AUTOMATED ASSISTANCE IN RETAIL DECISIONS

• US 20160117757A1
• Filed: 10/24/2014
• Published: 04/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NCR Voyix Corporation
• Original Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Inventors: Thomas, Erika
• Granted Patent: US 10,902,505 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0639 Item locations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces

Abstract

User-defined criterion defines goods and services of interest to a user. An aggregated listing of the goods and services is generated that spans multiple retailers within a geographic range of a current location of the user. The aggregating listing is presented to the user for making a retail decision.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a server, a request for a good;

aggregating, by the server, a listing of goods that spans multiple retailers within a geographical range of a user; and

delivering, by the server, the listing in a user-defined priority order to a device for viewing by the user in making a retail decision.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein aggregating further includes filtering the listing of goods based on a profile associated with the user.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein filtering further includes filtering the listing of goods based on one or more additional profiles associated with other users.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein filtering further includes identifying the profile based on a user identifier for the user or a device identifier for the device.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein filtering further includes identifying a ranking, a priority, and exclusions for user-defined goods in the profile.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein aggregating further includes obtaining criteria for aggregating the listing of goods from the user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein aggregating further includes obtaining the geographic range from the user or a registered profile of the user.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein aggregating further includes obtaining a current location of the user as a current geographical location for the device.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising, interposing one or more offers or one or more retail advertisements based on the listing in a user-defined priority order.

10. A method, comprising:

resolving, by a device, a current location for the device;

obtaining, by the device, criteria for a retail good as supplied by a user;

sending, by the device, the current location and the criteria to an assistance manager over a network connection; and

presenting, by the device within a screen on a display of the device, a listing in prioritized order of retail goods that spans multiple retailers within a geographical range defined with the criteria.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein resolving further includes identifying the current location based on a predefined location assigned to the device, wherein the device is one of:

a kiosk and a Point-Of-Sale (POS) device.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein resolving further includes using a Global Positioning Satellite integrated within the device to resolve the current location.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein obtaining further includes interacting with a user operating the device to define the criteria.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein interacting further includes identifying rankings, priorities, and exclusions for retail goods in the criteria.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein presenting further includes assembling the criteria from a profile associated with the user and at least one additional profile supplied by the user but associated with a different user.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein presenting further includes inserting one or more retail advertisements relevant to the listing in the prioritized order.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein presenting further includes tracking selections made by the user with respect to the one or more retail advertisements and entries in the listing.

18. A system comprising:

a Self-Service Terminal (SST);

a display of the SST; and

a SST agent that is configured and adapted to;

i) execute on the SST, ii) present an interface to a consumer within a screen on the display to receive criteria for a retail good or service, iii) request an aggregated listing of goods and services from multiple retailers that agree with the criteria from a remote assistance manager, and iv) present the aggregated listing within the screen on the display for the consumer to interact with.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the SST agent is further configured and adapted to:

v) interpose one or more retail advertisements in the screen relevant to entries for the aggregated listing.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the SST agent is further configured and adapted to:

vi) track and report selections made by the consumer with respect to the one or more retail advertisements and the entries for the aggregated listing.