Customer relationship management system for physical locations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11074611-B2
Application number	US-201314086636-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 21, 2013
Priority date	Nov 7, 2002
Publication date	Jul 27, 2021
Grant date	Jul 27, 2021

Abstract

A method and computer program product for managing information about transactions occurring in a physical establishment includes gathering information about multiple transactions at a physical establishment, and storing the information as metadata. A byte stream corresponding to the metadata is generated. Several elements of the metadata are associated with a particular session based on predefined criteria.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for utilizing customer relationship management (CRM) protocol within one or more brick and mortar retailers (BMR) for a plurality of customers, each in possession of a wireless device, the method comprising steps of:
installing in each of the one or more BMR a system for recognizing and interacting with wireless devices and maintaining a CRM engagement plan for each of the plurality of customers;
recognizing, by the system, presence and identity of the wireless devices in possession of the each of the plurality of customers;
initiating and ending, by the system, a customer in-store session for each of the plurality of customers when their respective wireless devices are recognized as present and as no longer present in the one or more BMR, respectively;
receiving, by the system from the recognized wireless device, locations of the wireless devices within the one or more BMR;
until the recognized wireless devices are no longer present in the one or more BMR:
tracking, by the system, events concerning the plurality of customers based on the received locations, the events including at least one of:
departments or sections of the one or more BMR visited,
amounts of time spent in the visited departments or sections,
products near which the amounts of time was spent, and
the products handled by the plurality of customers;

determining, by the system, analytics based on the events, the analytics including at least one of:
patterns representing movement through the one or more BMR,
amounts of time spent in the one or more BMR,
sections of the one or more BMR that attract a greatest number of the plurality of customers, and
sections of the one or more BMR in which the plurality of customers spend a greatest amount of time;

correlating, by the system, the tracked events (i) to customer spending by the plurality of customers, and (ii) to respective marketing campaigns;
comparing, by the system, the analytics determined during a period when the respective marketing campaign is in effect and during a corresponding period when the marketing campaign is not in effect; and
creating and maintaining, by the system based on the analytics, the CRM engagement plan for each of the plurality of customers.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CRM engagement plan for each of the plurality of customers is created based on the customer's profile, preferences and transaction history.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising a step of: determining, by the system, a correlation between the profile and events for the customer.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising a step of: determining, by the system, the product or department of most interest to the customer based on the correlation.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining analytics further comprises a step of: determining, by the system, including at least one of a frequency of purchase transactions by the customer, a measure of how recent a last purchase transaction by the customer occurred, and an amount of money spent by the customer.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising the step of: displaying, by the system, a correlation between at least one of the events and the amount of money spent by the customer over a period of time.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the correlation relates at least one event within a particular department or section of the one or more BMR and the amount of money spent by the customer with respect to the particular department or section of the one or more BMR.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the events further include times of entry and exit of the one or more BMR by the customers.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compared analytics are based on events within a specific department or section of the one or more BMR associated with the marketing campaign.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of: determining a product placement of a product based on the analytics.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of: determining a promotion offer based on the analytics.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the analytics relate to a particular department or section of the one or more BMR and wherein the promotion offer is for the particular department or section.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for utilizing customer relationship management (CRM) protocol within one or more brick and mortar retailers (BMR) for a plurality of customers, each in possession of a wireless device, the method comprising steps of:
recognizing, by a system installed in each of the one or more BMR for recognizing and interacting with wireless devices and maintaining a CRM engagement plan for each of the plurality of customers, presence and identity of the wireless devices in possession of the each of the plurality of customers;
initiating and ending, by the system, a customer in-store session for each of the plurality of customers when their respective wireless devices are recognized as present and as no longer present in the one or more BMR, respectively;
receiving, by the system from the recognized wireless device locations of the wireless devices within the one or more BMR;
until the recognized wireless devices are no longer present in the one or more BMR:
tracking, by the system, events concerning the plurality of customers based on the received locations, the events including at least one of:
departments or sections of the one or more BMR visited,
amounts of time spent in the visited departments or sections,
products near which the amounts of time was spent, and
the products handled by the plurality of customers;

determining, by the system, analytics based on the events, the analytics including at least one of:
patterns representing movement through the one or more BMR,
amounts of time spent in the one or more BMR,
sections of the one or more BMR that attract greatest numbers of the plurality of customers, and
sections of the one or more BMR in which the plurality of customers spend a greatest amounts of time;

correlating, by the system, the tracked events (i) to customer spending by the plurality of customers, and (ii) to respective marketing campaigns;
comparing, by the system, the analytics determined during a period when the respective marketing campaign is in effect and during a corresponding period when the marketing campaign is not in effect; and
creating and maintaining, by the system based on the analytics, the CRM engagement plan for each of the plurality of customers.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the CRM engagement plan for each of the plurality of customers is created based on the customer's profile, preferences and transaction history.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the step of determining analytics further comprises a step of: determining, by the system, at least one of a frequency of purchase transactions by the customer, a measure of how recent a last purchase transaction by the customer occurred, and an amount of money spent by the customer.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising the step of: displaying, by the system, a correlation between at least one of the events and the amount of money spent by the customer over a period of time.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the correla

Assignees

• Maplebear Inc

Inventors

• Ramchandani Jayant

Classifications

• G06Q30/0255 Primary

  based on user history · CPC title

• G06Q30/0242

  Determining effectiveness of advertisements · CPC title

• G06Q30/02

  Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising · CPC title

• G07C2011/02

  related to amusement parks · CPC title

• G07C9/28

  the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence · CPC title