IN-STORE OMNICHANNEL INVENTORY EXPOSURE

• US 20150120505A1
• Filed: 03/14/2014
• Published: 04/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: McFaddin, Herbert Scott, Deshpande, Ajay Ashok, Hendrix, Kimberly D., Narayanaswami, Chandrasekhar
• Application Number:
  US14/213,199
• Publication Number:
  US 20150120505A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26.61
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation

Abstract

A method and system for dynamically analyzing information relating to a store to determine product information to show on a display during a period, and displaying product information on the display based on the analyzed information for the period.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

dynamically analyzing, using a processor on a computer, information relating to a store to determine product information to show on a display during a period, the display being located in the store; and

displaying product information on the display based on the analyzed information for the period.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising accepting an order related to the displayed product information while a customer is in the store, based on the customer interacting with the display to obtain an order member, such as a physical or electronic token, a barcode, or an image of product information, to be used at a checkout point or with a store application.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information includes at least one of current time information, store information, customer information, and external condition information.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the displaying product information is dynamically updated.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the store information includes at least one of geographic location, inventory in store, a location where products are located, products not carried in store, products which are out of stock, if a stocked product has variations or related products not available in the store, sales history of store, customers currently in store, location of customer in store, inventory of the stores in the surrounding area, and location of the display.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein the current time information includes at least one of time of day, date, day of week, and day of year.

7. The method according to claim 3, wherein the customer information includes at least one of customer demographics, past customer transactions, customer profile information, recent customer online interactions, customer social media information, customer reviews, a current customer location, a historical customer location by time, customer-entered input, an identification of a specific customer in a vicinity of the display, and a recognition that a person is located in the vicinity of the display.

8. The method according to claim 3, wherein the external conditions include at least one of traffic patterns, local events, weather, competitor locations, and public works events.

22. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining identification of one or more specific customers currently in the store;

retrieving and analyzing data on at least one of the one or more specific customers;

detecting current specific locations in the store of the at least one of the specific customers; and

presenting a display specifically oriented as an item possibly of interest to that specific customer when the specific customer is detected as near a display in the store, with the display being dynamically presented on a display nearest the specific customer'"'"'s detected current location.

23. The method according to claim 1, further comprising tracking customer responses to displays of different products.

24. The method according to claim 1, wherein the dynamically analyzing comprises:

calculating a probability that a given product would be purchased during a specific time period if shown on the display;

retrieving information on a current stock level of the product; and

providing product information for the given product during the specific time period.

25. The method according to claim 1, wherein the dynamically analyzing and displaying is updated in at least one of a periodic update and an event driven update.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein an event driven update occurs if a customer is detected as walking within a range of a display in the store.

9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform a method, the method comprising:

dynamically analyzing information relating to a store to determine product information to show on a display in the store during a certain period; and

displaying product information on the display based on the analyzed information for the certain period.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 9, the method further comprising:

receiving an input from a customer concerning product information on the display; and

providing at least one of additional information and an item order member related to the product information to permit the customer to purchase or place an order for an item while the customer is still in the store.

11-12. -12. (canceled)

15-16. -16. (canceled)

17. A system, comprising:

a data source;

a processor configured to receive contextual information from the data source and to determine product information to display based on the contextual information; and

a display located in the store and in communication with the processor and configured such that the display receives the product display information from the processor.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to receive a signal related to a product order from a customer while in a store in which the display is located.

21. The system according to claim 17, wherein the display comprises one of a plurality of display units located in the store and wherein each display unit can selectively present a different display.

19-20. -20. (canceled)