Purchase selection behavior analysis system and method

• US 20020178085A1
• Filed: 04/01/2002
• Published: 11/28/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kantar Retail, LLC
• Original Assignee: Sorensen Associates LLC (TNS Group Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: Sorensen, Herb
• Granted Patent: US 7,006,982 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data

Abstract

A system and method for analyzing shopper behavior of a shopper within a shopping environment is provided. The method typically determining the position of a product within the shopping environment, tracking a shopper path of a shopper through the shopping environment, via a wireless tracking system, and calculating a product-shopper proximity measure based at least in part on a physical distance of a shopper traveling along the shopping path from the position of the product.

Claims

1. A method for analyzing shopper behavior of one or more shopper(s) within a shopping environment, the method comprising:

determining the position of a product within the shopping environment;

tracking a shopper path of a shopper through the shopping environment, via a wireless tracking system; and

calculating a product-shopper proximity measure based at least in part on a physical distance of a shopper traveling along the shopping path from the position of the product.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the shopper travels along the shopping path to a location within a predefined region relative to the product.

3. The method of claim 2, basing the product-shopper proximity measure on whether the shopper travels within the predefined region.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating a product-shopper visibility measure in part on a simulated visibility of the product from a field of view of the shopper, as the shopper travels along the shopping path.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving purchase data from a point of sale terminal, and determining whether the shopper purchased a particular product based on the purchase data.

6. A method for analyzing shopper behavior, comprising:

providing a shopping environment including products placed at predetermined locations in the shopping environment;

tracking a shopper path of a shopper through the shopping environment;

detecting that the shopping path is within a predefined region relative to a product; and

determining a shopping behavior of a shopper within the predefined region.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the predefined region is defined as a region from which the shopper on the shopping path can see the product.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the predefined region is defined as a region within a predetermined physical proximity to the product.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the shopping behavior is the shopper being physically present within the predefined region.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the shopping behavior is the shopper slowing down within the predefined region.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the shopping behavior is the shopper stopping within the predefined region.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the shopping behavior is the shopper purchasing a product within the predefined region.

13. The method of claim 6, wherein the shopping behavior is the length of time a shopper is in the predefined region.

14. The method of claim 6, wherein the shopping behavior is length of time a shopper is in the shopping environment.

15. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

detecting that at least a portion of the shopper path exhibits one or more of the following patterns;

perimeter pattern, zigzag pattern, excursion pattern, loiter pattern, destination pattern, and aisle-traverse pattern.

17. The system of claim 16 further comprising a point of sale terminal configured to identify purchase data and transmit the purchase data to the data analyzer.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the tracking system includes transceivers configured to receive signals from the transmitters and to transmit data to the data analyzer.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the shopping environment is a retail store.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the shopping environment is a grocery store.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the data analyzer is further configured to receive the purchase data from the point of sale terminal.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein the data analyzer is further configured to generate reports including the product-shopper proximity measure and simulated visibility measure.

24. The shopping data compilation of claim 23, wherein the predefined region is defined as a region from which the shopper on the shopping path can see the product.

25. The shopping data compilation of claim 23, wherein the predefined region is defined as a region within a predetermined physical proximity to the product.

26. The shopping data compilation of claim 23, wherein the shopping behavior is the shopper being physically present within the predefined region.

27. The shopping data compilation of claim 23, wherein the shopping behavior is the shopper slowing down within the predefined region.

28. The shopping data compilation of claim 23, wherein the shopping behavior is the shopper stopping within the predefined region.

29. The shopping data compilation of claim 23, wherein the shopping behavior is the shopper purchasing a product within the predefined region.

30. The shopping data compilation of claim 6, wherein the shopping behavior is the length of time a shopper is in the predefined region.

31. The shopping data compilation of claim 6, wherein the shopping behavior is length of time a shopper is in the shopping environment.

32. The shopping data compilation of claim 6, further comprising:

detecting that at least a portion of the shopper path exhibits at least one of the following patterns;

perimeter pattern, zigzag pattern, excursion pattern, loiter pattern, destination pattern, and aisle-traverse pattern.

16. A system for collecting shopping behavior data, the system comprising:

a wireless tracking system configured to track the position of one or more shopper transmitters within a shopping environment having one or more products placed at predetermined locations therein; and

a data analyzer configured to receive data from the wireless tracking system and reconstruct one or more shopper paths based on the data, the data analyzer further being configured to analyze the shopper path(s) in comparison to the locations of the products within the shopping environment, and, for each product, determine a product-shopper proximity measure based on a physical distance between the shopper traveling along the shopping path and/or a simulated visibility of the product from the line of sight of a shopper traveling along the shopping path.

23. A shopping data compilation comprising:

a measure that a shopper path of a shopper within a shopping environment is within a predefined region adjacent a product positioned in the shopping environment; and

a determination of a shopping behavior of the shopper within the predefined region.

33. A storage medium readable by a computer, having embodied therein a program of instructions executable by the computer to perform the steps of:

providing a shopping environment including products placed at predetermined locations in the shopping environment;

tracking a shopper path of a shopper through the shopping environment;

detecting that the shopping path is within a predefined region relative to a product, wherein the predefined region is a region from which the shopper on the shopping path can see the product or a region within a predetermined physical proximity to the product; and

determining a shopping behavior of a shopper within the predefined region, wherein the shopping behavior is selected from the group consisting of shopper being physically present within the predefined region, the shopper slowing down within the predefined region, the shopper stopping within the predefined region, and the shopper purchasing a product within the predefined region.