Methods and apparatuses for selling, distributing and dispensing fabric care products

• US 20020091657A1
• Filed: 07/11/2001
• Published: 07/11/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
• Original Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
• Inventors: Schroeder, John Gregory, Fakoukakis, Emanuel Pantelis, Chuey, Steven Robert, Barangan, Anastacia Rosario Aricayos
• Granted Patent: US 7,099,856 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 706/45
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/20 for washing or drying articles, e.g. clothes, motor cars

Abstract

A method for recommending fabric care products, by the steps of: under control of a first client system; collecting personalized data pertaining to a consumer'"'"'s fabric care needs and habits and pertaining to non-fabric care related information; and sending the data to a server system. Then, under control of the server system: receiving the data from the first client system, and based on the consumer'"'"'s personalized data determining a recommendation for one or more fabric care products. The recommendation is then sent to the first client system, a second client system or both. The recommendation can assist the consumer in their fabric care usage and purchase decisions, and automated purchasing can also be accomplished. Apparatuses for carrying out these methods are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method for recommending fabric care products, the method comprising the steps of:

under control of a first client system;

collecting personalized consumer data pertaining to a consumer'"'"'s fabric care needs and habits and pertaining to non-fabric care related information;

sending the data to a server system;

under control of the server system;

receiving the data from the first client system;

based on the consumer'"'"'s personalized data determining a recommendation for one or more fabric care products; and

sending the recommendation to the first client system, a second client system or both.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

under control of the first client system;

receiving the recommendation for the one or more fabric care products.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the consumer data is collected by the steps of:

under control of the first client system;

displaying one or more queries; and

in response to one or more actions by the consumer, sending answers to the one or more queries to a server system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the personalized consumer data pertaining to non-fabric care related information is selected from the group consisting of:

household budget considerations;

space considerations within the household;

existence and/or identity of any allergies in the consumer'"'"'s household;

relative priority of fabric care operations to other household and family demands on the consumer'"'"'s time;

the consumer'"'"'s habits, hobbies and personal interests;

the consumer'"'"'s ambitions and life goals;

the consumer'"'"'s stage in life;

the consumer'"'"'s preferred media; and

mixtures thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

under control of the server system;

calculating a recommended quantity for each of the one or more fabric care products recommended for purchase; and

sending the recommended quantities with the purchase recommendation to the first client system, a second client system or both.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of:

under control of the first client system;

receiving the recommended quantities for each of the fabric care products recommended for purchase.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the server system communicates with the first client system via the Internet.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of:

under control of the first client system with one or more actions by the consumer, one or more fabric care products are selected for purchase and a request is sent to the server system to purchase the selected fabric care products.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein, the fabric care products are selected from the group consisting of laundry detergents, fabric conditioning compositions, wrinkle removal compositions, bleaches, bleach activators, dye fixatives, stain removers, anti-static compositions, dryer added sheet products and mixtures thereof.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the fabric care products selected for purchase are identified, packaged and delivered to the consumer.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the fabric care products selected for purchase are dispensed directly to the consumer or they are dispensed to a fabric laundering or fabric drying apparatus under control of the consumer.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein a receipt identifying the fabric care products selected for purchase is issued to the consumer before the products are delivered to the consumer.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the receipt comprises an electronic transmitter beacon, and wherein the location of the consumer can be determined electronically with the assistance of the electronic transmitter beacon, once the consumer is located, the fabric care products can be delivered directly to the consumer.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of fabric care products are recommended for purchase and each of the recommended fabric care products have at least one common characteristic, wherein the common characteristic is selected from the group consisting of perfume, product color, package color, and mixtures thereof.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the personalized consumer data pertaining to a consumer'"'"'s fabric care needs and habits is selected from the group consisting of:

the number, ages and gender of the people in the consumer'"'"'s household;

the frequency with which fabric care processes are conducted by the consumer or by members of the consumer'"'"'s household;

the type and color of fabrics that are cared for; and

mixtures thereof.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the server system comprises a customized web site having a user interface, wherein the user interface includes consumer identification data unique to each consumer who accesses the web site, and wherein the consumer identification data is stored in a data repository and is used to create a unique consumer profile corresponding to the consumer identification data for each consumer.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providing a sample of a fabric care product identified in the fabric care recommendation, said sample being provided to the consumer associated with the personalized consumer data.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the interactive user interface comprises a computer assembly connected to the data repository, a display device and an input device.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein the fabric care recommendation is displayed on the display device.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the personalized consumer data pertaining to non-fabric care related information is selected from the group consisting of:

household budget considerations;

space considerations within the household;

existence and/or identity of any allergies in the consumer'"'"'s household;

relative priority of fabric care operations to other household and family demands on the consumer'"'"'s time;

the consumer'"'"'s habits, hobbies and personal interests;

the consumer'"'"'s ambitions and life goals;

the consumer'"'"'s stage in life;

the media preferred by the consumer; and

mixtures thereof.

23. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of providing a sample of a fabric care product identified in the fabric care recommendation, said sample being provided to the consumer associated with the personalized data.

19. A method for recommending fabric care products for purchase or use, the method comprising the steps of:

under control of an interactive user interface;

collecting personalized consumer data pertaining to a consumer'"'"'s fabric care needs and habits and pertaining to non-fabric care related information;

comparing the personalized data to a data repository, wherein the data repository comprises fabric care data selected from the group consisting of fabric care products, dosage recommendations, usage instructions, and mixtures thereof; and

preparing a fabric care recommendation.