TARGETED MARKETING AND PURCHASE BEHAVIOR MONITORING SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A system for presenting customized special offers to customers, the special offers including targeted offers to a customer selected from a plurality of customers, and for collecting purchasing behavior information concerning the customers, the system comprising:
- at least one computer including a database containing customer account information providing information specific to a particular customer account;
said at least one computer also including a database containing special offers including at least one targeted offer which is to be made to selected customer accounts on the basis of targeted offer targeting parameters;
a plurality of customer cards, each customer card having machine readable card information indicating at least identification of the card with a particular customer account;
a customer interface in communication with said at least one computer to transfer data therebetween;
said customer interface having at least one card reader for reading machine readable card information from said customer card;
said at least one computer including means for generating a customized customer offer list available to that particular customer account which includes at least one said special offer;
at least one offer communicator for communicating said customer offer list to the customer for which it is generated;
at least one check-out at which the customer presents purchased item information indicating items being purchased by the customer;
said check-out including a card reader for reading said customer card;
said at least one computer including means for sending information from the customized customer offer list to the at least one check-out;
said at least one computer further including means for collecting customer purchase information which is indicative of items being purchased by the customer via the check-out;
said at least one computer still further including means for editing said customer account information to reflect items purchased by the customer.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for presenting customized special offers to customers, the special offers including targeted offers to a customer selected from a plurality of customers, and for collecting purchasing behavior information concerning the customers, the system comprising a computer including a database containing customer account information providing information specific to a particular customer account; the at computer also including a database containing special offers including a targeted offer which is to be made to selected customer accounts on the basis of targeted offer targeting parameters; a plurality of customer cards, each customer card having machine readable card information indicating at least identification of the card with a particular customer account; a customer interface in communication with the computer to transfer data therebetween; the customer interface having a card reader for reading machine readable card information from the customer card; the computer including means for generating a customized customer offer list available to that particular customer account which includes the special offer; an offer communicator for communicating the customer offer list to the customer for which it is generated; a check-out at which the customer presents purchased item information indicating items being purchased by the customer; the check-out including a card reader for reading the customer card; the computer including means for sending information from the customized customer offer list to the check-out; the computer further including means for collecting customer purchase information which is indicative of items being purchased by the customer via the check-out; the computer still further including means for editing the customer account information to reflect items purchased by the customer.
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Citations
101 Claims
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1. A system for presenting customized special offers to customers, the special offers including targeted offers to a customer selected from a plurality of customers, and for collecting purchasing behavior information concerning the customers, the system comprising:
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at least one computer including a database containing customer account information providing information specific to a particular customer account;
said at least one computer also including a database containing special offers including at least one targeted offer which is to be made to selected customer accounts on the basis of targeted offer targeting parameters;
a plurality of customer cards, each customer card having machine readable card information indicating at least identification of the card with a particular customer account;
a customer interface in communication with said at least one computer to transfer data therebetween;
said customer interface having at least one card reader for reading machine readable card information from said customer card;
said at least one computer including means for generating a customized customer offer list available to that particular customer account which includes at least one said special offer;
at least one offer communicator for communicating said customer offer list to the customer for which it is generated;
at least one check-out at which the customer presents purchased item information indicating items being purchased by the customer;
said check-out including a card reader for reading said customer card;
said at least one computer including means for sending information from the customized customer offer list to the at least one check-out;
said at least one computer further including means for collecting customer purchase information which is indicative of items being purchased by the customer via the check-out;
said at least one computer still further including means for editing said customer account information to reflect items purchased by the customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A system for presenting special offers to customers of a chain of stores, the special offers including customized targeted offers for specific customers, the system comprising:
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a plurality of store level computers, respective store level computers being associated with respective stores, the computers respectively including a database containing customer account information, and a database of special offers including customized targeted offers to be made to selected customer accounts on the basis of targeted offer targeting parameters;
a supervisory computer networked to the store level computers, the supervisory computer periodically downloading special offers to the store level computers;
a plurality of cards, each card having thereon machine readable information for associating the card with particular customer account information and with a particular store in the chain; and
a plurality of customer interfaces, respective customer interfaces being located in respective stores and being in communication with the store level computer associated with that store, the interfaces having respective card readers including means for receiving the cards, for reading the machine readable information on the card, for sending information from the card to the store level computer associated with that store;
the store level computers respectively including means for accessing information about the special offers available to the customer associated with the card in response to the card reader sending decoded information to the computer, for generating a customized list of special offers available to that particular customer;
offer communicator means for communicating respective individualized lists of special offers to customers who access the customer interface. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A system for a chain of stores for presenting customized special offers to customers, the special offers including targeted offers to a customer selected from a plurality of customers, the system comprising:
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a plurality of store level computers, respective store level computers being associated with respective stores, the store computers respectively including a database containing customer account information providing information specific to individual customers including information regarding customer purchases, the store level computers respectively including a database containing special offers including at least one targeted offer which is to be made to selected customer accounts on the basis of targeted offer targeting parameters;
a plurality of cards, each card having thereon machine readable information associating the card with a particular customer account and with a particular store in the chain;
regional computers networked to groups of store level computers, the regional computers periodically downloading special offers to the store level computers, groups of store level computers defining respective chains of stores;
a supervisory computer networked to the regional computers, the regional computers periodically downloading special offers to the store level computers;
a plurality of customer interfaces, respective customer interfaces being located in respective stores and being in communication with the store level computer associated with that store, the customer interfaces having respective card readers including means for receiving the cards, for reading the machine readable information on the cards, for sending the read information to the store level computer associated with that store;
a plurality of offer communicator means, respective offer communicator means being located in respective stores and being in communication with the store level computer associated with that store, respective offer communicator means being housed with respective customer interfaces;
means for accessing customer account information for a particular customer in response to the card reader sending read information to a store level computer, for generating an individualized list of special offers available to that particular customer, and for sending the list of special offers to the offer communicator housed with the card reader that sent the read information;
the customer interfaces respectively including means for communicating respective individualized lists of special offers to customers who access the customer interfaces;
check-outs, including respective bar code readers, connected to respective store level computers, the bar code readers reading the cards in addition to products, the system including means for associating a purchased item with a customer account if one of the cards is scanned by the bar code reader in sequence with scanning of products, for storing customer purchase information in the database in the store level computer; and
means for uploading from the store level computers to the regional computers data identifying purchases made by individual customers. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75)
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76. A method of presenting customized special offers to customers, the special offers including targeted offers to a customer selected from a plurality of customers, and for collecting purchasing behavior information concerning the customers, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a computer;
defining, using the computer, a database containing customer account information including purchases made by each customer;
defining, using the computer, a database containing special offers including at least one targeted offer which is to be made to selected customer accounts on the basis of targeted offer targeting parameters;
providing cards to customers, the cards containing unique machine readable information identifying customers;
providing a customer interface including a card reader for reading the cards, and associating cards with customer accounts;
generating a customized customer offer list available to a particular customer account which includes at least one said special offer in response to that customer accessing the customer interface;
providing an offer communicator for communicating said customer offer list to the customer for which it is generated;
providing at least one check-out at which the customer presents purchased item information indicating items being purchased by the customer;
the check-out including a bar code reader for reading said customer card and for reading prices of products;
sending information from the customized customer offer list to the at least one check-out when a customer'"'"'s card is scanned by the check-out card reader; and
using the check-out and the computer to collect customer purchase information which is indicative of items purchased by individual customers via the check-out and storing the customer purchase information in the customer account database. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84)
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85. A method of presenting customized special offers to customers of a chain of stores, the special offers including targeted offers to a customer selected from a plurality of customers, and for collecting purchasing behavior information concerning the customers, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of store level computers, respective store level computers being associated with respective stores;
providing a supervisory computer and networking the supervisory computer to the store level computers, causing the supervisory computer to periodically download special offers to the store level computers;
defining, using the store level computers, respective databases containing customer account information including purchases made by each customer;
defining, using the store level computers, respective databases containing special offers including at least one targeted offer which is to be made to selected customer accounts on the basis of targeted offer targeting parameters;
providing cards to customers, the cards containing unique machine readable information associating the card with particular customer account information and with a particular store in the chain;
providing a plurality of customer interfaces, respective customer interfaces being located in respective stores and being in communication with the store level computer associated with that store, the customer interfaces respectively including card readers for reading the machine readable information on the cards, and causing the customer interfaces to send information from the card to the store level computer associated with that store when that customer interface reads a card;
generating a customized customer offer list available to a particular customer account which includes at least one said special offer in response to that customer accessing one of the customer interfaces;
providing a plurality of offer communicators, respective offer communicators being located in respective stores and being in communication with the store level computer associated with that store, causing respective offer communicators to communicating the customer offer list to the customer for which the list is generated;
providing a plurality of check-outs, respective check-outs being located in respective stores and being in communication with the store level computer associated with that store, at which the customer presents purchased item information indicating items being purchased by the customer;
the check-out including a bar code reader for reading said customer card and for reading prices of products;
sending information from the customized customer offer list to a check-out in a store when a customer'"'"'s card is scanned by the check-out card reader in the same store; and
using the check-outs and the store level computers to collect customer purchase information which is indicative of items purchased by individual customers via the check-out and storing customer purchase information in the customer account databases. - View Dependent Claims (86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93)
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94. A method of presenting customized special offers to customers of a chain of stores, the special offers including targeted offers to a customer selected from a plurality of customers, and for collecting purchasing behavior information concerning the customers, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of store level computers, respective store level computers being associated with respective stores;
providing a plurality of regional computers networked to groups of store level computers, the regional computers periodically downloading special offers to the store level computers, groups of store level computers defining respective chains of stores;
providing a supervisory computer and networking the supervisory computer to the regional computers, causing the supervisory computer to periodically download special offers to the store level computers;
defining, using the store level computers, respective databases containing customer account information including purchases made by each customer;
defining, using the store level computers, respective databases containing special offers including at least one targeted offer which is to be made to selected customer accounts on the basis of targeted offer targeting parameters;
providing cards to customers, the cards containing unique machine readable information associating the card with particular customer account information and with a particular store in the chain;
providing a plurality of customer interfaces, respective customer interfaces being located in respective stores and being in communication with the store level computer associated with that store, the customer interfaces respectively including card readers for reading the machine readable information on the cards, and causing the customer interfaces to send information from the card to the store level computer associated with that store when that customer interface reads a card;
generating a customized customer offer list available to a particular customer account which includes at least one said special offer in response to that customer accessing one of the customer interfaces;
providing a plurality of offer communicators, respective offer communicators being located in respective stores and being in communication with the store level computer associated with that store, causing respective offer communicators to communicating the customer offer list to the customer for which the list is generated;
providing a plurality of check-outs, respective check-outs being located in respective stores and being in communication with the store level computer associated with that store, at which the customer presents purchased item information indicating items being purchased by the customer;
the check-out including a bar code reader for reading said customer card and for reading prices of products;
sending information from the customized customer offer list to a check-out in a store when a customer'"'"'s card is scanned by the check-out card reader in the same store;
using the check-outs and the store level computers to collect customer purchase information which is indicative of items purchased by individual customers via the check-out and storing customer purchase information in the customer account databases; and
uploading from the store level computers to the regional computers data identifying purchases made by individual customers. - View Dependent Claims (95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101)
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Specification