chips, such as
  • RFID tags or a more active type of wireless chips into displayed merchandise (e.g., clothing and electronics) or as part of security or anti-theft devices routinely attached to the merchandise.
  • Such small chips may emit signals to or allow detection by the shopper's device 250 so that the shopper could more easily locate the individual pieces of merchandise in the store without asking for assistance.
  • Figure 26 is a flow chart illustrating another exemplary method for providing an improved retail shopping experience according to an embodiment of the present invention.
  • a retailer such as a department store, clothing/fashion shop, electronics boutique, or home improvement store, may maintain multiple retail sales channels.
  • a retailer specializing in consumer electronics may set up a first (online) channel by establishing an internet web portal and/or distributing a mobile application both of which could provide an interactive user interface for shoppers to browse, research, and/or purchase products from the electronics retailer.
  • the same electronics retailer may also have a second (offline) channel by running one or more physical stores, stands, or kiosks which shoppers could visit in person.
  • the retailer may maintain one or more shopper databases to record data related to the interactions between the shoppers and the retailer.
  • the interactions could take place over any of the retail sales channels and may include the shoppers' browsing, product research, purchase, return/exchange, post-sales sendee/support, and other activities.
  • the database(s) may organize the activities data and personal information for each shopper (whether or not the shopper has previously made any purchase from the retailer).
  • a shopper's visit to a first retail sales channel may be detected.
  • the shopper may visit the first (online) channel by shopping on the Internet web portal via a standard web browser or with the mobile app distributed by the retailer or a third party.
  • the shopper could be detected based on an identifier of the shopper ' s computing device, its network address (e.g., IP address, mobile phone number), or login credentials or other personal information supplied by the shopper.
  • the shopper may be detected based on a cookie or token stored on the shopper's computing device during a previous visit to one of the retail sales channels.
  • the shopper may be identified with a unique identifier that serves to distinguish each shopper from other visitors or customers of the retailer. If prior interactions between the shopper and the retailer can be confirmed, the shopper may already have been associated with a unique identifier and that identifier may continue to be used. If no prior interaction with the retailer can be confirmed or no identifier exists for this shopper, then a new unique identifier may be assigned to the newly detected shopper.
  • Step 2610 data associated with the shopper's activities while visiting the first retail sales channel may be recorded and stored in the shopper database.
  • the recorded data may provide indications and clues as to what products and/or information the shopper is interested in, has already possessed, or is likely to need in the future.
  • Step 2612 the shopper's visit to a second retail sales channel may he detected.
  • the shopper may visit the second (offline) channel by coming into or near one of the retailer's stores, stands, or kiosks.
  • the shopper's presence in or near a physical retail location may be detected in a number of ways. For instance, with a Passport app or other mobile app on the shopper's mobile device, either the app or an in-store device, fixture, or server could sense and identify the shopper.
  • the mobile app may be configured (e.g., through shopper opt-in) to announce the presence and identity of the shopper or the mobile device.
  • a customized communication may be generated and conveyed to the shopper during the visit to the second retail sales channel.
  • the customized communication may be formulated for a number of purposes and delivered in a number of ways. For example, based on the shopper's recently visit to the online store, it may be determined what the shopper plans to see or buy on the current shopping trip, and informational and/or promotional messages may be generated accordingly to help the shopper with product research and/or to entice the shopper to make a purchase.
  • the informational message could remind the shopper of the product(s) previously researched, provide the physical in-store location of the product(s) and navigation instructions, and/or alert the shopper to newer or comparable products.

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Abstract

La présente invention a pour objet des techniques destinées à offrir à ces consommateurs au détails une expérience transparente et individualisée de découverte et d'achats. À l'aide d'un système comptable amélioré pour acheteur/consommateur, avec d'autres technologies telles que des accessoires intelligents, des dispositifs mobiles, et des simulations de produit, une expérience, pour un acheteur, de découverte et d'achat de produit ainsi que d'après-vente peut être fortement intégrée et personnalisée. Par exemple, les sessions de découverte de produit par l'acheteur hors du magasin (en ligne) et dans le magasin peuvent être liées et analysées de façon transparente afin d'offrir à l'acheteur des recommandations et une assistance personnalisées. L'invention concerne d'autres variations et améliorations.
PCT/US2014/072047 2013-12-31 2014-12-23 Techniques destinées à offrir à un consommateur une expérience transparente et individualisée de découverte et d'achats WO2015103020A1 (fr)

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