METHODS AND APPARATUS TO MONITOR IN-STORE MEDIA AND CONSUMER TRAFFIC RELATED TO RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS

• US 20080294476A1
• Filed: 04/25/2008
• Published: 11/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Original Assignee: The Nielsen Company LLC (MOOD Media Corporation)
• Inventors: Dupre, William J., Brown, Daniel G., Cakora, Matthew C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,818,841 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.32
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0204 Market segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0205 Location or geographical consideration

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to monitor in-store media and consumer traffic related to retail environments are disclosed herein. In a disclosed example method to monitor a monitored establishment, a survey is presented to an auditor and a user-provided survey response is received indicative of a condition in a monitored establishment that affects an accuracy of shopper count information provided by the auditor. Instructions are displayed to the auditor to sequentially move to a plurality of predetermined locations in the monitored establishment and collect a shopper count corresponding to each of the predetermined locations. The example method also involves receiving and storing each of the plurality of shopper counts.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring a monitored establishment, comprising:

presenting a survey to an auditor;

receiving a user-provided survey response indicative of a condition in a monitored establishment that affects an accuracy of shopper count information provided by the auditor;

displaying instructions to the auditor to sequentially move to a plurality of predetermined locations in the monitored establishment and collect a shopper count corresponding to each of the predetermined locations; and

receiving and storing each of the plurality of shopper counts.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising, for each of the plurality of predetermined locations, displaying an image of an area proximate the predetermined location.

3. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the predetermined locations is associated with at least one product category zone of the monitored establishment.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising storing each of the shopper counts in association with a respective product category zone of the monitored establishment.

5. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the instructions instruct the auditor to move along a path in the monitored establishment that avoids zig zag patterns, reduces the amount of time required to count substantially all shoppers in the monitored establishment, and reduces the possibility of double counting any shopper.

6. An apparatus to monitor a monitored establishment, comprising:

a survey handler to present a survey to an auditor;

a user input interface to receive a user-provided survey response indicative of a condition in a monitored establishment that affects an accuracy of shopper count information provided by the auditor;

an instructor to display instructions to the auditor to sequentially move to a plurality of predetermined locations in the monitored establishment and collect a shopper count corresponding to each of the predetermined locations; and

a count collector to receive and store each of the plurality of shopper counts.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, further comprising an image handler to, for each of the plurality of predetermined locations, display an image of an area proximate the predetermined location.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein each of the predetermined locations is associated with at least one product category zone of the monitored establishment.

9. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, further comprising a data associator to store each of the shopper counts in association with a respective product category zone of the monitored establishment.

10. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein the instructions instruct the auditor to move along a path in the monitored establishment that avoids zig zag patterns, reduces the amount of time required to count substantially all shoppers in the monitored establishment, and reduces the possibility of double counting any shopper.

11. A machine accessible medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to:

present a survey to an auditor;

receive a user-provided survey response indicative of a condition in a monitored establishment that affects an accuracy of shopper count information provided by the auditor;

display instructions to the auditor to sequentially move to a plurality of predetermined locations in the monitored establishment and collect a shopper count corresponding to each of the predetermined locations; and

receive and store each of the plurality of shopper counts.

12. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 11 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to, for each of the plurality of predetermined locations, display an image of an area proximate the predetermined location.

13. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 11, wherein each of the predetermined locations is associated with at least one product category zone of the monitored establishment.

14. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 11 having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to store each of the shopper counts in association with a respective product category zone of the monitored establishment.

15. A machine accessible medium as defined in claim 11, wherein the instructions instruct the auditor to move along a path in the monitored establishment that avoids zig zag patterns, reduces the amount of time required to count substantially all shoppers in the monitored establishment, and reduces the possibility of double counting any shopper.

16. A method of monitoring a monitored establishment, comprising:

determining a shopper traffic count based on in-person-based shopper count data and sensor-based shopper count data;

receiving sales data indicative of sales associated with the monitored establishment;

receiving information media data indicative of instances of presentations of information media in the monitored establishment; and

determining a causal relationship between shopper traffic in the monitored establishment and the shopper traffic count data, the sales data, and the information media data.

17. A method as defined in claim 16, wherein the in-person-based shopper count data is collected using at least one of a first person stationarily located in an area of the monitored establishment or a second person instructed to move between a plurality of areas of the monitored establishment.

18. A method as defined in claim 16, wherein the in-person-based shopper count data and the sensor-based shopper count data are associated with substantially the same shoppers in an area of the monitored establishment.

19. A method as defined in claim 16, wherein the sales data is representative of sales transactions attributable to individual shoppers.

20. A method as defined in claim 16, further comprising determining opportunities for exposure based on the information media data and further determining the causal relationship based on the opportunities for exposure.

21-36. -36. (canceled)