MANAGING TARGETED CUSTOMER LOYALTY PROMOTIONS

• US 20130138492A1
• Filed: 11/30/2011
• Published: 05/30/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Delgado, Ruben, Glynn, Kollen, Uppal, Siddharth
• Granted Patent: US 9,111,290 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.25
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Targeted customer loyalty promotions are managed by an application through a point of sale contact. The application recognizes a customer visiting a store through communication (e.g. near field communication) with a customer device. The application receives a customer identifier (ID) from the customer device. Using the customer ID, the application retrieves a customer record matching the customer ID from a local data store of the point of sale, a networked data store, or a social network data store. The application determines customer loyalty promotions associated with the customer record and transmits the customer loyalty promotions to the customer.

Claims

1. A method executed at least in part in a computing device for managing targeted customer loyalty promotions for a customer, the method comprising:

receiving a customer identifier (ID) from a customer communication device;

retrieving a customer record matching the customer ID from a data store;

determining at least one customer loyalty promotion associated with the customer record; and

making the at least one customer loyalty promotion available to the customer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein making the at least one customer loyalty promotion available comprises one or more of:

transmitting the at least one customer loyalty promotion to the customer device;

transmitting the at least one customer loyalty promotion to another customer device; and

presenting the at least one customer loyalty promotion one a social network user interface associated with the customer.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving the customer record from one or more of;

a social networking application, a retailer data store, and a local data store.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the at least one customer loyalty promotion further comprises:

analyzing a customer purchase history from the customer record; and

evaluating at least one loyalty preference from the customer record.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting the customer communication device at a retailer location;

determining at least one previous customer loyalty promotion associated with the customer record;

determining at least one loyalty preference from the customer record; and

determining the at least one customer loyalty promotion from the at least one previous customer loyalty promotion and the at least one loyalty preference.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting at least one from a set of;

a customer purchase receipt and the at least one customer loyalty promotion within an email message to the customer.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a web service interface for at least one advertising service to access the customer record; and

receiving the at least one customer loyalty promotion from the at least one advertising service through the web service interface.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enrolling the customer to a social networking service; and

providing third party access to the social networking service to deliver the at least one customer loyalty promotion to the customer.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if the customer record is unavailable for retrieval, creating a new customer record; and

storing the new customer record in at least one from a set of;

a local data store and a retailer data store.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

replacing personal information in the customer record with anonymous information.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving a list of active customer loyalty promotions from a retailer; and

determining the at least one customer loyalty promotion from the list of active customer loyalty promotions.

12. A computing device for managing targeted customer loyalty promotions for a customer, the computing device comprising:

a memory;

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor executing an application and causing services associated with the application to generate customer loyalty promotions, wherein the processor is configured to;

receive a customer identifier (ID) from a customer communication device;

retrieve a customer record matching the customer ID from at least one from a set of;

a local data store, a retailer data store, and a social networking application;

determine at least one customer loyalty promotion associated with the customer record; and

transmit the at least one customer loyalty promotion to the customer communication device.

13. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive the customer ID from the customer communication device through near field communications (NFC).

14. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine at least one payment option associated with the at least one customer loyalty promotion; and

transmit the at least one payment option to the customer communication device through NFC.

15. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a selected payment option from the customer communication device through NFC;

determine another customer loyalty promotion associated with the selected payment option; and

transmit the other customer loyalty promotion to the customer communication device through NFC.

16. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a for-sale item identifier from the customer communication device through NFC; and

determine the at least one customer loyalty promotion associated with the for-sale item identifier.

17. A computer-readable memory device with instructions stored thereon for managing targeted customer loyalty promotions, the instructions comprising:

receiving a customer identifier (ID) from a customer communication device on a customer through near field communications (NFC);

retrieving a customer record matching the customer ID from at least one from a set of;

a local data store, a retailer data store, and a social networking application;

determining at least one customer loyalty promotion associated with the customer record;

transmitting the at least one customer loyalty promotion to the customer communication device through NFC; and

transmitting at least one payment option associated with the at least one customer loyalty promotion to the customer communication device through NFC.

18. The computer-readable memory device of claim 17, wherein the instructions further comprise:

retrieving customer transactions including at least one price scan of a for-sale item identifier from the customer record; and

determining the at least one customer loyalty promotion from the customer transactions.

19. The computer-readable memory device of claim 17, wherein customer communication device is an NFC enabled mobile phone.

20. The computer-readable memory device of claim 19, wherein the instructions further comprise:

retrieving customer sales information including interactions with at least one for-sale item identifier from the NFC enabled mobile phone; and

determining the at least one customer loyalty promotion from the customer sales information.