U.S. patent application number 14/258150 was filed with the patent office on 2014-08-14 for determination and presentation of package pricing offers in response to customer interest in a product.
This patent application is currently assigned to Inventor Holdings, LLC. The applicant listed for this patent is Inventor Holdings, LLC. Invention is credited to John B. Dickerson, Magdalena M. Fincham, Jay S. Walker.
Application Number | 20140224878 14/258150 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 23417895 |
Filed Date | 2014-08-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140224878 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Walker; Jay S. ; et
al. |
August 14, 2014 |
DETERMINATION AND PRESENTATION OF PACKAGE PRICING OFFERS IN
RESPONSE TO CUSTOMER INTEREST IN A PRODUCT
Abstract
A system and method for determination and presentation of
package offers. A package offer is an offer for sale by a retailer
of a package of products at a package price. A retailer may offer
products for sale in an on-line retail environment or in a physical
retail environment. A determination is made that a primary product
is of interest to a customer. This determination may involve
detecting and interpreting input signals transmitted from a
customer device. In response to detecting that the primary product
is of interest to the customer, a package is determined that may
comprise the primary product and at least one secondary product. A
package may be determined by accessing a database to locate a
pre-determined package or to select the secondary products ad hoc.
A package price is determined that is less than the sum of the
corresponding retail prices of the primary product and secondary
products in the package. A package price may be based on a profit
margin of the primary product and/or a profit margin of at least
one of the secondary products. A package offer for the sale of the
package at the package price is then presented to the customer. The
customer may indicate an acceptance of the package offer and
authorize a financial account to be charged for the amount of the
package price. The package products may be shipped to the customer
or may be picked up at a retail establishment.
Inventors: |
Walker; Jay S.; (Ridgefield,
CT) ; Fincham; Magdalena M.; (Ridgefield, CT)
; Dickerson; John B.; (Wilton, CT) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Inventor Holdings, LLC |
Stamford |
CT |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Inventor Holdings, LLC
Stamford
CT
|
Family ID: |
23417895 |
Appl. No.: |
14/258150 |
Filed: |
April 22, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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|
13025814 |
Feb 11, 2011 |
8712860 |
|
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14258150 |
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|
|
09360422 |
Jul 23, 1999 |
7899710 |
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13025814 |
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09085424 |
May 27, 1998 |
6138105 |
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09360422 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
235/462.01 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0631 20130101;
G06Q 30/0256 20130101; G06K 7/10 20130101; G06Q 40/04 20130101;
G06Q 30/0239 20130101; G06Q 30/06 20130101; G06Q 30/0224
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
235/462.01 |
International
Class: |
G06K 7/10 20060101
G06K007/10 |
Claims
1. A portable barcode scanner that: receives an indication of a
product scanned by a customer; wirelessly transmits an indication
of the scanned product to a server device; wirelessly receives, in
response to the transmitting of the indication of the scanned
product and from the server device, an indication of a package
offer, the package offer including the scanned product and
comprising a discount on the package of the scanned product and at
least one other product; and outputs an indication of the package
offer to the customer.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C.
.sctn.120 to, and is a divisional of, U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 13/025,814 titled "DETERMINATION AND PRESENTATION OF PACKAGE
PRICING OFFERS IN RESPONSE TO CUSTOMER INTEREST IN A PRODUCT" and
filed Feb. 11, 2011, which issues as U.S. Pat. No. 8,712,860 on
Apr. 29, 2014, and which itself is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/360,422 titled "DETERMINATION AND
PRESENTATION OF PACKAGE PRICING OFFERS IN RESPONSE TO CUSTOMER
INTEREST IN A PRODUCT" and filed Jul. 23, 1999, and which issued as
U.S. Pat. No. 7,899,710 on Mar. 1, 2011, and which is a
continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/085,424
filed May 27, 1998 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,105 on Oct.
24, 2000 entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC ASSEMBLY OF
PACKAGES IN RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS". The entirety of each of the above
applications is incorporated by reference herein for all
purposes.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates to retail pricing of products
presented to customers as a package. More particularly, the present
invention relates to the determination and presentation of retail
package pricing offers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Retailers often attempt to increase their overall revenues
by encouraging customers to spend more money per visit to a retail
establishment. One method retailers have utilized to encourage
customers to spend more money during a visit to a retail
establishment is to offer a discount for the purchase of multiple
units of a single product. Such a discount scheme is typically
enticing to customers when offered in connection with
non-perishable goods that require replacement over time (e.g.,
canned goods). However, customers tend not to be persuaded to
purchase multiple units of consumer products such as clothing or
electronics. Other methods for encouraging customers to spend more
money during a visit to a retail establishment have been attempted
with varying degrees of success.
[0004] In general, customers are more likely to increase
expenditures at a retail establishment if they perceive that they
are receiving personal attention and/or a discount not available to
other customers. As an example, small privately owned shops
("boutiques") are often successful in encouraging customers to
spend more money per visit by providing personal sales assistants
to assist their customers. Personal sales assistants are especially
effective if they have the authority to offer personalized package
pricing discounts to the customers. For example, a sales assistant
in an exclusive men's store, when helping a customer who is
considering the purchase of a suit, may suggest a shirt and tie to
go with the suit. The salesman may offer to sell the shirt and tie
for only $50 above the price of the suit (wherein the retail prices
of the shirt and tie are $45 and $25, respectively) if the customer
agrees to purchase the suit. In this example, the customer is more
likely to buy the suit as well as the shirt and the tie. The
retailer benefits by completing a transaction and by increasing the
purchase total of that transaction. The retailer may be
particularly willing to offer a substantial discount on the shirt
and tie if a large profit margin is to be realized on the suit.
[0005] Larger retailers and retail chains, however, have been
unable to take advantage of such a personalized package pricing
method. Personalized package pricing in a sizable retail
environment would inappropriately place negotiating and price
structure power in the hands of a large number of store sales
personnel. In order to effectively utilize the above-described
personalized price packaging method, store sales personnel would
require intimate knowledge of the cost of each item and would
require the ability to quickly and correctly determine an
attractive, yet still profitable, price package to offer a
customer. Placing such negotiating and price structure power in the
hands of too many store sales personnel is particularly undesirable
due to the potential for fraud and potential loss of profits.
Specifically, sales personnel may be apt to sell products at
substantial discounts to their friends and family.
[0006] On-line retailers suffer from the same inability to offer
personalized package pricing discounts and are thus unable to
encourage customers to purchase items which are of interest to the
customers, while simultaneously increasing the customers' purchase
totals. In fact, on-line retailers suffer from an acute lack of
ability to offer personalized sales assistance to their customers
in general.
[0007] Accordingly, there remains a need for a system and method to
enable retailers, particularly on-line retailers, to provide
personalized sales assistance for encouraging customers to complete
purchases that they are considering and to increase their purchase
total.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention satisfies the above-described needs by
providing a system and method for the determination and
presentation of package offers in response to an indication of a
customer's interest in a primary product. A retailer may offer
products for sale in an on-line retail environment, such as via a
web-site, or in a physical retail environment. In response to an
indication of interest in a primary product by a customer, a
package offer is presented to the customer. A package offer is an
offer for sale by a retailer of a package of products at a package
price. The package of products typically comprises the primary
product and at least one secondary product. The primary product and
the at least one secondary product each have a corresponding retail
price. A package price is determined for the package, which is
typically less than the sum of the corresponding retail prices of
the primary product and the at least one secondary product. In one
embodiment of the present invention, the determination of the
package price and the at least one secondary product included in
the package is based on the profit margin of at least one of the
primary product and the at least one secondary product.
[0009] The package offer is then presented to the customer. If the
customer provides a customer response indicating a rejection of the
package offer, another package to be offered to the customer may be
determined. This other package may comprise (i) the primary product
and at least one secondary product that is different from at least
one of the previously included at least one secondary products, or
(ii) the primary product and the same at least one secondary
product at a package price that is lower than the previously
presented package price. If the customer response indicates a
payment identifier and/or an acceptance of the package offer, a
financial account identified by the payment identifier may be
charged for the amount of the package price. Upon completion of the
transaction with the customer, transaction data relating to sale of
the package may be stored in a database.
[0010] Package products of an accepted package offer may be shipped
to the customer automatically or upon request by the customer.
Alternately, the customer may be provided with a code identifying
the package offer and product identifiers for the package products.
The customer may visit a retail establishment to pick up the
package products and may provide the code to the retailer for input
into a point-of-sale terminal. The point-of-sale terminal may be in
communication with a central server, which may in turn be in
communication with a database storing the code and the product
identifiers for the package products. Thus, the point-of-sale
terminal may be operable to communicate with the central server in
order to determine the package price to be charged to the customer
or to verify that the package price has already been charged to the
financial account of the customer. If necessary, the point-of-sale
terminal may communicate with a financial institution to charge the
package price to the financial account of the customer.
[0011] The present invention may be practiced in a multi-retailer
embodiment. For example the primary product may be sold by a first
retailer and a secondary product may be sold by a second retailer.
Upon completion of the transaction with the customer, appropriate
portions of the charged package price may be distributed to the
first retailer and the second retailer. A central server may be
operable to handle the transaction on behalf of the multiple
retailers and to distribute the appropriate funds.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1, comprising FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B and FIG. 10, provides an
overview block diagram of various systems in accordance with
exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 2 comprising FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 2C, FIG. 2D, and
FIG. 2E is an illustration of various illustrative configurations
of a product database in accordance with exemplary embodiments of
the present invention.
[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary session table of a session
database in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
[0015] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary transaction table of a
transaction database in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of
the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary customer table of a customer
database in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
[0017] FIG. 6A and 6B each illustrate an exemplary web-page of a
web-site of an on-line retail establishment for presenting a
package offer to a customer in accordance with an exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.
[0018] FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the general steps of an
exemplary method for presenting a package offer to a customer in
accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
[0019] FIG. 8, comprising FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, FIG. 8C and FIG. 8D,
provides flow charts illustrating exemplary methods for assembling
package offers in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the
present invention.
[0020] FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for
determining a package price in accordance with an exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.
[0021] FIGS. 10A and 10B are a flow chart illustrating an exemplary
method for determining a package offer in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
[0022] The present invention provides a system and method to enable
retailers, particularly on-line retailers, to determine that a
product is of interest to a customer and to determine a package of
products to be offered to the customer, at a package price. In
response to detecting an expression of interest by a customer in a
particular product, referred to herein as a primary product, a
package is determined. Determining a package may comprise (i)
retrieving a predetermined package of products associated with the
product of interest to the customer from a database, or (ii)
assembling a package based on predetermined considerations. A
package may be assembled using various considerations. Applicant's
co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/085,424, filed May
27, 1998, entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC ASSEMBLY OF
PACKAGES IN RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS" discloses a method and system for
assembling packages of products based on revenue-management
theories, available inventory, and complementary families of
products. For example, a package of product may be assembled based
on product information such as sales performance data such as
inventory availability and demand rate. The products included in a
package may be selected such that each product is selected from a
different department of the retailer (e.g. one product is from the
deli department and another product is from the house-wares
department). Furthermore, customer may be rewarded for accepting
packages that include products from a variety of department, or
from complementary departments, by being offered package prices
that are more discounted than package prices for packages that do
not include products from complementary, or a variety of,
departments.
[0023] The package may comprise, for example, the primary product
and at least one secondary product. A package price is then
determined for the package. The package price may be less than the
sum of the retail prices of each of the package products (i.e., the
primary product and the at least one secondary product). The
customer is presented with a package pricing offer (for brevity
referred to herein as a "package offer"), which is an offer for the
sale of the package of products at the package price.
[0024] Detecting that a primary product is of interest to the
customer may involve detecting that information relating to the
primary product is displayed on a web-page viewed by the customer
for a pre-determined amount of time, detecting an input signal
generated by the customer in response to information displayed on a
web-page relating to the primary product, detecting that the
customer has added the primary product to a virtual shopping cart,
or detecting a keyword input by the customer into an input field on
a web-page and determining that the keyword relates to the primary
product. Other signals transmitted from a customer device may also
be interpreted as an expression of interest by the customer in the
primary product. Also, the customer may explicitly indicate an
interest in the primary product by requesting to be presented with
a package offer associated with the primary product.
[0025] As disclosed above, a package may be determined in a variety
of ways. For example, a package may be determined by accessing a
database to locate a pre-determined package associated with the
primary product identifier. Determining a package may also involve
accessing a database to select secondary products from a plurality
of available secondary products. The selected secondary products
may have a pre-determined relationship with the primary product,
such as a similar color, utility, or the like. For example,
products that are complementary to one another may be selected for
inclusion in a package (e.g., cream cheese and bagels or hot dogs
and buns). The secondary product may also be selected based the
profit margin of the primary product and/or the profit margin of
the secondary product. The database may also store information
relating to at least one additional product of interest to the
customer. Accordingly, determining a package may involve accessing
the database to determine the at least one additional product of
interest to the customer and selecting the additional product of
interest to the customer as a secondary product for the package.
Similarly, the database may store information relating to a
previous transaction of the customer, which includes a previously
sold product. Determining the package to be offered to the customer
may involve accessing the database to determine a previously sold
product and selecting a secondary product that has a pre-determined
relationship with the previously sold product.
[0026] The package price may also be determined in a variety of
ways. For example, determining the package price may involve
determining a discounted price for each of the secondary products
in the package and summing the retail price of the primary product
and the discounted prices for the secondary products. The
discounted price for each of the secondary products may be based on
a profit margin of the primary product. In another embodiment,
determining the package price involves determining a discounted
price for the primary product and for the secondary products and
summing the discounted prices of the primary product and the
secondary products. A discounted price for the primary product or
the secondary products may be based on a profit margin of the
primary product and/or a profit margin of at least one of the
secondary products.
[0027] A package offer may comprise an offer for sale of a
pre-determined number of the secondary products, selected by the
customer, at the package price. The package offer may instead
comprise an offer for sale of a customer-selected number of the
secondary products, wherein the secondary products are selected by
the customer from a plurality of available secondary products, at a
package price. The package price may thus vary based on the
customer-selected number of secondary products. In another
embodiment, the package offer may comprise the primary product and
a plurality of lists of secondary products. The package offer may
comprise an offer for sale of a pre-determined number of the
secondary products, wherein one secondary product is selected by
the customer from each of the plurality of lists, at the package
price. In another embodiment, multiple package offers may be
presented to the customer. By way of illustration, a first package
offer for sale of a first package at a first package price may be
presented to the customer along with a second package offer for
sale of a second package at a second package price. The customer
may thus choose to accept one or more of the package offers.
[0028] Systems in accordance with the present invention may
comprise a central server and a customer device. Point-of-sale
devices and/or retailer devices may also be included. A central
server may include, or be in communication with, a database storing
information pertaining to products. A central server may also host
or be in communication with a web-site displaying information
pertaining to products offered for sale. A central server may thus
be operable to determine when a customer has expressed an interest
in a primary product, to determine a package, to determine a
package price, and to present a package offer to the customer. A
central server may also comprise such components as a
communications port operable to send and receive data and a
processor operable to perform the above-describe functions in
response to signals or data received via the communications
port.
[0029] A customer device may be operable to send input signals,
such as data and commands, to the central server. The customer
device may send such input signals to the central server via a
web-site. A customer device may include such components as a
display device, a communications port, and an input device. An
input device may be operable to generate an input signal indicating
an interest in a primary product. The processor may be operable to
manage and control the functions of the customer device, such as
executing a browser to display pages of the web-site on the display
device, send signals via the communications port to the central
server, receive a package offer from the central server via the
communications port and display the package offer on the display
device. The processor may be operable to perform at least some of
the functionality associated with the customer device.
[0030] The customer device allows the customer to communicate with
a central controller operating in accordance with the present
invention and may comprise, for example, a kiosk, personal
computer, or portable input device, in communication with the
central server. A portable input device may comprise, for example,
a personal digital assistant (PDA), hand-held bar code scanner, a
one-way or two-way pager, or a wire or wireless telephone (e.g. a
cellular telephone). The customer device may thus comprise an input
device operable to input the primary product identifier, a display
device operable to present a package offer received from the
central server, and a printer operable to print a printed version
of the package offer. In a physical retail embodiment the customer
device may be further operable to output a printed version of the
package offer that may include a code identifying the package offer
and product identifiers for the primary product and the secondary
products included in the package. The input device of the customer
device may optionally be a bar code reader.
[0031] The following description will hereinafter refer to the
drawings, in which like numerals indicate like elements throughout
the several figures.
[0032] Referring now to FIG. 1, comprising FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, and
FIG. 10, overview block diagrams of systems 100A-C are provided in
accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention. As
shown in FIG. 1A, a system 100A in accordance with an exemplary
embodiment of the present invention may be practiced in an on-line
retail environment. In such an embodiment, a central server 102 may
host or be in communication with an on-line retail establishment.
The central server 102 may be a "web server" of a retailer (e.g. a
retailer server). The central server 102 may generate web pages
(documents on the World Wide Web that typically include an HTML
file and associated graphics and script files) to be accessed via
the World Wide Web, and may also allow purchases to be made. A web
site may consist of several such web pages and associated
databases. According to another embodiment, the central server 102
is a computer associated with the operation of a physical store.
Such a computer, for example a point-of-sale (POS) server, would
perform tasks such as inventory management and item pricing for the
store.
[0033] On-line retail establishments are commonly referred to as
"virtual stores," "electronic-stores," "e-stores," "Internet
stores," "e-commerce" web-sites, "e-business" web-sites, and the
like. An on-line retail establishment comprises appropriate
hardware and software for displaying web-pages of a web-site in
order to advertise products and for completing transactions with
customers via the web-site. The term "product" is used herein to
refer to a good and/or a service. If the central server 102 does
not host the on-line retail establishment, it may be in
communication with another server that hosts the on-line retail
establishment. For the sake of clarity, it will be assumed herein
that the central server 102 hosts the exemplary on-line retail
establishment. As should be apparent to those skilled in the art,
the entity controlling the central server 102 may be distinct from
the on-line retailer.
[0034] The central server 102 may comprise a conventional computer
system configured with hardware and/or software required for
communicating with a distributed network 104 and (optionally) for
hosting an on-line retail establishment. Those skilled in the art
will understand that devices in communication with each other need
not be continually transmitting to each other. On the contrary,
such devices need only transmit to each other as necessary, and may
actually refrain from exchanging data most of the time. For
example, a device in communication with another device via the
Internet may not transmit data to the other device for weeks at a
time.
[0035] The central server 102 may further comprise a processor 110
for executing various application program modules. Processor 110
may comprise one or more microprocessors, such as Pentium.RTM.
microprocessors. If the processor comprises a plurality of
microprocessors, the plurality of microprocessors may or may not
operate in parallel. The processor 110 is in communication with a
data storage device 114. The data storage device 114 comprises an
appropriate combination of magnetic, optical and/or semiconductor
memory, and may include Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only
Memory (ROM) and/or a hard disk. The processor 110 and the storage
device 114 may be, for example (i) located entirely within a single
computer or other computing device; (ii) connected to each other by
a remote communication medium, such as a serial port cable,
telephone line or radio frequency transceiver; or (iii) a
combination thereof. In one embodiment, the central server 102 may
comprise one or more computers that are connected to a remote
server computer for maintaining databases.
[0036] The data storage device 114 stores a program 116 for
controlling the processor 110. The processor 110 performs
instructions of the program 116, and thereby operates in accordance
with the present invention, and particularly in accordance with the
methods described in detail herein. The program 116 may be stored
in a compressed, un-compiled and/or encrypted format. The program
116 furthermore includes program elements that may be necessary,
such as "device drivers" for allowing the processor 110 to
interface with computer peripheral devices. Appropriate device
drivers and other necessary program elements are known to those
skilled in the art, and need not be described in detail herein.
[0037] The storage device 114 also stores (i) an application
program module operating system (OS) 118, (ii) a database
management system (DBMS) 120, (iii) a product database 122, (iv) a
transaction database 124, (v) a session database 126, and (vi) a
customer database 128. The databases 122, 124, and 126 are
described in detail below and depicted with exemplary entries in
the accompanying figures. As will be understood by those skilled in
the art, the schematic illustrations and accompanying descriptions
of the databases presented herein are exemplary arrangements for
stored representations of information. A number of other
arrangements may be employed besides those suggested by the tables
shown. Similarly, the illustrated entries of the databases
represent exemplary information, and those skilled in the art will
understand that the number and content of the entries can be
different from those illustrated herein.
[0038] Central server 102 further comprises a communications port
112 for sending data to and receiving data from customer devices
106A, 106B and 160C. The processor 110 may also be in communication
with a clock 108 that generates signals representing time and
date.
[0039] Customer devices 106A, 106B and 106C may comprise
conventional computer systems, kiosks, personal digital assistants
(PDAs), or any other device configured with hardware and/or
software for communicating with the distributed network 104.
Customer device 106B will now be discussed in detail. It should be
understood that customer device 106B may be representative of
customer devices 106A and 106C. Customer device 106B comprises a
processor 130, which may comprise one or more microprocessors such
as such as one or more Pentium.RTM. microprocessors. If the
processor comprises a plurality of microprocessors, the plurality
of microprocessors may or may not operate in parallel. The
processor 130 is in communication with data storage device 134,
which stores various application program modules, such as an
operating system (OS) 131 and a "browser" program module 133. The
browser program module 133 is operable to interpret web-page files,
such as HyperText Mark-up Language (HTML) files, received via the
distributed network 104.
[0040] Customer devices 106A, 106B and 106C may also include other
application program modules, such as electronic mail (e-mail)
program modules, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) program modules,
other file transfer program modules, and the like, to interact with
other resources offered via the distributed network 104. Customer
devices 106B further comprises a communications port 136 for
sending and receiving data. Customer device 106B further comprises
peripheral devices, such as an output device 135, an input device
132, or any other well-known peripheral device. The output device
135 may comprise a video monitor or other device operative to
display at least alphanumeric characters to the customer. The
output device may also comprise a printer operative to register
indicia on paper or other material, thereby printing receipts. The
input device 132 may comprise a keyboard, mouse, touch-screen, or
microphone. Many types of input devices and output devices are
known to those skilled in the art, and need not be described in
detail herein.
[0041] As shown, a customer device, as illustrated by customer
device 106A, may optionally comprise a bar code reader 132A.
[0042] As shown, a customer device, as illustrated by customer
devices 106B and 106C, may be in communication with the central
server 102 via the distributed network 104. Alternatively, as
illustrated by customer device 106A, a customer device may be in
communication with the central server 102 via a dedicated
communications link 105A. The connections between the various
components of the exemplary system 100A may be wire or wireless
connections and may comprise, for example, modem, direct network
connection or any other means of communicating with the distributed
network 104. The distributed network 104 may comprise the Internet,
a LAN, a WAN, or more than one interconnected network. Those of
ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the network
configuration shown in FIG. 1 is by way of example only and is not
intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
[0043] As shown in FIG. 1B, a system 100B in accordance with
another exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be
practiced in a physical retail environment. The central server 102
may be configured for communication with one or more point-of-sale
terminals 108A, 108B and 108C and one or more customer devices
106A, 106B and 106C located at one or more retail establishments.
The connections between the various components of the exemplary
system 100B may be via modem, direct network connection or any
other means of electronic communication. The central server 102 may
be located at the retail establishment or may be remotely located
from the retail establishment. As shown, customer devices 106B and
106C and point-of-sale terminals 108B and 108C may communicate with
the central server 102 via the distributed network 104. A customer
device 106A and point-of-sale terminal 108A may also communicate
with the central server 102 via a dedicated communications links
(105A and 105B, respectively) or via other means of electronic
communication.
[0044] As is known in the art, typical point-of-sale terminals are
equipped with processors and memory storage devices. Point-of-sale
terminals may further comprise peripheral devices such as keypads,
barcode readers, credit card readers, other input devices, and
display devices. Point-of-sale terminals may also be equipped with
hardware and/or software for communicating with a distributed
network 104 or a dedicated communications link 105B. Point-of-sale
terminals are also customarily operable to communicate with one or
more financial institutions via financial networks (not shown) for
the purpose of completing financial transactions.
[0045] A customer device located at a retail establishment may be
referred to herein as a "customer service" device and may comprise
a kiosk or a portable data input device, such as a barcode scanner.
In one embodiment, a customer may scan a product identifier, such
as an SKU (stock keeping unit number) in the format of a
one-dimensional or two-dimensional bar code, using a bar code
scanner. The bar code scanner may be part of a customer service
kiosk or may be a portable device available to the customer. In one
variation of this embodiment, a customer may be required to be a
member of a "frequent shopper club" in order to have access to the
customer service device. The customer service device may transmit
the product identifier to the central server 102 for assembly of a
package. Assembly of a package at the central server 102 may be
performed in the same manner as in an on-line retail environment.
The database 114 described above with reference to an on-line
retail environment may function equally well in a physical retail
environment.
[0046] FIG. 1C shows a multiple retailer system 100C in accordance
with another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The
central server 102 may be configured to manage package offers for
multiple retailers. Accordingly, the system 100C may be employed in
situations where a central service maintains the central server 102
and different retailers maintain respective retailer devices 140A,
140B and 140C. Retailers may supply data relating to products and
potential packages to the central server 102 via the retailer
devices 140A, 140B and 140C. Retailer devices 140B and 140C may
communicate with the central server 102 via a distributed network
104. A retailer device 140A may alternately communicate with the
central server 102 via a direct communications link 105C. Customer
devices 106A, 106B, and 106C are also in communication with central
server 102 in the manner described with respect to the embodiments
described above. As will be readily apparent to those of skill in
the art, multiple retailer embodiments have applicability in either
an on-line retail environment or a physical retail environment.
[0047] Operation of a system 100C in accordance with a multiple
retailer embodiment may best be described by way of example. In an
on-line retail environment, a web-site of an on-line retail
establishment may administer web-pages relating to products from a
first retailer, a second retailer and a third retailer. When the
central server 102 determines that a customer is interested in a
primary product offered for sale by, for example, the first
retailer, the central server 102 may assemble a package that
includes the primary product offered for sale by the first
retailer, a secondary product offered for sale by the second
retailer and another secondary product offered for sale by the
third retailer. A package price may be calculated for the package,
which reflects a discount in the retail price of one or more of the
package products. If the customer accepts the package offer, the
central server 102 completes the transaction with the customer
(i.e., collects funds in the amount of the package price from the
customer), instructs the various retailers to deliver the package
products to the customer and settles accounts with each retailer
(i.e., provides each retailer with the appropriate amount of funds
based on the price of the product sold by the retailer as included
in the package price). The tasks of instructing retailers to ship
products and settling of accounts may be performed electronically
or manually.
[0048] The illustrative system architectures described with
reference to FIG. 1 have been provided by way of example only.
These and other system architectures will be apparent to those of
ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, the scope of the present
invention should not be limited by the various system architectures
described and shown above.
[0049] FIG. 2, comprising FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 2C, FIG. 2D, and
FIG. 2E, is an illustration of various illustrative embodiments of
a product database 122, as was shown in FIG. 1. Whether the present
invention is practiced in an on-line retail environment or in a
physical retail environment, the central server 102 may be operable
to access a product database 122 in order to assemble a package. As
mentioned, there are many ways in which a package may be assembled.
The configuration of the product database 122 may depend on the
desired approach for package assembly.
[0050] FIG. 2A demonstrates a product table 122A that may be used
by the central server 102 to assemble packages ad hoc based on
other products in which the customer has expressed an interest. As
shown, the exemplary product table 122A includes a product
identifier 202, a cost 204, a retail price 206 and a minimum price
208 for each product. The exemplary product table 122A stores data
records 210A-217A pertaining to various products. These products,
identified by product identifiers 202A-H, may represent all or a
portion of the products available in inventory, or may represent a
dynamic list of products in which the customer has expressed an
interest during the current session or over past sessions. As used
herein, the term "session" is meant to refer to interaction by a
customer with the central server 102 by way of a customer device
106A, 106B or 106C either on-line or in a physical retail
establishment. In an exemplary embodiment, a session database 126
(as shown in FIG. 1) may be maintained to dynamically track
products in which the customer has expressed an interest (see FIG.
3).
[0051] As mentioned, the profit margin to be realized by the
retailer may play a significant role in the assembly of a package.
While varying packages may be assembled based on products in which
the customer has expressed an interest, only certain of these
packages may make economic sense for the retailer. Thus, the
illustrative product table 122A includes financial data relating to
each product. The financial data comprises the cost 204 of the
product to the retailer, the retail price of the product 206, and
the minimum price 208 at which the retailer or the operator of the
central server 102 will allow the product to be offered in a
package. Using this financial data in various ways, the central
server 102 may calculate a package price for an assembled package
and determine whether that package price meets certain pre-defined
criteria for profitability. For example, the retailer may specify
that a package may only be offered to a customer if the package
price reflects less than a 25% reduction in profit margin, as
compared to the sum of the retail prices of the package products.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that a product may be
included in the package at a price that is anywhere between its
retail price 206 and its minimum price 208. It may be desirable, in
some cases, to include the primary product in the package at its
full retail price and to offer discounted prices on only the
secondary products in the package.
[0052] FIG. 2B demonstrates an alternate configuration of a product
database 122 that may be used by the central server 102 to assemble
packages. The exemplary product table 122B stores data records
210B-217B pertaining to various products. Each data record
210B-217B includes a list of associated secondary products 224
corresponding to each product identifier 202. Accordingly, when the
central server 102 determines that a primary product is of interest
to a customer, the central server 102 may access the product table
122B to ascertain a list of secondary products 224 associated with
that primary product. The exemplary product table 122B also
includes two pre-determined package prices, a "pick one" package
price 226 and a "pick two" package price 228. It is envisioned that
a package offer may be presented to the customer as a menu of
secondary products. If the customer chooses to purchase the primary
product and one secondary product from the menu, the "pick one"
package price 226 will be effective.
[0053] Similarly, if the customer chooses to purchase the primary
product and two secondary products from the menu, the "pick two"
package price 228 will be effective. Alternately, the package offer
may be for each of the associated secondary products 224 that
correspond to a primary product. A package price for a package
including all of the associated secondary products may be
calculated based on minimum prices 208 for each product (see FIG.
2A). Also, the associated secondary products included in the
package may be selected based on a query of a session database 126
(see FIG. 3) to determine which, if any, of the associated
secondary products 224 have been of interest to the customer in the
past. Alternate embodiments of the product table 122B will be
apparent to those of skill in the art. For example, any number of
associated secondary products or pre-determined package prices may
be included within the product table 122B.
[0054] FIG. 2C demonstrates yet another alternate configuration of
a product database 122 that may be used by the central server 102
to assemble packages. The exemplary product table 122C stores data
records 210C-217C pertaining to various products. Each data record
210C-217C includes a product identifier 202. Each data record
210C-217C further includes a first list of associated secondary
products 234 and a second list of associated secondary products 236
for each product identifier 202. Accordingly, when the central
server 102 determines that a primary product is of interest to a
customer, the central server 102 may access the product table 122C
to retrieve one or more lists of secondary products associated with
that primary product based on the product identifier 202 of the
primary product. The exemplary product table 122B also includes a
pre-determined package price 238. In an exemplary embodiment, the
customer may be presented with two (or more) menus of secondary
products, each menu comprising the secondary products included in
the first and second associated list, respectively. The customer
may be entitled to receive a package, at the predetermined package
price 238, comprising one secondary product selected by the
customer from a first secondary product menu and one secondary
product selected by the customer from a second secondary product
menu. As an alternate embodiment, secondary products from either
the first list of associated secondary products 234 or the second
list of associated secondary products 236 may be included in the
package, at the package price 238, without any selection by the
customer. Again, alternate embodiment of the exemplary product
table 122C will occur to those skilled in the art and are
considered to be within the scope of the present invention.
[0055] FIG. 2D demonstrates still a further alternate configuration
of a product database 122 that may be used by the central server
102 to assemble packages. The exemplary product table 122D stores
data records 210D-217D pertaining to various products. Each data
record 210D-217D includes a product identifier 202. Each product
identifier 202 has associated therewith a first list of associated
secondary products 234, a first package price 242 corresponding to
the first list of associated secondary products 234, a second list
of associated secondary products 236, and a second package price
244 corresponding to the second list of associated secondary
products 236. Accordingly, when the central server 102 determines
that a primary product is of interest to a customer, the central
server 102 may access the product table 122D to retrieve the first
list of associated secondary products 234 and/or the second list of
associated secondary products 236, based on the product identifier
202 of the primary product, for presentation to the customer.
[0056] In one embodiment, the central server 102 may present each
list of associated secondary products 234 and 236 to the customer
along with the corresponding package prices 242 and 244. The
customer may thus be presented with the option to select either a
first package or a second package. In another embodiment the
central server 102 may select only one list of secondary products
(234 or 236) for inclusion in a package to be presented to the
customer. In this way, a different package may be presented to the
customer each time the customer indicates an interest in a
particular product. Selection of a list of associated secondary
products (234 or 236) may be based, for example, on random or
sequential selection, or on historical data pertaining to the
customer.
[0057] By way of illustration, the central server 102 may access a
session database 126 (described below) to determine whether some of
the products in one list of associated secondary products (234 or
236) were of interest to the customer in the past. Similarly, a
query of the transaction database 124 or the customer database 128
may reveal that the customer was previously offered certain
products and had declined to purchase such products. In addition, a
transaction database 124 or a customer database 128 may be accessed
to determine whether the customer has a history of accepting
package offers involving a particular discount rate. Other methods
for selecting between multiple associated secondary products lists
(234 or 236) will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the
art.
[0058] FIG. 2E demonstrates still a further alternate configuration
of a product database 122 that may be used by the central server
102 to assemble packages. The exemplary product table 122E stores
data records 210E-213E pertaining to various products. Each data
record 210E-213E includes a product identifier 202. Each product
identifier 202 has associated therewith a secondary product
identifier 254, a secondary product identifier 256, and a package
price 258. The product table 122E illustrates an embodiment wherein
various products offered for sale by a retailer have predefined
associated package offers. In table 122E the predefined package
offers comprise the three products indicated by product identifier
202, product identifier 254, and product identifier 256 and package
price 258.
[0059] Accordingly, when the central server 102 determines that a
primary product is of interest to a customer, the central server
102 may access the product database 122E to retrieve a package
offer based on the product identifier 202 of the primary product.
Thus, the central controller for product "P198" may retrieve
product "P104" and product "P119" and present an offer to the
customer for all three products for a single package price of
"$300.00". The package offers may be previously defined by an
operator of the central server 102 or automatically determined and
stored based on, for example, revenue management theories.
[0060] The above-described product tables 122A, 122B, 122C, 122D
and 122E are provided by way of example only. A system in
accordance with the present invention may incorporate one or more
of the exemplary product tables 122A, 122B, 122C, 122D and 122E,
and/or variations and/or combinations thereof. Additionally, those
skilled in the art will appreciate that various aspects of the
invention may be practiced without the need for a products database
122.
[0061] FIG. 3 is an illustrative session table 300 of a session
database 126 (as shown in FIG. 1) that may be used to track
products determined to have been of interest to a customer in a
current session and prior sessions.
[0062] The illustrative session table 300 is particularly useful in
the on-line retail environment. Each session table 300 is
identified by a unique session identifier 302. A session identifier
may be associated with a customer by storing a customer identifier
and the session identifier 302 in a customer database 128. A
session identifier may be assigned to a customer when the central
controller first detects that a new customer has entered the web
site administered by the central server 102. For example, a session
identifier may be assigned when it is detected that a customer has
"loaded" or connected to a page of the web site. The session table
300 stores data records 310-313 relating to various products. Each
data record 310-313 includes a product identifier 202, a "time
selected" 306 and a "time released" 308. In an exemplary
embodiment, a web-site may comprise a web-page for each product
offered for sale by the on-line retail establishment. Each web-page
may have a unique identifier, which may be the same as or different
from the product identifier 202. The central server 102 may be
operable to detect the time at which a particular web-page is
accessed and released by a customer device 106. Thus, the "time
selected" 306 may correspond to the time at which the central
server 102 detects that the customer has selected (or "loaded") a
particular web-page associated with a corresponding product 202.
The "time released" may correspond to the time at which the central
server 102 determines that the customer has released (or
"unloaded") the particular web-page. When the customer releases a
web-page, he or she may select another web-page and the central
server 102 may record the appropriate information for such other
web-page in the session table 300.
[0063] The session database record 300 may further include a
customer identifier. The customer identifier may comprise
information that uniquely identifies a customer or a customer
device. In the online embodiment of the present invention, the
customer identifier may be included within a "cookie" that is
assigned to a customer the first time he visits the web site of the
central server 102 and deposited to the customer device as well as
stored in the customer database 128. Such a cookie is a block of
data (e.g. a block of ASCII text) that a web server (e.g. the
central server 102) stores on a customer device (e.g. a personal
computer). When a customer returns to the same web site, the
browser of the customer device sends a copy of the cookie back to
the central controller. Cookies may be used to identify users of
the customer terminal, to instruct the central controller to send a
customized version of a web page, to submit account information for
the user, and for other administrative purposes. In the present
invention, a cookie may be used to instruct the central controller
to retrieve the session record(s) associated with the cookie in
order to determine what products the customer had previously
indicated interest in. Alternatively, the cookie may store one or
more session identifiers associated with the customer device
directly. A person of ordinary skill in the art of web site
administration will understand many variations of how to track
customer interest in various product over the course of a single or
multiple visits (e.g., sessions). A customer identifier may be the
same or different than the session identifier. For example, for
purposes of tracking several sessions of a single customer, the
customer may be assigned a single customer identifier the first
time he visits the web-site and a unique session identifier 302
each time he visits the web-site.
[0064] The session table 300 may record all customer interactions
with a web-site from the time the customer logs on to the web-site
until the customer logs off of the web-site, during a single visit
to the web-site. The elapsed time between a "time selected" 306 and
a "time released" 308 may be useful in determining whether a
product is of interest to the customer. The format for the "time
selected" 306 and a "time released" 308'' illustrated in FIG. 3 is
"hours:minutes:seconds". For example, it may be determined that a
customer is interested in a product if the web-page associated with
that products is displayed to the customer device 106 for more than
a pre-determined amount of time (e.g., 2 seconds). Any time spent
viewing a web-page that is less than the pre-determined amount of
time may be considered to be casual browsing on the part of the
customer.
[0065] Other methods for determining and recording the products of
interest to a customer during an on-line session will occur to
those of skill in the art. For example, the central server 102 may
be configured to determine that a customer is interested in a
product only upon receiving an input signal to that effect. Upon
receiving such an input signal, the central server 102 may record
the appropriate product identifier 202 in the session table 300.
Examples of input signals that may indicate a customer's interest
in a product include: a key word search for the product, an e-mail
requesting information relating to a product, a request to download
information relating to a product, addition of a product to a
virtual shopping cart or other list of products selected for
purchase, and the like.
[0066] FIG. 4 is an illustrative record 400 of the transaction
database 124, as shown in FIG. 1. A transaction record 400 may be
used to store transaction data relating to a completed transaction.
Transaction data may be received from a customer device 106 or from
a point-of-sale terminal 109A, 109B, 109C. Each transaction table
400 may be identified by a unique transaction identifier 402. A
transaction table 400 may also include a session identifier 302
identifying a session table 300 (see FIG. 3) from a session
database 126. The transaction identifier 402 may be associated with
the customer by storing it in association with a customer
identifier (e.g. a "cookie" or a frequent shopper identifier) in a
record of the customer database 128 (as illustrated in FIG. 5,
described below).
[0067] A payment identifier 404, such as a credit card number or a
financial account number, may also be recorded in the transaction
record 400 to identify the customer's financial account that was
charged, debited or credited during the initiating transaction. The
purchase total 408 representing the total purchase price paid by
the customer may also be stored in the transaction record 400. The
purchase total of "$307.79" in FIG. 4 is illustrated as comprising
the sum of the "price paid" for each of the products included in
the transaction plus an exemplary 6.5% sales tax. The transaction
record further includes an indication of whether the customer was
presented with a package offer during the transaction illustrated
in the subject record. Such an indication is stored in the "package
offered?" field 410. An indication of whether the package was
accepted is stored in field 412. Fields 410 and 412 may be used by
the operator of central server 102 to track how many time package
offers are presented to and accepted by customers. Such information
may be tracked for individual customers by use of the session
identifier 302.
[0068] The exemplary transaction record 400 stores data objects
417-420 relating to products included in a package that was
purchased by a customer. Each data object 417-420 includes, for
example, a product identifier 202, a retail price 206 and a price
paid 406. If the customer purchased the product as part of a
package offer, the price paid 406 may be lower than the retail
price 206. Corresponding to each product identifier 202 is an
indication of whether the product was purchased as part of an
accepted offer. This indication is stored in field 414. An entry of
"Y" in field 414 indicates that the corresponding product was
purchased as part of an accepted package offer. An entry of "N" in
field 414 indicates that the package was not purchased as part of
an accepted package offer. An indication of which product was the
primary product that triggered the presentation of the package
offer to the customer may also be stored in the transaction record
400. Such an indication is illustrated in data object 417, by an
entry of "P" in the "package product?" field 414.
[0069] The transaction record 400 also stores an indication of the
payment status 416 of each product included in the subject
transaction. This field may be useful in the physical retail
embodiment where a customer may request, be presented with, and
accept a package offer at a customer device that is remote to the
POS terminal at which he provides payment for the products he is
purchasing. In such an embodiment, when a customer accepts a
package offer, a transaction record is created and stored,
indicating the products included in the transaction that are part
of the package offer. The status 416 of the products included in
the package may be set to "pending" at this time. A transaction
identifier for the transaction may be output to the customer for
presentation to the operator of the POS terminal when providing
payment for the products. Accordingly, when the customer presents
the transaction identifier to the POS operator (who enters it into
the POS terminal) the transaction record is retrieved and the
appropriate prices for the product, as indicated in the "price
paid" field are applied to the transaction total. The package price
charged to the customer, as well as the savings that the customer
achieved by purchasing the products as a package, may be displayed
to the customer at the POS or printed on the customer's receipt.
The status of each of the products included in the package, as
stored in the record of the transaction database, may be set to
"paid" once the customer provides the appropriate payment. If it is
determined at the POS that all of the products included in the
package offer are not present in the customer's current
transaction, the customer may be charged the full retail price for
the products that are included in the package offer and included in
the current transaction. In one embodiment, another package is
dynamically assembled based on the products included in the current
transaction and presented to the customer at the POS.
[0070] FIG. 5 presents an illustrative record 550 of the customer
database 128 of FIG. 1. The record 550 includes a customer
identifier 200 that uniquely identifies the customer to which the
record pertains. As described above the customer identifier may
comprise (i) a frequent shopper identifier in a physical retail
environment, or (ii) at least a portion of a "cookie" that is
stored on the customer's hard-drive and transmitted to the central
server 102 when the customer "loads" a Web-page of the central
controller.
[0071] The customer record 550 may be used to build a customer
profile of the customer identified by customer identifier 200. In
accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,
the customer record 550 tracks each of the products that a customer
indicated interest in during his past visits to the Web site hosted
by central server 102. The customer record 550 comprises data
objects 551-556, each storing information regarding a primary
product that was determined to be of interest to the customer. Each
of such products is identified by product identifier 202 in
transaction record 550. Associated with each product identifier 202
is (i) a date of interest 560, which indicates the date on which
the customer exhibited interest in the product; (ii) a purchase
status 562, which indicates whether the customer has purchased the
product to date; (iii) a package status 564, which indicates
whether a package offer that includes the primary product has been
offered to the customer and whether it has been accepted by the
customer; (iv) a discount 566, which indicates, if a package offer
for the product has been presented to the customer, how much of a
discount in the retail price of the product (or a combination
discount in the sum or retail prices of all of the product in the
package) was offered to the customer; (v) a transaction identifier
568 that indicates the transaction in which the purchase of the
product was included, if any; and (vi) a session identifier 570
that indicates the session during which the customer indicated
interest in the product.
[0072] For example, data object 554 indicates that customer
"C987654321" indicated interest in product "P199" on May 30, 1999
and was presented with a package offer, at a package price that was
10% less than the sum of the retail prices of the products included
in the package, but that the customer declined the package offer.
Data object 555 indicates that the same customer indicated
interested again in product "P199" on Jun. 2, 1999 and was again
presented with a package offer, this time at a package price of 15%
less than the sum of the retail prices of the products included in
the package. Data object 555 indicates that this time the customer
accepted the package offer and the product was purchased by the
customer. This may be an indication that the customer was swayed by
the higher discount and should be presented in the future with
package offers that include at least a 15% discount in the
future.
[0073] The data stored in customer record 550 is exemplary only.
Other variations will be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the
art. For example, an indication of the secondary products include
in a package offer to the customer may also be stored. Such
information may be used to evaluate, for example, whether the
customer is more likely to accept a package offer if certain
products or types of products are included in the package
offer.
[0074] FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B each presents an illustrative web-page
of a web-site associated with an on-line retail establishment.
Referring now to FIG. 5A, the illustrative web-page 500A
demonstrates a manner in which a package offer may be presented to
a customer in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention. As shown, web-page 500A may list all items currently in
the customer's virtual shopping basket 502. The package offer 504A
may be described in a textual passage as well as in a table showing
the retail prices for each package product, the sum of the retail
prices for the combination of the package products, and the
discounted package price. The package offer 504A comprises an offer
for three products at a package price that is less than the sum of
the retail prices of the three products, wherein one of the three
products is the primary product that is of interest to the
customer. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6A the primary
product is determined to be of interest to the customer because the
customer has placed the product into his virtual shopping basket,
as indicated by section 502 of the web-page 500A. The products
presented to the customer in the package offer 504A may have been
retrieved, for example, from a product database 122 such as
illustrated by FIG. 2E. Upon being presented with such a package
offer 504A, the customer may choose to either accept or decline it.
Accordingly, a first selectable graphic 506 may be provided for
allowing the customer to accept the package offer 504A. Similarly,
a second selectable graphic 508 may be provided for allowing the
customer to decline the package offer 504A.
[0075] Referring now to FIG. 6B, the web-page 550 demonstrates a
manner in which a package offer may be presented to a customer in
accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. The
web-page 500B includes essentially the same elements 502, 506, and
508 as web-page 500A but package offer 504A has been substituted
with package offer 504B. Package offer 504B comprises a package
offer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
wherein the customer is allowed to assemble his or her own package
by selecting one product from a plurality of menus that include two
or more products each (of course, in variations of this embodiment,
the customer may be allowed to select more than one product from
each menu). The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6B is similar to the
embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2C. Accordingly, a customer
presented with package offer 504B must first select one product
from menu 550 and one product from menu 552 before selecting
graphic 506 in order to accept the package offer.
[0076] The web-pages 500A and 500B are shown by way of example
only. Other methods for presenting a package offer via a web-site
or other mediums will occur to those of skill in the art.
[0077] FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the general steps of an
exemplary method 700 for presenting a package offer to a customer.
The exemplary method 700 begins at starting block 701 where a
customer is interacting with a retail establishment (on-line or
physical) via a customer device. At step 702 a determination is
made that the customer has expressed an interest in a primary
product. Input signals from a customer device 106 may be
interpreted by the central server 102 as an expression of interest
by the customer in the primary product. Input signals from the
customer device 106 may indicate that the customer has clicked on
an image or hyperlink associated with a product using a mouse or
other input device, that the customer has initiated a keyword
search for information relating to a product, or that the customer
has added a product to a virtual shopping cart. Other types of
input signals will be familiar to those of ordinary skill in the
art. In certain circumstances, a lack of an input signal may also
be interpreted by the central server 102 as an expression of
interest by the customer in a product. By way of illustration, the
central server 102 may be configured to infer that a customer is
interested in a particular product when the central server 102
detects that information pertaining to the particular product has
been displayed on the customer's output device 135 for a
predetermined length of time. Accordingly, the central server 102
may be configured to proactively monitor customer interactions with
a web-site in an effort to infer that one or more input signals, or
a lack thereof, indicate an expression of interest by the customer
in a product. Alternatively, the central server 102 may be
configured to passively await the transmission of an input signal
from a customer device 106 that affirmatively indicates that the
customer is interested in a product.
[0078] In response to determining that the primary product is of
interest to the customer, a package is assembled at step 704
comprising the primary product and at least one secondary product.
The secondary product(s) may be selected from a database of
available secondary products and by be selected based on a prior
expression of interest in the product by the customer, a
relationship of the secondary product to the primary product (e.g.
the two are associated in a database as complementary), profit
margin considerations, etc. Assembly of a package may be performed
by the central server 102 configured for execution of a package
assembly program module that may be a component of program 116
(FIG. 1A). The program 116 of the central server 102 may be
configured to assemble packages on an ad hoc basis or may be
configured to access pre-assembled packages stored in the product
database 122. Exemplary methods for assembling packages will be
discussed in greater detail below with reference to FIG. 8.
[0079] Next at step 706 a package price for the package is
determined. The package price is preferably less than the sum of
the retail prices of each product in the package. The program 116
of the central server 102 may include computer-executable
instructions for determining the package price for the package. It
should be appreciated that the assembly of a package and the
determination of a package price may be interrelated tasks. For
example, the program 116 may be configured to offer a customer a
package of products having a pre-determined package price. The
pre-determined package price may be a specific dollar amount or a
pre-defined percentage of the total retail price for the package
products. It is likely to be the case that only certain secondary
products may be included in the package in order to satisfy the
pre-determined package price and allow the on-line retailer to earn
an acceptable profit. Exemplary methods for determining a package
price are discussed below with reference to FIG. 8.
[0080] After the package is assembled and the package price is
determined, a package offer is presented to the customer at step
708. A package offer comprises an offer for sale of the package at
the package price. In an on-line retail environment, the package
offer may be transmitted by the central server 102 to a web-site of
the on-line retail establishment for presentation to the customer.
The presentation of the package offer may include an input field or
a selectable graphic allowing the customer to indicate an
acceptance or rejection of the package offer (as illustrated by
elements 506 and 508 of FIGS. 6A and 6B). Other methods and
interfaces for presenting a package offer to the customer will be
apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and are considered
to be within the scope of the present invention. As an example, a
package offer may be presented to the user as a "pop-up" graphic on
a web-page for a limited period of time. If the user does not
indicate an acceptance of the package offer within the limited time
duration, the pop-up graphic may be removed from the web-page
without any affirmative input from the customer.
[0081] Preferably, the package offer is presented to the customer
while the customer is considering whether to purchase the primary
product. However, the package offer may alternatively be presented
to the customer after the customer has purchased the primary
product, as an enticement for the customer to spend more money at
the on-line retail establishment. Thus, the package offer may be
e-mailed or otherwise communicated to the customer even after the
customer has logged-off of the web-site associated with the on-line
retail establishment. If the customer accepts such an offer, any
discount due to the customer as a result of a discount in the
retail price of the primary product as included in the package
offer may be (i) credited to a financial account associated with
the customer, (ii) provided to the customer as credit that is
redeemable with the retailer operating the central server 102 for
future purchases, or (iii) reflected as a larger discount in the
secondary product retail prices of the package offer.
[0082] Alternatively, a package offer may be triggered once the
customer indicates a loss of interest in a product. Such a loss of
interest may be indicated by the customer (i) removing the product
from a virtual shopping basket, or (ii) selecting another Web-page
or another product without placing the subject product in a virtual
shopping basket. Additionally, a customer may be presented with a
package offer if he has had a product in his virtual shopping
basket for a predetermined amount of time without purchasing it.
For example, a customer may be sent an e-mail message that includes
a presentation of a package offer (including the product the
customer has in his virtual shopping basket for the predetermined
amount of time). If the customer has more than one product in his
virtual shopping basket for a predetermined amount of time, a
package may be assembled using one of the products in the virtual
shopping basket as a primary product and at least one other product
in the virtual shopping basket as a secondary product.
[0083] In a physical retail environment, package offers may be
presented to the customer in similar manners via a customer service
device. A customer service device may optionally include an input
device for allowing the user to generate an input signal indicating
an acceptance or rejection of a package offer.
[0084] At step 710 a determination is made as to whether the
customer accepts the package offer. If the customer does not accept
the package offer, a determination is made at step 712 as to
whether another package should be assembled. The determination of
whether to assemble another package may be based on many factors,
such as whether any other packages make sense for the retailer
(based on inventory and/or profitability considerations), whether a
certain number of packages have been declined by the customer,
whether the customer has indicated a desire not to be presented
with further packages, etc. If a decision is made to assemble
another package, the exemplary method 700 may be repeated from step
702, where another primary product that is of interest to the
customer is determined. Alternately, the method 700 may be repeated
from step 704 in order to assemble another package based on the
initial primary product. As shown, the exemplary method 700 ends at
step 714 after it is determined at step 710 that the customer has
accepted a package offer or after it is determined at step 712 that
no further package is to be assembled. Those skilled in the art
should recognize that exemplary method 700 may be repeated during a
session. In other words, the customer is not required to complete
all transactions and log-off or exit the retail establishment upon
accepting a package offer. The customer may accept more than one
package offer during a session and may complete any or all
transactions at any time during the session.
[0085] If the customer indicates an acceptance of the package
offer, the transaction may be completed via the web-site in a
customary manner. For example, the customer may input a credit card
number or other payment identifier to the web-site. The central
server 102 or other server hosting the web-site may be in
communication with a financial institution for the purpose of
completing transactions. Completing a transaction may comprise
charging, debiting or crediting a financial account identified by
the customer. Alternately, the central server 102 or other server
hosting the web-site may be in communication with a point-of-sale
terminal at a physical retail establishment for the purpose of
completing transactions.
[0086] After the transaction is complete, the central server 102
may be configured to arrange for shipment of the package products
to the customer. By way of illustration, the central server 102 may
be configured to automatically generate a shipping order that is
transmitted to a shipping department of the retailer. Delivery of
the package products to the customer may be accomplished in any
well-known manner. In one embodiment, the customer may elect or be
required to appear at a physical retail establishment, warehouse or
distribution center to obtain the package products.
[0087] In a physical retail environment, an input device of a
customer service device may also allow the customer to enter a
payment identifier that may identify a financial account to be
charged, debited or credited in the amount of the package price or
may identify another form of payment such as electronic currency
(e.g., e-cash).
[0088] However, in the physical retail environment payment of the
package price will preferably be accomplished at a point-of-sale
terminal 108 that may be separate from the costumer device 106 at
which the customer is presented with, and accepts, a package offer.
In an illustrative embodiment, the customer may be presented with a
customer identifier, such as a personal identification number (PIN)
or other type of code, upon accepting the package. The customer
device 106 may display the customer identifier to the customer via
a display device. Alternately, the customer device 106 may be
equipped with a printer for printing a coupon or other voucher type
paper that includes the customer identifier. This coupon may
further include an indication of the products included in the
package price (e.g., the description and SKU of each product
included in the package). The customer identifier may optionally be
in the form of a barcode or any other form of machine readable
indicia that is to be input into the point-of-sale terminal 108 by
way of a scanner. In a "frequent shopper club" embodiment, a
"frequent shopper ID" previously provided to the customer may serve
as the customer identifier.
[0089] The customer identifier may also be stored by the central
server 102 in association with the customer's transaction record in
the transaction database 124. The customer identifier may
subsequently be presented by the customer to the operator of a
point-of-sale terminal 108. The point-of-sale terminal 108 may then
transmit the customer identifier to the central server 102 for
retrieval of the customer's record from the transaction database
124. As will be apparent, the point-of-sale terminal 108 may
include an input device, such as a scanner, to receive the product
identifiers from the products that the customer believes to be
included in the package.
[0090] After indicating an acceptance of a package offer and
receiving a customer identifier, the customer may obtain what he or
she believes to be the package products and proceed to the point of
sale terminal for completion of the transaction. The point-of-sale
108 terminal may communicate with the central server 102 to
retrieve the customer's accepted package price from a transaction
database 124 and to charge the customer appropriately. The
point-of-sale terminal 108 may compare the product identifiers of
the products obtained by the customer with the product identifiers
stored in the transaction database 124 in association with the
package offer. Upon verification that the customer has obtained
each product included in the package, the package price may be
charged to the customer.
[0091] FIG. 8, comprising FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, FIG. 8C and FIG. 8D,
provides flow charts illustrating exemplary methods for assembling
package offers in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the
present invention. FIG. 8A demonstrates an exemplary method 800A
for assembling a package offer through use of a product database
122, such as exemplary product database 122A of FIG. 2A. The
exemplary method 800A begins at starting block 801A, where a
primary product has been determined to be of interest to a
customer. At step 802A, the product identifier for the primary
product is determined. Then at step 803A, the database record
associated with the product identifier of the primary product is
accessed. The database record associated with the product
identifier of the primary product stores financial information
pertaining to the primary product, such as the cost to the retailer
of the primary product, the retail price of the primary product and
the minimum price at which the retailer is willing to sell the
primary product.
[0092] At step 804A, at least one secondary product is selected for
inclusion in the package. Preferably, the secondary product(s) are
selected based on a prior expression of interest by the customer.
The product database 122 may store only those products that were
previously of interest to the customer. Alternately, a session
database 126 (see FIG. 1A) may store such information and selection
of the secondary products may be performed based on cross-reference
to the session database for a determination of secondary products
in which the customer has expressed an interest.
[0093] In another embodiment, selection of the secondary products
may be based on cross-reference to a product database such as
illustrated by product table 122E (FIG. 2E) which may store
pre-determined or dynamically determined associations between the
primary product and one or more secondary products. For example,
with specific reference to FIG. 2E, the product database 122E
specifies that if a product having product identifier "P198" is
determined to be the primary product, the products having product
identifiers "P104" and "P119" are to be selected as the secondary
products and the three products presented to the customer for a
package price of "$300.00", as depicted in record 210E. As a
specific illustration, if a red scarf is determined to be the
primary product of interest to the customer, an entry in the
product table 122E may specify that the secondary products to be
selected for the package are a matching pair of red gloves and a
red hat. Other methods for selection of secondary products will
occur to those of ordinary skill in the art.
[0094] Next at step 805A, the profit margin for the primary product
is determined based on the retail price and the cost of the primary
product (e.g., profit margin=retail price-cost). In one embodiment
of the present invention, the selection of the secondary products
to be included in the package with the primary product is based on
the profit margin of the primary product. For example, if the
primary product has a high profit margin, secondary products with
relatively low profit margins may be included in the package offer
because the high profit margin of the primary product may be used
to fund the overall discount of the package price as compared to
the sum of the retail prices of the primary product and the
secondary product(s).
[0095] For example, a primary product may be a dress that has a
profit margin of $50 (e.g., retail price of dress=$150, and the
cost of the dress=$100). The central server 102 may thus include a
relatively low margin product, such as a scarf that has an
associated profit margin of $5 (e.g., retail price of scarf=$50,
and cost of scarf=$45). Due to the high margin of the dress, the
package of the dress and the scarf may be offered at an
attractively discounted price of $170. The package price of $170 is
15% less than $200, the sum of the retail prices for the dress and
the scarf ($150+$50=$200). If the primary product had not been a
high margin product, the retailer may have been unwilling to offer
such a high discount due to an unacceptably low overall profit
margin for the contents of the package. In the above example, the
retailer earns a $30 overall profit margin on the contents of the
package, referred to herein as a package profit margin ($175
(package price)-$100 (cost of dress)-$45 (cost of scarf)=$30). If,
however, the margin of the dress had only been $15 (e.g. the cost
of the dress in the above example=$135), the retailer would have
suffered a loss of $5 on the package if he had offered it to the
customer for the package price of $170 ($170 (package
price)-$135(cost of dress)-$45(cost of scarf)=-$5). The retailer
may find such a loss unacceptable. In order to prevent such a loss
the retailer may (i) determine a lower discount (e.g. less than 15%
in the above example), or (ii) select a secondary product with a
higher profit margin and attempt to assemble another package at the
relatively higher discount (e.g., 15%).
[0096] Also, the retailer may wish to earn a minimum package profit
margin on each package offer. For example, the retailer may set a
minimum profit margin for a package price at a predetermined amount
(e.g., $10) or at a predetermined percentage of the sum of the
profit margins for the primary and secondary products included in a
package offer (e.g., 50%). As an example of the latter, a profit
margin for a primary product is $50, a profit margin for a first
secondary product is $10, and a profit margin for a second
secondary product is $20. The sum of the profit margins for the
primary product and the two secondary products is $80
($50+$10+$20=$80). The retailer has set the minimum package profit
margin at 50% of the sum of the profit margins of the products
included in the package based on the retail price of each product.
Thus, in order for the three products above to be offered in a
package, the package profit margin has to be $40 or more.
Accordingly, in such an embodiment, the central server 102 may take
the profit margin of the primary product and the secondary
product(s) into account when assembling a package and determining a
package price.
[0097] In still another illustrative embodiment, selection of
secondary products for inclusion in a package may be based entirely
on criteria for profitability. Based on products available in
inventory, the central server 102 may attempt to assemble a package
that provides a particular discount level to the customer while
yielding a certain profit margin for the retailer. In one
embodiment of the present invention, the retailer may wish to
include products that are distressed (e.g., have not been selling
well or are about to expire) in a package. In such a case, the
retailer may offer a very high discount on the secondary product
because any price received as a result of the distressed product
being sold as part of a package may be more profitable than letting
the product sit on the shelf longer and/or expire. Such distressed
products may be flagged in an inventory database and selected by
the central server 102 for inclusion in a package. The secondary
products selected for the package may have no relationship to the
primary product other than a monetary relationship. For example, if
a primary product of interest to a customer is a television, the
secondary products included in the package may be a shovel and a
sweater, which were selected based entirely on profit margin
considerations. However, as will be appreciated by those of skill
in the art, a package offer is more likely to be accepted by a
customer if the package includes products that are known to be of
interest to the customer. Therefore, assembly of packages based
entirely on economic considerations may not be practical.
[0098] At step 806A, it is determined whether the profit margin for
the primary product is high. Of course, the definition of a high
profit margin is relative. For example, a retailer may set a
threshold amount at or above which the profit margin is to be
considered high and below which the profit margin is considered to
be low. The threshold amount may alternatively be a threshold
percentage of the sum of the costs of the products included in the
package. In an illustrative embodiment, the criteria for
determining whether a profit margin is high may be
customer-specific. In other words, the retailer may be willing to
realize less of a profit margin on package sales to regular or
preferred customers, as compared to infrequent customers.
Furthermore, the retailer may determine that a particular customer
has historically accepted packages offers that provide a certain
percentage discount and may attempt to assemble a package having a
package price that provides that percentage discount. Data
pertaining to historical transactions may be stored in a
transaction database 124 or a customer database 128(as shown in
FIG. 1A and illustrated in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5).
[0099] If the profit margin of the primary product is determined to
be sufficiently high, a more deeply discounted package price is
calculated at step 807A. If the profit margin of the primary
product is not sufficiently high, a less discounted package price
is determined at step 808A. Again, the retailer may set a threshold
percentage (e.g., 15%) off of the sum of the retail prices of the
products included in the package at or above which a package price
is to be considered a more discounted package price and below which
a package price is to be considered a less discounted package
price. Alternatively, rather than setting a threshold amount or
percentage, the retailer may set a range of acceptable amount or
percentages within which the package profit margin is to be
considered acceptable (e.g., 10%-25%), rather than high or low.
After calculation of the package price, the profit margin for the
package is calculated at step 809A by subtracting the cost of each
package product from the package price. At step 810A, a
determination is made as to whether the profit margin of the
package is acceptable to the retailer. If the profit margin is not
acceptable to the retailer, a decision to assemble a different
package may be made at step 811A. If a new package is to be
assembled, the exemplary method 800A is repeated from step 804A,
where another at least one secondary package is selected. However,
if it is decided at step 811A not to assemble a new package, the
package price for the existing package is adjusted (e.g., increased
by a predetermined percentage or amount) at step 812A. From step
812A, the exemplary method 800A is repeated from step 809A, where
the profit margin of the package is calculated based on the
adjusted package price. When a package is finally assembled having
an acceptable package price, the method advances from step 810A to
step 813A, where the package offer is presented to the customer.
The exemplary method 800A then ends at step 814A.
[0100] FIG. 8B demonstrates an exemplary method 800B for assembling
a package offer through use of a product database 122, such as
exemplary product database 122B of FIG. 2B. The exemplary method
800B begins at starting block 801B, where a primary product has
been determined to be of interest to a customer. At step 802B, the
product identifier for the primary product is determined. Then, at
step 803B, the database record associated with the product
identifier of the primary product is accessed. The database record
associated with the product identifier of the primary product
stores a list of associated secondary products. At step 804B, the
list of secondary products associated with the primary product is
retrieved from the database record. At step 805B a plurality of
"pick X" package prices are determined, corresponding to the
package price if the customer selects "X" number of the associated
secondary products from the list. For example, a "pick one" package
price corresponds to the package price if the customer selects one
secondary product to be included in a package along with the
primary product. Likewise, a "pick two" package price corresponds
to the package price if the customer selects two of the associated
secondary products from the list. Any number of "pick X" package
prices may be determined, limited only by the number of associated
secondary products in the list. Those skilled in the art should
recognize, however, the pre-determined list of associated secondary
products is not required. The list of associated secondary products
may alternately be created ad hoc and may include any number of
secondary products. Determination of the "pick X" package prices
may be performed ad hoc, or may be performed by retrieving
predetermined "pick X" package prices from the database record
associated with the product identifier of the primary product. At
step 806B multiple secondary products from the list of associated
secondary products are presented to the customer along with
instructions that the customer is permitted to select up to "X"
number of the secondary products for inclusion in a package offered
at the corresponding "pick X" package price. The exemplary method
800B then ends at step 807B.
[0101] FIG. 8C demonstrates an exemplary method 800C for assembling
a package offer through use of a product database 122, such as
exemplary product database 122C of FIG. 2C. The exemplary method
800C begins at starting block 801C, where a primary product has
been determined to be of interest to a customer. At step 802C, the
product identifier for the primary product is determined. Then at
step 803C, the database record associated with the product
identifier of the primary product is accessed. The database record
associated with the product identifier of the primary product
stores a plurality of lists of associated secondary products and a
package price. For brevity, the present example will be limited to
a first associated secondary product list and a second associated
secondary product list. At step 804C, the first list of secondary
products associated with the primary product is retrieved from the
database record. At step 805C the second list of secondary products
associated with the primary product is retrieved from the database
record. At step 806C the package price is retrieved from the
database record. Then at step 807C the first and second lists of
associated secondary products are presented to the customer. At
step 808C, the customer is instructed that he or she may select one
secondary product from each list of associated secondary products
for inclusion in a package along with the primary package. The
package will be offered for sale at the package price for which
ever products are selected by the customer. The exemplary method
800C then ends at step 809C. Although the customer was instructed
to pick one product from each presented list, it should be
understood that the customer could be instructed to select more
than one product from at least one of the lists.
[0102] FIG. 8D demonstrates an exemplary method 800D for assembling
a package offer through use of a product database 122, such as
exemplary product database 122D of FIG. 2D. The exemplary method
800D begins at starting block 801D, where a primary product has
been determined to be of interest to a customer. At step 802D, the
product identifier for the primary product is determined. Then, at
step 803D, the database record associated with the product
identifier of the primary product is accessed. The database record
associated with the product identifier of the primary product
stores a plurality of lists of associated secondary products and a
plurality of corresponding package prices. For brevity, the present
example will be limited to a first associated secondary product
list, a corresponding first package price, a second associated
secondary product list and a corresponding second package price. At
step 804D, the first list of secondary products and the
corresponding first package price associated with the primary
product are retrieved from the database record. Similarly, at step
805D the second list of secondary products and the corresponding
second package price associated with the primary product are
retrieved from the database record. At step 806D the first list of
secondary products is presented to the customer for inclusion in a
first package, along with the primary product, offered for sale at
the first package price. At step 807D the second list of secondary
products is presented to the customer for inclusion in second a
package, along with the primary product, offered for sale at the
second package price. The exemplary method 800D then ends at step
808D.
[0103] FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for
determining a package price in accordance with an exemplary
embodiment of the present invention. The method 900 begins at
starting block 901, where a primary product is determined to be of
interest to a customer. At step 902, the retail profit margin for
the primary product is determined based on the difference in the
retail price of the primary product and the cost of the primary
product.
[0104] Next, at step 903, the minimum profit margin for the primary
product is determined. The minimum profit margin corresponds to the
difference in the minimum price at which the retailer is willing to
sell the primary product and the cost of the primary product. At
step 904 one or more secondary products are selected for inclusion
in the package. Selection of the secondary products may be based on
the retail margin or the minimum margin of the primary product. In
other words, if the retail margin or the minimum margin for the
primary product is high, more expensive secondary products may be
selected for inclusion in the package. Other manners of selecting
secondary products for inclusion in a package have been discussed
herein. Still other methods for selecting secondary products for
inclusion in a package will be apparent to those of ordinary skill
in the art. At step 905, the retail profit margin for each
secondary product selected for inclusion in the package is
determined. At step 906, the minimum profit margin for each
secondary product included in the package is determined. Then at
step 907, the minimum profit margin for the package is determined
by summing the minimum profit margin for the primary product and
each minimum profit margin of the secondary products included in
the package.
[0105] At step 908, a determination is made as to whether the
minimum package profit margin is acceptable. If the minimum package
profit margin is not acceptable, a decision may be made at step 909
to discard the present package and assemble a new package. If it is
decided to assemble a new package, the exemplary method 900 is
repeated from step 904, where a new set of secondary products are
selected for inclusion in the new package. However, if it is
decided not to assemble a new package, the minimum profit margin of
the primary product and/or one or more of the secondary products
included in the package is adjusted at step 910. To adjust the
minimum profit margin for a product, a new price for that product
is selected that falls between the retail price and the minimum
price for that product. After adjustment of the minimum profit
margin of the primary product and/or one or more of the secondary
products, the adjusted package profit margin is calculated at step
911. From step 911, the method 900 is repeated from step 908, where
it is determined if the package profit margin is acceptable. When a
package is finally determined having an acceptable profit margin
(e.g., a profit margin above a predefined amount or percentage or
within an acceptable amount or percentage range), the package offer
for sale of the package at the package price is presented to the
customer at step 912. The exemplary method 900 then ends at step
913.
[0106] FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B are a flow chart illustrating an
exemplary method for determining a package offer to present to a
customer in response to the customer's interest in a primary
product, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention. The process 1000 of FIGS. 10A and 10B is discussed with
illustrative reference to product table 122A (FIG. 2A) and session
record 300 (FIG. 3).
[0107] The process 1000 of FIGS. 10A and 10B begins at step 1002,
where it is determined that a primary product is of interest to a
customer. Various methods of determining that a product is of
interest to a customer, and should therefore be considered a
primary product in accordance with this invention, are discussed
above. In response to the determination that a primary product is
of interest to a customer, the session record of the customer that
has indicated the interest in the current product is accessed in
step 1004, in order to determine whether there are any other
products the customer has indicated interest in earlier in the
session. For example, referring to session record 300, if it is
determine that product "P122" is the primary product, the session
record 300 indicates, in data object 312, that product "P102" is
also of interest to the customer, since the customer had previously
selected it. It should be assumed, for purposes of the present
example, that if a the elapsed time between the "time selected" 306
and "time released" 308 corresponding to a product in the session
record 300 is at least two seconds, the product should be
considered of interest to the customer. Referring again to FIG.
10A, at step 1006, a product from the session record is selected as
a secondary product to be included in a package offer with the
primary product. In the example discussed above with reference to
session record 300, product "P102" is selected as the secondary
product.
[0108] Referring again to FIG. 10A, at step 1008, the record of the
primary product is retrieved from the product database based on the
product identifier. In the current example, product "P122" is
considered the primary product. Therefore, the record 217A of
product "P122" is retrieved from product table 122A, for the
purposes of the example. At step 1010, the minimum price for the
product is determined. Such a determination may be made based on,
for example, a minimum profit margin set by the retailer.
Alternatively, such a determination may be made by retrieving the
minimum price associated with the primary product directly from the
product database. Again referring to product table 122A as an
example, record 217A indicates that the minimum price for product
"P122" is "$32.00". Referring again to the process 1000, a
discounted price for the primary product is set at step 1012, based
on the minimum price. In the current example, the system will set
the discounted price, as to be included in the package, at $32.00,
the minimum price. Alternatively, the discounted price may be set
at any price not greater than $35.00 (the retail price) and not
less than $32.00 (the minimum price).
[0109] Referring again to process 1000, the record of the secondary
product (determined in step 1006) is retrieved from the product
database 122 in step 1014 and the minimum price for the secondary
product is determined in step 1016. Referring again to the example
using the product table 122A, the secondary product "P102" has an
associated minimum price of $34.00, as indicated by record 212A.
Returning to process 1000, the discounted price, as to be included
in the package price, is determined for the secondary product in
step 1018. The discounted price may be based on, for example, the
minimum price and the retail price and any other rules set by the
retailer. An example of such a rule may be that the discounted
price should be set half-way between the retail price and the
minimum price for the secondary product for an initial attempt to
calculate an acceptable package price. Thus, in the current
example, the discounted price for product "P102" is set at
$37.00.
[0110] Returning to process 1000, a determination of whether
another secondary product should be selected is made at decision
block 1020. Such a determination may be made, based on, for
example, whether the retailer has set a minimum or maximum number
of products to be included in a package. Alternatively, such a
determination may be made based on an evaluation of the package
profit margin based on the current products in the package. For
example, if the package profit margin is unacceptably low, another
secondary product may be selected (maybe a relatively high profit
margin secondary product) in an attempt to obtain an acceptable
package profit margin. If, at decision block 1020, it is determined
that another secondary product is to be selected, the process loops
back to step 1006. If, at decision block 1020, it is determined
that another secondary product is not to be selected, the process
continues to step 1022. For the sake of the current example, it is
assumed that the retailer set a maximum number of products in a
package at two so another secondary product is not selected.
[0111] At step 1022, the package price is determined based on the
discounted prices set in steps 1012 and 1018. In the current
example, the package price is determined to be $69.00 ($32.00 for
the primary product "P122"+$37.00 for the secondary product
"P102"). At step 1024, the profit margin of the package is
determined. The package profit margin, as determined above, is
determined by subtracting the cost of each product included in the
package from the package price. In the current example the cost
associated with the primary product "P122", as indicated by record
217A of product table 122A, is $30.00. The cost associated with
secondary product "P102", as indicated by record 212A of product
table 122A, is also $30.00. Therefore, the package profit margin is
$9.00 ($69.00-$30.00-$30.00=$9.00). Another way of looking at the
profit margin is that it is 15% of the sum of the cost of the
products included in the package
([$9.00/($30.00+$30.00)]*100=15%).
[0112] At decision block 1026, it is determined whether the package
profit margin is acceptable. As discussed above, a retailer may set
a minimum profit margin or a range of acceptable profit margins, in
the form of a dollar amount or a percentage. If, at decision block
1026 it is determined that the profit margin is acceptable, the
process 1000 continues to step 1028. At step 1028, the package
offer comprising the primary product determined in step 1002 and
the secondary product(s) selected in step 1006 are presented to the
customer for the package price determined in step 1022. Of course,
other information, such as descriptions or images of the products
included in the package could also be presented to the customer as
part of the package offer. For the sake of the current example, it
is assumed that 15% is an acceptable package profit margin.
[0113] If, at decision block 1026, it is determined that the
package profit margin is not acceptable, the process continues to
decision block 1030. At decision block 1030 it is determined
whether another package offer should be created. Creating another
package offer may comprise determining another package price for
the primary product and the secondary product(s) defining the
package offer. Creating another package offer may also comprise
selecting another secondary product to be included in the package
in addition to or instead of at least one secondary product
currently included in the package.
[0114] If, at decision block 1030, it is determined that another
package offer should not be created, the process 1000 may end. It
may be determined that another package offer should not be created
if, for example, there are no other secondary products available
(e.g., there are no other products other than the ones already
selected store in the session record being used to create the
current package) and/or if the discounted prices for the products
included in the package were already set to the minimum prices for
the products. If, at decision block 1030, it is determined that
another package offer should be created, the process 1000 continues
to decision block 1032.
[0115] At decision block 1032 it is determined whether another
secondary product should be selected. If another secondary product
is to be selected, the process 1000 loops back to step 1006. A
retailer may set preferences regarding whether, in creating another
package offer, (i) the currently selected secondary product(s)
should be deselected and another secondary product selected, (ii)
another secondary products should be selected in addition to the
currently selected secondary product(s), or (iii) the discounted
prices for the currently selected secondary products should be
decremented. Based on such preferences, if at decision block 1032
it is determined that another secondary product should not be
selected, the process 1000 continues to decision block 1034.
[0116] At decision block 1034 it is determined whether at least one
of the discounted prices for the products included in the package
can be lowered. Such a determination may be made by comparing the
discounted price of each product in the package to the minimum
price associated with the product. If the discounted price of at
least one product is greater than the minimum price for the
product, then the discounted price can be lowered. The discounted
price can be lowered by a predefined dollar amount or percentage
such that it is not lower than the minimum price for the product.
If, at step 1034, it is determined that the discounted price for at
least one product can be lowered, then the process 1000 continues
to step 1036, where the at least one discounted price is lowered.
Once the discounted price is lowered, the process loops back to
step 1022, where the package price is once again determined based
on the discounted prices of the products included in the package,
at least one of which has just been lowered. If, at decision block
1034, it is determined that at least one discounted price cannot be
lowered (e.g., all discounted prices are set to the associated
minimum prices of the corresponding products), then the process
1000 may loop back to step 1006, where another secondary product is
selected in addition to or instead of the currently selected
secondary product(s). Alternatively, if at decision block 1034, it
is determined that at least one discounted price cannot be lowered,
the process 1000 may end.
[0117] While this invention has been described in detail with
particular reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it should be
understood that variations and modifications can be effected within
the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, it has been
described herein that a customer input signal indicating addition
of a product to a virtual shopping cart may be interpreted as an
expression of interest in a primary product and may trigger the
assembly of a package. In an alternate embodiment, a new package
may be assembled and presented to the customer each time the
customer adds a new product to the virtual shopping cart. Each new
package may be based on the aggregate contents of the virtual
shopping cart. Furthermore, the number of products, the expected
purchase total for all of the products currently in the shopping
basket and/or the combined profit margin of the products currently
in the shopping basket may be used to determine the depth of the
discount utilized to calculate the package price. Likewise, a new
package offer may be assembled and presented to the customer each
time the customer removes a product from the virtual shopping cart.
Again, the new packages may be based on the products remaining in
the virtual shopping cart or may be based on the removed product,
as an enticement to add the removed product back into the virtual
shopping cart. In another alternate embodiment, the customer may be
provided with an opportunity to request a package. A customer
request for a package may comprise a request for the retailer to
select secondary products for inclusion in a package to be offered
at a retailer determined package price. As another example, a
customer request for a package may comprise a request for a
retailer-selected package price for a package that is assembled by
the customer. In still another example, the customer may select the
primary product and the secondary products for inclusion in the
package as well as a suggested package price. Thus, the customer
request for the package may comprise a request for retailer
approval of the customer-assembled package. These and other
alternate embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill
in the art. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is to
be limited only by the appended claims.
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