System and method for interactive marketing to consumers

• US 8,376,226 B2
• Filed: 04/03/2007
• Issued: 02/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dennard, Mark D., Trevathan, Matthew B., Schunzel, Mark J. S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Michael G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mikels, Matthew
• Application Number:
  US11/695,938
• Publication Number:
  US 20080245862A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,149 Days
• Field of Search: 235/383, 235/375, 340/500, 340/539.11, 705/16, 705/5, 705/13, 353/42, 353/28, 715/730
• US Class Current: 235/383
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A system and method for interactive marketing to consumers and, more particularly, to a system and method for marketing merchandise to consumers in an interactive retail environment. The method includes detecting a disturbance in an area and sending information related to the disturbance to a back end merchandising system. The method further includes retrieving relevant information related to the detected disturbance from the back end merchandising system and displaying the relevant information on a display surface.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

detecting a disturbance in an area of a retail environment comprising a plurality of surfaces;

sending information related to the disturbance to a back end merchandising system;

retrieving relevant information related to the detected disturbance from the back end merchandising system;

displaying the relevant information on at least one of the plurality of surfaces of the retail environment; and

sending a request to retrieve merchandise in response to a request by a consumer, wherein the sending the request is provided to a sales associate determined to be in closest proximity to the requested merchandise.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the disturbance is a consumer action.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the disturbance is a radio frequency (RF) signal transmitted from an RF identification associated with merchandise.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the RF signal is used to provide merchandise information to the back end merchandising system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying is provided on an interactive display surface.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the interactive display surface is configured to receive a selection from the consumer.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the received selection is at least one of consumer identification, selection of merchandise, request for assistance to retrieve the merchandise and merchandise information.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the disturbance is a selection or login information provided by the consumer.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying relevant information includes at least a floor map of the retail environment to locate selected merchandise.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying relevant information includes providing a location of selected merchandise.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing recommendations to the consumer based on either consumer identification or merchandise selection.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting the disturbance is captured by a camera which performs recognition and execution of an action.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of claim 1 are performed on at least one of a subscription, advertising and fee basis.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of claim 1 are provided by a provider which at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports a computer infrastructure that performs the steps of claim 1.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the disturbance is a detection of merchandise, and the method further comprises providing recommendations of at least one additional item associated with the merchandise and directions to retrieve the at least one additional item.

34. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the sales associate in closest proximity to the requested merchandise using GPS.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the sending the request comprises sending an alert to a wireless handheld device of the sales associate determined to be in closest proximity to the requested merchandise.

37. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the detecting the disturbance comprises detecting an image of the consumer and detecting an RFID of a first merchandise selected by the consumer;

the sending information related to the disturbance comprises sending the RFID and information of the consumer;

the displaying the relevant information on the at least one of the plurality of surfaces of the retail environment comprises providing messages to the consumer about other merchandise in the retail environment which may be of interest to the consumer based on the first merchandise; and

the request by the consumer comprises a selection of a product from the other merchandise.

16. A method, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

detect a merchandise in an area;

send information related to the merchandise to a back end merchandising system;

retrieve information related to the merchandise from the back end merchandising system;

display the information as an interactive display on a display surface using a projector;

detect an interaction of a consumer with the interactive display, wherein the interaction includes a selection of another merchandise; and

present information to a sales associate, including a location of the other merchandise on a floor map and a location of the consumer, wherein the presentation of the information is provided to the sales associate determined to be in closest proximity to the other merchandise.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the computer infrastructure is operable to detect a position of the consumer in an environment, and track a motion of the consumer by looking for curvature changes corresponding to a head-neck silhouette.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the merchandise is detected by a radio frequency (RF) signal transmitted from an RF identification.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the interactive display surface is configured to receive the selection from the consumer.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the selection further comprises at least one of:

consumer identification, request for assistance to retrieve the other merchandise, and merchandise information.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the information includes at least a floor map of a retail environment to locate the selected other merchandise.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein the computer infrastructure is operable to provide recommendations to the consumer based on the detected merchandise or consumer identification.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the computer infrastructure is operable to send a request to retrieve the other merchandise in response to a request by the consumer.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein the steps of claim 16 are performed on at least one of a subscription, advertising and fee basis.

25. The method of claim 16, wherein the steps of claim 16 are provided by a provider which at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports a computer infrastructure that performs the steps of claim 16.

26. A system, comprising:

a server having a database containing data associated with at least one of merchandise and a consumer; and

at least one of a hardware and software component for providing information to the consumer based on at least one of a detected merchandise and consumer identification,

wherein the one of a hardware and software component is configured to detect a position of the consumer in an environment and track a motion of the consumer by looking for curvature changes corresponding to a head-neck silhouette,

wherein the system projects the information as an interactive display that is configured to receive hand gestures of the consumer to select other merchandise and to request assistance from a sales associate to retrieve the other merchandise, and

wherein the request is provided to the sales associate determined to be in closest proximity to the other merchandise.

27. The system of claim 26, further comprising a radio frequency (RF) receiver to detect a signal transmitted from an RF identification.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the interactive display surface is configured to receive at least one of consumer identification, the selection of merchandise, the request for assistance to retrieve the merchandise and merchandise information.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the information includes at least a floor map of a retail environment to locate selected merchandise.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein the one of a hardware and software component is operable to provide recommendations to the consumer based on the detected merchandise or consumer identification.

31. The system of claim 26, wherein the one of a hardware and software component is operable to send a request to retrieve merchandise in response to a request by the consumer.

32. The system of claim 26, wherein the one of a hardware and software component is at least created, maintained, deployed and supported by a third party service provider.

36. The system of claim 26, wherein the system comprises a geometric reasoning module configured to receive a consumer position and a set of criteria, specified as desired ranges of display zone properties, and return all display zones which satisfy the specified criteria, wherein properties of the display zone properties include:

a physical size of a display zone;

absolute orientation;

user proximity;

position of the consumer relative to the display zone;

position of the display zone relative to the consumer;

occlusion percentage; and

an occlusion mask.

33. A computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having readable program code embodied in the storage medium, the computer program product includes at least one component operable to:

detect a merchandise in an area;

send information related to the merchandise to a back end merchandising system;

retrieve information related to the merchandise from the back end merchandising system;

display the information on a display surface including at least one of walls, a floor, and a table in the area, the display surface being configured to provide interactivity with a consumer including selection of other merchandise and a request that a sales associate deliver the other merchandise to the consumer,

wherein the displayed information includes recommendations to the consumer based on either consumer identification or merchandise selection, and

wherein the request is provided to the sales associate determined to be in closest proximity to the other merchandise; and

automatically select a display zone based on criteria including proximity of the display zone to the consumer and non-occlusion of the display zone by the consumer or by other objects.