User-personalized media sampling, recommendation and purchasing system using real-time inventory database

• US 20070083441A1
• Filed: 12/11/2006
• Published: 04/12/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 2428392 Inc.
• Original Assignee: Trans World New York LLC (Kaspien Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Skiba, Steven, Harper, Gregory
• Granted Patent: US 9,679,320 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/972 Access to data in other repository systems, e.g. legacy data or dynamic Web page generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0635 Risk analysis of enterprise or organisation activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/201 Price look-up processing, e.g. updating
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants

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.

Claims

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.