User-personalized media sampling, recommendation and purchasing system using real-time inventory database
First Claim
1. A networked product sampling system comprising:
- a plurality of sampling stations distributed at various locations in a retail site, each sampling station including a display and an audio output device for playing samples of product content of products for sale by the retail site; and
a database coupled to said plurality of sampling stations through a retail site server and storing sample content and meta data related to products for sale at said retail site;
wherein each of said sampling stations is associated with a unique location ID identifying the location of the associated sampling station within the retail site, such that the retail site server determines particular meta data to be sent to a sampling station to be displayed in accordance with the unique location ID associated with that sampling station.
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Abstract
A user-personalized product sampling, recommendation and purchasing system uses customer identification numbers and associated customer profile data to tailor specific product recommendations to a customer at a content sampling station of a retail location. The customer also can use her customer profile to receive the same information from an Internet website of the merchant. In-store sampling stations also may have the capability of checking store inventory and central warehouse inventory and providing recommendations to the customer in accordance with product availability, and optionally may provide the customer with the ability to place product orders directly through the sampling station. The recommendation system also can be used to tailor product recommendations in accordance with a rule-based model and real-time inventory data from a POS database.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A networked product sampling system comprising:
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a plurality of sampling stations distributed at various locations in a retail site, each sampling station including a display and an audio output device for playing samples of product content of products for sale by the retail site; and
a database coupled to said plurality of sampling stations through a retail site server and storing sample content and meta data related to products for sale at said retail site;
wherein each of said sampling stations is associated with a unique location ID identifying the location of the associated sampling station within the retail site, such that the retail site server determines particular meta data to be sent to a sampling station to be displayed in accordance with the unique location ID associated with that sampling station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A user-personalized product sampling and recommendation system, comprising:
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a database storing individual customer profile data files each associated with a unique customer identification number identifying a customer to whom the customer profile data file relates, wherein said customer profile data includes customer preferences regarding categories or genres of products available for purchase by said customer, said database further including sample content and meta data related to products for sale at a retail site;
a plurality of sampling stations distributed at various locations in said retail site, each sampling station including a display and an audio output device for playing samples of product content of products available for purchase by said customer, and an input mechanism for enabling a customer to input to said station a unique customer identification number assigned to said customer; and
a server that receives a unique customer identification number from a sampling station, retrieves from said database corresponding customer profile data, and generates customer-specific information for display by the sampling station sending the customer identification number according to the retrieved customer profile data. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A networked product sampling system comprising:
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a plurality of sampling stations distributed at various locations in a retail site, each sampling station including a display and an audio output device for playing samples of product content of products for sale by the retail site;
a database coupled to said plurality of sampling stations through a retail site server and storing sample content and meta data related to products for sale at said retail site, said retail site server being connected to an external communication network; and
a point-of-sale (POS) database storing sales and inventory data for all products being sold by said retail site;
wherein said retail site is one of a plurality of retail sites of a merchant, and is identified by a unique ID identifying the location of the retail site, wherein said retail site server determines particular meta data and content samples to be stored by said database in accordance with inventory data received from said POS database, sends a request for said particular meta data and content samples to a merchant server, and said merchant stores the identity of meta data and content samples contained at each retail site in association with the unique ID of each retail site. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A networked product sampling and purchasing system comprising:
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a plurality of sampling stations distributed at various locations in a retail site associated with a merchant having a plurality of retail sites and a central warehouse storing product inventory, each sampling station including a display and an audio output device for playing samples of product content of products for sale by the retail site, and at least one sampling station including an input mechanism enabling a customer to place a purchase order for a product item;
a database coupled to said plurality of sampling stations through a retail site server and storing sample content and meta data related to products for sale at said retail site, said retail site server being connected to an external communication network; and
a point-of-sale (POS) database storing sales and inventory data for all products being sold by said retail site;
wherein said at least one sampling station determines, in response to placement of an order by a customer, whether the ordered product item is in stock by querying said POS database, and if so informing the customer and allowing the customer to receive said product item at the retail site;
if said at least one sampling station determines that the ordered product item is not stock, determining whether the product item is in inventory at said warehouse by querying a warehouse inventory database through said external communication network, and if so informing the customer and allowing the customer to order the product item from the warehouse. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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24. A system for providing product recommendations to a customer, comprising:
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a plurality of sampling stations distributed at various locations in a retail site, each sampling station including a display and an audio output device for playing samples of product content of products for sale by the retail site, and including an input device that enables a customer to input a product'"'"'s identification information for retrieval of said content samples;
a retail site server;
a recommendation rules database;
a content database coupled to said plurality of sampling stations through said retail site server and storing sample content and meta data related to products for sale at said retail site; and
a POS database coupled to said retail site server and storing inventory data of products which are in stock at said retail site;
wherein said retail site server generates a first list of recommended products for sampling by a customer based on a product ID input by said customer at a sampling station of a product that the customer wishes to sample, a recommendation rule retrieved from said recommendation rules database, and based on said stored inventory data. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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27. A system for promoting sales of products at a;
- retail site, comprising;
a display device for displaying product promotional content;
a retail site server;
a promotion rules database;
a content database storing promotional content related to products for sale at said retail site; and
a POS database coupled to said retail site server and storing inventory data of products which are in stock at said retail site;
wherein said retail site server generates a promotion list of at least one product based on a promotion rule retrieved from said promotion rules database, and based on inventory data from said POS database, retrieves content associated with said promotion list from said content database, and sends said retrieved content to said display device. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
- retail site, comprising;
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30. A system for maintaining and providing access to a customer profile, comprising:
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a database storing individual customer profile data files each associated with a unique customer identification number identifying a customer to whom the customer profile data file relates, wherein said customer profile data includes customer preferences regarding categories or genres of products available for purchase by said customer;
a server that receives a unique customer identification number from a communication channel, retrieves from said database corresponding customer profile data, and sends customer profile data corresponding to said unique customer identification information for display at a remote display device coupled to said communication channel. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification