U.S. patent application number 10/323327 was filed with the patent office on 2003-05-08 for method and system for collecting and processing marketing data.
Invention is credited to Morehouse, Bruce, Riordan, John.
Application Number | 20030088460 10/323327 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25525178 |
Filed Date | 2003-05-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030088460 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Riordan, John ; et
al. |
May 8, 2003 |
Method and system for collecting and processing marketing data
Abstract
A system and method for the collection of marketing data
simultaneously captures at a point-of-sale all financial and
non-financial data pertaining to a specific consumer transaction.
An electronic invoice is constructed from the captured data and
transmitted to a credit authorization location via a communication
link necessarily established to transmit a credit authorization
request for the transaction. The electronic invoice contains line
item data for each item purchased as part of the transaction. The
invoice is organized around the identification number of the
payment vehicle employed by the customer to pay for the
transaction, thus linking the purchasing information contained in
the invoice to a particular consumer. The credit authorization
location receives the transmitted electronic invoice and forwards
the invoice to a data warehouse, which may be located in a location
remote from the credit authorization location. The data warehouse
comprises a plurality of related data structures for storing the
received data. The related data structures facilitate simple and
flexible analysis and searching of the collected market data.
Inventors: |
Riordan, John; (Brooklyn,
NY) ; Morehouse, Bruce; (Northport, ME) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PENNIE AND EDMONDS
1155 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS
NEW YORK
NY
100362711
|
Family ID: |
25525178 |
Appl. No.: |
10/323327 |
Filed: |
December 19, 2002 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10323327 |
Dec 19, 2002 |
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09546684 |
Apr 10, 2000 |
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6519572 |
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09546684 |
Apr 10, 2000 |
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08977479 |
Nov 24, 1997 |
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6078891 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/16 ;
705/38 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0201 20130101;
G06Q 30/0205 20130101; G06Q 40/025 20130101; G06Q 30/02 20130101;
G06Q 20/20 20130101; G06Q 20/208 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/10 ; 705/16;
705/38 |
International
Class: |
G06F 017/60 |
Claims
1. A method of collecting marketing information, comprising:
collecting, at a point-of-sale, line item data pertaining to one or
more transactions; establishing a communication link between the
point-of-sale and a credit authorization location; transmitting a
credit authorization request from the point-of-sale to the credit
authorization location via the communication link; transmitting the
line item data from the point-of-sale to the credit authorization
location via the communication link.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the point-of-sale is an internet
website.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the line item data comprises a UPC
number for each line item, the method further comprising: storing
the line item data transmitted from the point-of-sale at a location
remote from the point-of-sale; identifying a product or service
category identifier for each line item on the basis of the item's
UPC number; storing each product or service category identifier in
linked association with the line item for which it was
identified.
4. A system for organizing marketing data, comprising: a
point-of-sale computer; a credit authorization computer; a
communications link linking the point-of-sale computer and the
credit authorization computer; a data storage connected to the
credit authorization computer; a database resident in the data
storage and comprising a plurality of data structures; wherein at
least one of the data structures stores line item information
pertaining to one or more transactions executed by the
point-of-sale computer and reported to the credit authorization
computer; and at least a second one of the data structures stores
information indicative of the payment vehicle used to pay for the
transaction; the payment vehicle information for the transaction
being linked to the line item information for the transaction.
5. The system of claim 4 wherein the data storage is located remote
from the credit authorization computer.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention relates to a system and method for collecting
and processing marketing data.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Market research is an important business tool which permits
manufacturers, retailers, financial institutions, and others to
cost-effectively target their marketing and sales activities and
efficiently reach potential customers. These organizations rely
heavily on market data in planning new products, sales strategies
and promotions, and when making a variety of other sales and
marketing related business decisions.
[0003] In the past, marketing data has been collected in several
ways. Typically, market research firms are employed to collect data
using surveys, questionnaires, and other costly and time-consuming
techniques. This information is then processed using statistical
techniques in an effort to extrapolate therefrom significant trends
in consumer behavior. Although based on statistically significant
correlations, these techniques cannot with absolute precision
determine the buying patterns of particular population segments or
individual consumers. Indeed, as recognized in the art, such
surveys often yield inaccurate and misleading results.
[0004] In contrast, some organizations, particularly large
retailers, collect marketing data by tracking sales transactions at
the retailers' points of sale. This technique, however, provides
only crude data such as the number and types of items sold by the
merchant. It does not provide detailed data regarding sales
patterns of particular socioeconomic groups or individual
customers.
[0005] To collect more precise data, retailers sometimes provide
customers with "preferred customer" cards or the like. The
"preferred customer" card typically comprises a customer
identification number linked to a database record which stores
information relating to the customer's past purchases. Each time
the customer makes a purchase, the merchant scans or manually
enters the customer identification number from the "preferred
customer" card into the merchant's point of sale (POS) computer.
The merchant then scans or manually enters the identification codes
of the items purchased by the customer. Typically, the
identification code employed to identify each product may be the
product's Universal Product Code (UPC). In this way, it is possible
to collect data regarding the purchasing patterns of particular
customers.
[0006] This technique, too, has several drawbacks. First, it only
collects sales data of the particular retailer who issued the
"preferred customer" card. It does not permit data collected by a
first retailer to be integrated and cross-referenced with data
collected by other retailers. The collected data may therefore
provide a significantly skewed perspective of a customer's
purchasing patterns as a whole.
[0007] Furthermore, such systems require that the customer bring
his or her card to the retailer's POS. To that end, retailers have
been forced to offer a variety of incentives, such as discounts on
particular items, in order to induce customers to carry and use
their "preferred customer" cards. Notwithstanding such incentives,
many customers forget to bring their cards to the POS.
[0008] Moreover, the systems require significant hardware and
software resources to collect and maintain the collected data.
Frequently, the customer data is transmitted from a remote retail
site to a central computer maintained by the merchant. This
marketing data infrastructure is often completely separate from the
merchant's sales data infrastructure and thus leads to wasteful
duplicative processing of the transaction data being collected.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the prior
art by providing a system and method for efficient collection and
organization of marketing data.
[0010] In a preferred embodiment, the present invention
simultaneously captures at the POS all financial and non-financial
data pertaining to a specific consumer transaction. An electronic
invoice is constructed from the captured data and transmitted to a
credit authorization location via a communication link necessarily
established to transmit a credit authorization request for the
transaction. The electronic invoice contains line item data for
each item purchased as part of the transaction. The invoice is
organized around the identification number of the payment vehicle
employed by the customer to pay for the transaction, thus linking
the purchasing information contained in the invoice to a particular
consumer.
[0011] The credit authorization location receives the transmitted
electronic invoice and forwards the invoice to a data warehouse,
which may be located in a location remote from the credit
authorization location. The data warehouse comprises a plurality of
related data structures for storing the received data. The related
data structures permit simple and flexible analysis and searching
of the collected market data.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The above summary of the invention will be better understood
when taken in conjunction with the following detailed description
and accompanying drawings in which:
[0013] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system architecture suitable
for implementing a first preferred embodiment of the present
invention wherein sales transactions are conducted via the
internet.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system architecture suitable
for implementing a second preferred embodiment of the present
invention wherein sales transactions are conducted at a physical
POS.
[0015] FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting the operation of the first
preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a preferred
embodiment for a line item listing in an electronic invoice.
[0017] FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting the operation of the second
preferred embodiment of the present invention.
[0018] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of one possible structure of a
data warehouse for storing collected marketing data.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] FIG. 1 shows a system architecture suitable for implementing
the efficient market data collection system of the present
invention in an internet purchasing environment. As shown in FIG.
1, the architecture comprises a customer terminal 105 typically
located in a customer's home or workplace. Customer terminal 105 is
provided with a modem 110. Modem 110 may be an internal modem
located inside customer terminal 105 or may alternatively comprise
an external modem. Customer terminal 105 may further be provided
with a payment vehicle scanner 107, the purpose of which will be
described below.
[0020] The architecture further comprises a POS location denoted
generally as 115. POS location 115 comprises a POS computer 120
suitable for receiving and processing orders placed with a
merchant. Associated with POS computer 120 is an inventory database
127 which stores information relating to the merchant's inventory
such as the types of goods, quantity of goods, and price of goods
in the merchant's inventory. POS computer 120 is further provided
with a first modem 125 and a second modem 130.
[0021] POS location 115 may further comprise a shipping department
computer 135 which is linked to POS computer 120. As described in
more detail below, shipping department computer 135 receives
invoices for orders placed with POS computer 120 and tracks filling
and shipping of the order. Customer terminal 105 and POS computer
120 are adapted to permit communication therebetween via the
internet. As known in the art, this connection is generally
established via one or more internet gateways. Illustratively, as
shown in FIG. 1, customer terminal 105 is typically connected to a
first internet gateway 150 via a telephone line 145. Similarly, POS
computer 120 is typically connected to a second internet gateway
155 via telephone line 160. Gateways 150 and 155 are typically
connected via an internet backbone 140.
[0022] Gateways 150 and 155 are typically operated by internet
service providers who provide access to the internet for a
subscription fee. Alternatively, a large merchant might own and
maintain its own internet gateway. In that instance, POS computer
120 would typically be connected directly to internet gateway 155
via a dedicated data line.
[0023] In other embodiments, customer computer 105 may be connected
to POS computer 120 via a direct dial connection.
[0024] The architecture of FIG. 1 further comprises a credit
authorization location 165 typically located in a location remote
from POS location 115. Credit authorization location 165 is
typically owned and operated by the financial institution which has
issued the payment vehicle employed by the customer to pay for
items purchased at the POS, as described in more detail below.
Credit authorization location 165 preferably comprises a credit
authorization computer 170 which receives credit authorization
requests from POS computer 120, evaluates the received requests,
and transmits to POS computer 120 an authorization of the
transaction or a denial of the transaction depending on various
parameters such as whether the requested credit line exceeds the
credit limit of the customer.
[0025] Credit authorization computer 170 is provided with a modem
175. Typically, POS computer 120 and credit authorization computer
are adapted to permit communication therebetween via telephone line
180 and modems 130, 175. Alternatively, other transmission paths
for communicating credit requests and authorizations may be
employed.
[0026] Also shown in FIG. 1 is a data warehouse 185 which may be
located at credit authorization location 165 or alternatively may
be located at a location remote from credit authorization location
165. As described in more detail below, data warehouse 185 stores
detailed marketing data regarding transactions occurring at points
of sale such as POS 115.
[0027] Turning to FIG. 2 there is shown an alternative architecture
which illustrates the more traditional setting wherein a customer
is physically located at the POS at the time of the transaction. As
will be recognized, the architectures of the two purchasing
environments share many common elements, and like elements in FIGS.
1 and 2 have been labelled with like reference numerals.
[0028] Thus, as shown in FIG. 2, the physical POS environment
comprises a POS computer 120 which has associated therewith an
inventory database 127 and a shipping department computer 135.
Similarly, POS 120 is connected via modem 130 and telephone line
180 to credit authorization location 165.
[0029] In addition, the physical POS environment further comprises
a product scanner 205 for scanning into POS computer 120
identification codes representative of the items to be purchased by
the customer. Alternatively, the system may comprise a keyboard 210
or other data entry devices 215 for scanning this information. The
system is further provided with a payment vehicle scanner 220 for
scanning the identification number and associated PIN of the
customer's payment vehicle into POS computer 120.
[0030] In the physical POS environment, a customer will typically
collect in a basket or wagon the items he wishes to purchase, and
bring them to a particular location where POS terminals are
located. An employee of the merchant uses product scanner 205 to
scan a bar code or other product identifier printed on the item
into POS computer 120. Alternatively, the employee may manually
enter information identifying the items to be purchased via
keyboard 210 or other data entry devices 215.
[0031] Operation of a preferred embodiment of the efficient market
data collection system of the present invention in the internet
purchasing environment will now be described in connection with
FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, in step 302 the customer establishes a
link with POS computer 120 via internet backbone 140. To establish
this link, the customer typically logs onto his internet account
and is provided access to the internet via internet gateway 150.
The customer then enters the web address of a retailer's website
and is connected to the website via internet gateway 155.
[0032] In step 304 the customer selects the items which he desires
to purchase. Illustratively, the merchant's website may comprise an
interface which displays information regarding items offered for
sale and may, for example, permit a customer to select items for
purchase by clicking on icons or by typing in the identification
number or name of particular items. Similarly, the interface may
permit the customer to click on or otherwise identify how many of
each item he wishes to purchase.
[0033] In step 306 the customer enters the identification number of
the payment vehicle which he wishes to use to pay for the items to
be purchased. This information is typically entered in response to
a prompt from the merchant's website, and may be entered manually,
or alternatively may be entered by swiping the payment vehicle
through payment vehicle scanner 107. The payment vehicle employed
by the customer preferably is a smart card. Alternatively, the
payment vehicle may be a magnetic stripe card such as those
employed as credit cards, charge cards, or debit cards, or any
other payment vehicle which requires verification to authorize a
transaction. As known in the art, smart cards provide enhanced
security over traditional magnetic stripe cards because they are
typically manufactured to be resistant to physical probing by
electronic instruments and physical disassembly. In addition, smart
cards may employ symmetric or asymmetric cryptography software in
order to increase the security of communications between the smart
card and a merchant.
[0034] In addition to the identification number of the vehicle,
payment vehicle information generally comprises a PIN whose purpose
is to ensure that the person employing the payment vehicle is
authorized to do so.
[0035] In step 308, POS computer 120 creates an electronic invoice
from the information entered by the customer. The invoice comprises
a line item listing concerning the items purchased by the customer.
Each line item entry in the listing comprises the identity of a
purchased item, the cost of the item, and the number purchased of
the item. Typically, the identity of the item is represented by an
identification code such as a UPC number which is retrieved by POS
computer from inventory database 127. One illustrative arrangement
for the line item listing is shown in FIG. 4. As those skilled in
the art will recognize, the particular fields shown in FIG. 4 are
merely illustrative, and additional or different fields may
alternatively be employed to customize the line item listing for a
particular environment.
[0036] As shown in FIG. 4, a typical line item listing may comprise
the following fields:
[0037] a date field, which stores the date on which the transaction
occurred;
[0038] a time field, which stores the time at which the transaction
occurred;
[0039] a retail location identification field, which stores a
unique identifier typically allocated by credit authorization
location 165 to identify the retail location submitting the line
item listing;
[0040] a payment vehicle identifier, which stores the
identification number of the payment vehicle used by the customer
to pay for the transaction;
[0041] an invoice number field, which stores a unique identifier
for the line item listing assigned by the retailer;
[0042] a total amount field, which stores the total dollar amount
of the transaction;
[0043] a number of items field, which stores the number of distinct
items purchased;
[0044] a product identifier field, which stores a unique identifier
for a purchased product (typically a UPC or other standard
code);
[0045] a quantity field, which stores the number of a product that
was purchased;
[0046] a unit price field, which stores the price of a purchased
product;
[0047] a total price field, which stores the product of the
quantity field and the unit price field for each purchased product;
and
[0048] a remarks field, which stores remarks regarding the
transaction that the merchant might have.
[0049] Line item entries may also be created for other aspects of
the transaction, such as the tax, retailer discounts, etc. As
illustratively shown in FIG. 4, such line item entries may comprise
a unique alphanumeric code that identifies the item (e.g., "T-A-X")
and is stored in the product identification field. The total amount
of the item (e.g., the tax) may be stored in the total price
field.
[0050] In step 310, a program resident in POS computer 120 creates
an invoice packet for transmission to credit authorization location
165. The invoice packet comprises the line item listing described
above. The invoice packet further comprises a request for
authorization from credit authorization location 165. The request
for authorization typically comprises the identification number and
PIN of the customer's payment vehicle and the total amount of the
sale.
[0051] In step 312, the invoice packet is transmitted to credit
authorization location 165. In the prior art, transmission from the
merchant to credit authorization computer 170 served only one
purpose: To request authorization for a transaction. In contrast,
the purpose of the invoice packet of the present invention is two
fold: First, to request authorization for the transaction from
credit authorization location 165, and second, to transmit to
credit authorization location 165 a line item listing concerning
the transaction. In this way, the invention efficiently employs the
communications link established with credit authorization location
165 to simultaneously transmit thereto a line item listing
comprising complete marketing data concerning the transaction.
[0052] In decision step 314, credit authorization computer 170
determines whether or not to approve the credit request received
from POS computer 120. This determination typically comprises the
step of determining whether the total cost of the items listed on
the invoice exceeds the customer's credit limit. If the customer's
credit limit is exceeded, then decision step 314 fails and the
system proceeds to step 316 wherein credit authorization computer
170 transmits a denial message to POS computer 120 via line 180. In
step 318, POS computer 120 receives the denial message from credit
authorization computer 120 and cancels the transaction. The
merchant may also take additional steps typically associated with a
denial of a request for credit authorization, as known in the
art.
[0053] If, on the other hand, the customer's credit limit is not
exceeded, then decision step 314 succeeds and the system proceeds
to step 320 wherein credit authorization computer 170 transmits a
credit approval to POS computer 120 via line 180. Concurrently, in
step 322 credit authorization computer 170 takes additional
bookkeeping actions typically associated with approval of a
financial transaction. For example, as known in the art, credit
authorization computer 170 typically updates the customer's account
by debiting the customer's credit limit in the amount of the
transaction.
[0054] Upon receipt of the transaction authorization from credit
authorization location 165, in step 324, the merchant commences
steps to complete the sale. These typically include transmitting a
confirmation to the customer and preparing the order for
shipping.
[0055] In step 326, credit authorization computer 170 transmits a
copy of the invoice packet received from POS computer 120 to data
warehouse 185. As noted above, this invoice contains line item
information on each item purchased by the customer as well the
identification number of the payment vehicle used by the customer
to pay for the transaction. In step 328, data warehouse 185
processes the received invoice packet and stores the marketing data
contained therein in a relational database, as will be described in
further detail below.
[0056] Thus, the present invention facilitates the collection of
detailed line item purchasing information which is linked to a
particular customer via his payment vehicle identification number,
in a manner heretofore not possible. In particular, because the
payment vehicle is employed as the central identifier for the
transaction, each item in the line item listing is particularly
identified with an individual customer. In addition, because the
line item listing is transmitted as part of an invoice packet
comprising a credit authorization request, the present invention
allows efficient collection of marketing data by permitting
marketing data to be collected at a central location without
requiring an additional communication from the POS to a central
data repository.
[0057] Operation of a preferred embodiment of the efficient market
data collection system of the present invention in the physical
purchasing environment will now be described in connection with
FIG. 5.
[0058] As shown in FIG. 5, in step 502, a customer enters a retail
location maintained by a merchant. In step 504, the customer
selects items to be purchased and brings them to a point-of-sale
terminal. Also in step 504, an employee of the merchant uses
product scanner 205 to scan a bar code or other code printed on the
item into point-of-sale computer 120. Alternatively, the employee
may manually enter information identifying the items to be
purchased via keyboard 210 or other data entry devices 215. In step
506, the customer identifies for the merchant the payment vehicle
to be used to pay for the selected items. Typically, the customer
may hand the payment vehicle to an employee of the merchant or may
alternatively swipe the payment vehicle through a payment vehicle
scanner 220 located near point-of-sale computer 120.
[0059] The remainder of the steps performed in the
physical-purchase embodiment of the present invention are the same
as those performed in the on-line-purchase embodiment described
above, and corresponding steps in FIGS. 3 and 5 are identified by
corresponding numerals.
[0060] The present invention also provides a novel relational
storage arrangement for the collected marketing data which
facilitates data analysis. As described below, the data are stored
in a relational database designed to facilitate flexible and
particularized data searching. A schematic diagram illustrating a
preferred relational database of the present invention is shown in
FIG. 6.
[0061] As shown in FIG. 6, data warehouse 185 comprises a first
data structure 600 for storing the content of received electronic
invoices. Data warehouse 185 creates a new record in data structure
600 for each electronic invoice received from credit authorization
location 165. In a preferred embodiment, the record may comprise
the following fields:
[0062] a retail location identification field, which stores the
unique identifier typically allocated by credit authorization
location 165 to identify the retail location submitting the
electronic invoice;
[0063] an invoice identification field, which stores a unique
identifier for the invoice assigned by the retailer;
[0064] a payment vehicle identification field, which stores the
identification number of the payment vehicle employed by the
customer to pay for the transaction;
[0065] an invoice number field, which stores a unique identifier
for the invoice assigned by data warehouse 185;
[0066] a date field, which stores the date on which the transaction
occurred; and
[0067] a total amount field, which stores the total dollar amount
of the transaction.
[0068] Data warehouse 185 preferably further comprises a data
structure 601 for storing information regarding each line item on
the received electronic invoice. When an electronic invoice is
received by data warehouse 185 it creates a new record for each
line item on the invoice. In a preferred embodiment, the record may
comprise the following fields:
[0069] an invoice identification field, which stores the unique
identifier for the invoice assigned by the retailer;
[0070] a product code field, typically the UPC or other standard
code for the purchased item;
[0071] an invoice number field, which stores the unique identifier
for the invoice assigned by data warehouse 185; and
[0072] a line item total amount field, which stores the total
dollar amount of the line item entry.
[0073] Data warehouse 185 further comprises a data structure 602
which stores universal identification codes for every product
stored in data warehouse 185. The purpose of this data structure
and a preferred embodiment for its design will now be
described.
[0074] The UPC coding scheme cannot be used to cross reference
marketing data by category, such as by product type or class. This
is because the UPC is not a hierarchical coding scheme. Instead,
each UPC number as a whole identifies a particular product made by
a specific manufacturer. The digits which make up the code,
however, do not convey any substantive information regarding the
class of products to which the particular product belongs.
[0075] In contrast, the present invention preferably employs a
hierarchical coding scheme in which each portion of a code
identifies a significant characteristic of the product. Thus, the
structure of the coding scheme itself conveys information about the
relationship between different products stored in data warehouse
185. As noted below, this hierarchical scheme facilitates search
and analysis of the collected marketing data stored in data
warehouse 185. The particular hierarchical scheme employed is not
critical to implementation of the present invention.
[0076] In a preferred embodiment, the hierarchical coding scheme of
the present invention comprises a plurality of unique universal
identification codes, called UIDCs. Each UIDC is preferably
descriptive of a particular product or service category in such a
manner that the critical characteristics of the product or service
category can be determined by resorting to the UIDC definitions
associated with the category's code.
[0077] Illustratively, the hierarchical system of the present
invention might classify tennis shoes as a product category and
assign to that product category a unique UIDC. The hierarchical
scheme might further classify tennis shoes as a subcategory of
athletic footwear. Athletic footwear might itself be a subcategory
of a broader category encompassing footwear generally, which might
in turn be a subcategory of a still broader category encompassing
clothing of all varieties.
[0078] In the above illustrative example, the UIDC for tennis shoes
may preferably comprise a plurality of code segments. A first
segment would identify tennis shoes as belonging to the category of
clothing. The UIDCs of all product categories belonging to the
clothing category would share this code segment. A second segment
would identify tennis shoes as belonging to the subcategory of
footwear. The UIDCs of all product categories belonging to the
footwear subcategory would share this code segment. A third segment
would identify tennis shoes as belonging to the subcategory of
athletic footwear. The UIDCs of all product categories belonging to
the athletic footwear subcategory would share this code segment. A
fourth segment would uniquely identify the product category of
tennis shoes, as distinguished from other product categories in the
athletic footwear family.
[0079] The present invention is not limited to the particular
hierarchical coding scheme described above, and may employ any
suitable hierarchical code, including those that do not comprise a
plurality of code segments as in the above illustrative
example.
[0080] Once a hierarchical coding scheme is adopted, each product
or service stored in warehouse 185 (as identified by a unique UPC
number) is assigned one or more UIDCs corresponding to the product
categories to which the product or service belongs. In the above
example, Nike (TM) tennis shoes and Addidas (TM) tennis shoes, each
bearing distinct UPC codes, would be assigned the same UIDC
corresponding to the tennis-shoe product category.
[0081] In a preferred embodiment, data structure 602 contains a
plurality of records, each of which stores data relating to one
universal identification code. Preferably, each record contains the
following fields:
[0082] a universal identification code field, which stores the
universal identification code for a product;
[0083] a description field, which defines the scope of products
included within the universal identification code; and
[0084] a keywords field, which stores a set of keywords that may be
used to facilitate the look up of unknown codes. For example, the
system may be programmed to retrieve all UIDCs associated with a
particular keyword, or group of keywords, entered by a user.
[0085] Data warehouse 185 further comprises a data structure 603
which stores information regarding manufacturers. In a preferred
embodiment, each record in data structure 603 comprises the
following fields:
[0086] a manufacturer identification field, which stores a unique
identifier assigned to the manufacturer by data warehouse 185;
and
[0087] a manufacturer information field which stores further
information relating to the manufacturer such as its name, address,
and telephone number.
[0088] Data warehouse 185 further comprises a data structure 604
which stores information relating to each marketed product and
links the product to one or more universal identification codes. As
those skilled in the art will recognize, manufacturers may at times
bundle together the sale of two or more items, and assign to the
bundled items a single UPC number. In that instance, data structure
604 associates two or more universal identification codes (one for
each bundled item) with a single UPC number, as described below. In
a preferred embodiment, each record in data structure 604 comprises
the following fields:
[0089] a universal identification code field, which stores the
universal identification code for the product (or more than one
universal identification code in the case of bundled products);
[0090] a product code field, which stores the UPC number for the
product;
[0091] a manufacturer identification field, which stores the
identity of the manufacturer of the product;
[0092] a product name field, which stores the name assigned to the
product by the manufacturer;
[0093] a description field, which stores a description of the
product; and
[0094] a keywords field, which stores a set of key words that
facilitate looking up products. For example, the system may be
programmed to retrieve all UIDCs associated with a particular
keyword, or group of keywords, entered by a user.
[0095] Data warehouse 185 further comprises a data structure 605
which stores information relating to customers. In a preferred
embodiment, each record in data structure 605 comprises the
following fields:
[0096] a customer identification field, which stores a unique
identifier assigned to the customer by data warehouse 185; and
[0097] a customer information field, which stores other information
regarding the customer such as the customer's name, address, and
telephone number.
[0098] Data warehouse 185 further comprises a data structure 606
which stores information concerning retailers. In a preferred
embodiment, each record in data structure 606 comprises the
following fields:
[0099] a retailer identification field, which stores a unique
identifier assigned to the retailer by data warehouse 185; and
[0100] a retailer information field, which stores further
information relating to the retailer such as the retailer's name,
address, and telephone number.
[0101] Data warehouse 185 further comprises a data structure 607
which comprises a Geographical Information System (GIS). As known
in the art, a GIS comprises a set of tables that link groups of
customers on the basis of distinct parameters, including:
residence, age, ethnicity, family status, phone numbers, taxes,
vocation, number of credit cards held, etc. Data structure 607
facilitates analysis of the marketing data stored in data warehouse
185 across segments of the population, as described below. For
example, using the linking tables of data structure 607, the system
may generate a list of all households in the southwest United
States with four or more members and a household income of at least
$45,000/yr., in which one or more members of the household is
employed by an insurance company.
[0102] Data warehouse 185 further comprises a data structure 608
which links particular payment vehicles to particular individuals.
In a preferred embodiment, each record in data structure 608
comprises the following fields:
[0103] a vehicle identification number, which stores the
identification number of a payment vehicle; and
[0104] a customer identification number, which stores the
identification number of a customer associated with the payment
vehicle.
[0105] Data warehouse 185 further comprises a data structure 609
which links particular retailing locations to particular retail
companies, since each retailer may maintain more than one retail
location. In a preferred embodiment, each record in data structure
609 preferably comprises the following fields:
[0106] a retailer identification field, which stores the
identification number of the retailer which maintains the retail
location; and
[0107] a retail location identification field, which stores the
unique identifier typically allocated by credit authorization
location 165 to identify a retail location.
[0108] The data structures described above permit data warehouse
185 to be flexibly searched using a wide assortment of search
queries. This permits particularized market data satisfying any
specific constraint or combination of constraints on the values of
the fields in data structures 600-609 to be retrieved from data
warehouse 185. Illustratively, a user would be able to
determine:
[0109] (1) total volume of sales of tennis shoes (UIDC 123-456-789)
over the past 24 months, grouped by month and state.
[0110] (2) the percentage of athletic footwear sold in the last
year that was manufactured by Nike (TM).
[0111] (3) the name and address of every person who purchased
footwear from Addidas (TM) and at least one other company in the
past year.
[0112] (4) line item details of every purchase made by John Q. Doe
using payment vehicle Master Card (TM) 1234 5678 9012 3456 during
the period Jun. 6, 1997 to Jul. 23, 1997.
[0113] (5) a list of every American Express (TM) cardholder who has
purchased within the last three weeks a combination of running
shoes, running shorts, and running socks in a premium price
range.
[0114] (6) total sales volume of bicycle helmets in a defined price
range.
[0115] (7) total sales volume by brand of all power tools purchased
in the last six months.
[0116] Those skilled in the art will understand how to program a
general purpose computer to interactively query data warehouse 185
in order to obtain responses to the above queries, and others. As
those skilled in the art will recognize, the system of the present
invention facilitates such searches in several specific ways. By
way of example and not limitation, the hierarchical coding scheme
of the present invention permits the system to search the collected
marketing data at many conceptual levels. As noted above, for
example, the UIDC for a particular product category (e.g., tennis
shoes) may identify the product category as belonging to a
progression of hierarchically related, successively broader,
categories. This permits the system to more easily respond to
queries of varying breadth, ranging from narrow queries concerning
a single product or service category to broader queries concerning
classes of related product and service categories.
[0117] It should be recognized that specific queries to data
warehouse 185 may be restricted by law or for other reasons. For
example, accessing customer-specific purchasing information might
be prohibited by law in some states. Similarly, credit
authorization location 165 might contractually obligate data
warehouse 185 to limit customer-specific queries for reasons of
public relations or to stop customers from abandoning payment
vehicles issued by the credit authorization institution.
[0118] While the invention has been described in conjunction with
specific embodiments, it is evident that numerous alternatives,
modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in
the art in light of the foregoing description.
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