Methods and systems for connected sales associate services

• US 9,978,048 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2012
• Issued: 05/22/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Transform Sr Brands, LLC (ESL Investments, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sears Brands LLC (Sears Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Masood, Rafeh, Hoffmann, Gina
• Primary Examiner(s): Fleurantin, Jean B
• Application Number:
  US13/483,959
• Publication Number:
  US 20130325891A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,183 Days
• Field of Search: 707769, 707999003, 705 141, 705 1438, 705 1465, 705 1416
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A method and system for providing a connected sales associate service application via a mobile device. The application provides for an integrated platform upon which various tools for providing support to a sales associate are built. The application includes a database of information regarding the operation of a retail establishment, and a database of reference materials. The application provides a user interface for allowing several sales associate to access a central server for the retail establishment on multiple mobile devices. The user interface displays information regarding sales and inventory information and reference materials for products, such as user'"'"'s manuals, which enable the sales associate to answer questions posed by customers. A sales associate can thus search for and find all store products which meet a customer'"'"'s specifications.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage media having stored thereon computer executable instructions, wherein the instructions perform steps for enabling a sales associate at a retail location to procure a variety of reference materials from a central server via a mobile wireless communication device, comprising:

hosting a database of reference materials and operational information regarding a retailer; and

providing a first graphical user interface comprising graphical user interface elements configured to allow the sales associate at the retail location to access, using a communication network, a central server for the retailer, the graphical user interface elements configured to allow the sales associate to provide a mobile point-of-sale platform for purchases at the retail location, and the graphical user interface elements configured to provide the sales associate with enhanced sales activities by accessing multichannel processing and support systems through the mobile device, the central server allowing a plurality of additional sales associates at the retail location on a corresponding plurality of additional mobile devices to access the central server using a corresponding plurality of additional graphical user interfaces and a corresponding plurality of additional communication networks, wherein the mobile device is configured to leverage mobile technology, customer online social networking, customer rewards program, marketing or sales data, and the reference materials to enable the sales associate to provide a customized and personal shopping experience for one or more customers while enabling the sales associate to maintain mobility in the retail location,

wherein the first graphical user interface and the plurality of additional graphical user interfaces are configured to cause the central server to query the database to return and display selected pages, responsive to the query, of the reference materials at one or more of the first graphical user interface and the plurality of additional graphical user interfaces at the retail location.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein the first graphical user interface and the plurality of additional graphical user interfaces further cause the central server to query the database to return and display sales or inventory information for the retailer.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein the reference materials comprise documents which are formatted in HyperText Markup Language (“

HTML”

) or Portable Document Format (“

PDF”

).

4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein the reference materials comprise links to online videos, and wherein displaying the reference materials comprises running an auxiliary application capable of displaying online videos.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein the first graphical user interface and the plurality of additional graphical user interfaces are provided on one or more of a mobile personal computer, a personal-digital assistant (“

PDA”

), a cellular telephone, a mobile device, a tablet, and an ereader.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein the first graphical user interface and the plurality of additional graphical user interfaces cause the central server to query the database in response to an input received from one or both of the sales associate and the plurality of additional sales associates.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 6, wherein the input comprises at least one search term.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 7, wherein the at least one search term corresponds to a title of a reference material.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 7, wherein the at least one search term corresponds to a metatag assigned to a reference material.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 7, wherein the at least one search term corresponds to text found within a reference material.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein displaying the reference materials further includes displaying a thumbnail preview of said reference materials.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of additional graphical user interfaces is of a type different from a type of the first graphical user interface.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein the computer executable instructions comprise code for communicating at least a portion of the reference materials from the first graphical user interface to at least another graphical user interface using a social network.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein the mobile point-of-sale platform includes an input configured for a camera or a scanner.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein the mobile point-of-sale platform includes an output configured for a printer.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface elements are configured to allow the sales associate to manage or to receive rewards information.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein the first graphical user interface is displayed using a touch screen interface.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein the first graphical user interface is displayed on the mobile wireless communication device, wherein the first graphical user interface provides point-of-sale features to the sales associate including facilitating a purchase and facilitating a return.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface elements are configured to provide for chat functionality.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media as defined in claim 1, wherein the mobile computing device is configured to leverage chat functionality and customer online social connections to enable the sales associate to provide the customized and personal shopping experience for the one or more customers while maintaining retail location mobility.