WO2006078792A2 - Soliciting retail transactions with targeted, real-time source information - Google Patents

Abstract

Prior charitable donation solicitations have been included in combination with retail transactions, such as drop boxes at checkout counters, bell ringing Santa's just outside retail stores where small change from the just completed transaction may end up being donated. ATM1S have also displayed a donation pitch. Here, a coffee shop transaction or the like includes displaying very specific real-time information about a targeted recipient site, changeable to more or different information in response to purchase and or donation decisions. The transaction linked display 10 also includes acknowledgment of the donation, and is tied to giving the purchaser a token, such as a beverage sleeve, which is imprinted with real-time information about the recipient site. This system may also provide real-time images, data, and other multi media content from an independent third party (such as an NGO) to the potential purchaser about the source of the product to help with the purchase decision.

Description

SOLICITING RETAIL TRANSACTIONS WITH TARGETED, REAL-TIME SOURCE INFORMATION

Background of the Invention

Related Patent Applications This patent application claims benefit of prior Provisional Patent Application No. 60/644,836, filed on 01/18/05.

The prior systems for extracting charitable contributions have included A.T.M. displays that solicit donation of some portion of the transaction to a charity such as a church group. Also in some grocery stores, when a patron chooses to bring their own plastic sacks or string shopping bag, that patron is awarded a token. Each token may be donated to a charity by placing the token in a barrel or receptacle near the exit of the grocery store.

In coffee shops some blends of coffee beans are alleged to be "fair trade" being the fair trade status of a particular coffee offering as indicated by a certification mark. Sometimes, particular information dealing with the co-op or grower for the fair trade beans can be provided in the form of brochures, or as a discussion of the growing and trade practices of the source of the beans on the display for displaying the beans or the packaging for purchased beans. Each of these prior donation solicitation methods fails to create a truly compelling connection between the sales/purchase event and the target charitable donation.

Brief Description

Briefly put one aspect of this method comprises selling a commodity, usually a food, most preferably coffee, by directly linking a virtual real time image associated with the source (grower, farmer, factory, or rancher, in the case of meat products), to the purchase decision by using a direct technology linkup (preferably high speed Internet) to the display at the point of sale. This direct connection with the purchase decision and the source of the purchased commodity is in turn linked with a solicitation to donate the change or some other amount of money from the contemplated transaction directly to the benefit of the grower, farmer or rancher. Thus instead of tipping an individual or organization associated with the retail sale the tip is redirected to the origin or source of the purchased commodity or product.

In a typical embodiment of the inventive process a retail purchase decision takes place at a retail outlet such as a coffee shop. The purchaser makes the purchase decision by viewing a menu board that is enhanced by a computer display viewable at the time of the purchase decision. The purchase decision is either to buy one of the displayed products or to not buy displayed product. If the decision is made to purchase one of the displayed products the transaction is initiated. The transaction includes information about that purchased product. In the case of a purchase at a coffee shop perhaps this includes the size of the drink as well as the particular variety and style of coffee being used to make the drink. This information in turn may be used to modify the computer display to include more detailed information about the data site directly related to the source of the coffee being purchased. This enhanced display also gives the opportunity for the purchaser to donate change from the transaction to the preferred site. If the decision is made to donate the purchaser is given an opportunity to make a real time donation and receive real time feedback from a web cam link to the recipient of the donation. This could be facilitated in coffee shops having open wireless network availability.

Also contemplated herein is awarding the purchaser with a token or tokens representing the amount donated at the time of the purchase. These tokens may be used to make further donations or to give the purchaser opportunities for discounts on further purchases of the same or similar product. Preferably this "token" is created (printed, imprinted) at the time of the donation decision, incorporating specific, targeted, time specific information about the donation, including for example not only the amount of the donation, but the location, status, contact information for the particular project supported by the donation.

The benefits of the subject process includes a convincing and real time showing that there is an honest and direct link between the purchase decision, the decision to make a donation and the effects of that donation through the value chain, all the way back to the producer of the commodity which, in this example is the producer of the coffee bean used in making the purchased beverage.

In another embodiment, the process includes providing a purchaser real-time information about the source of the product when a barcode or other product specific information is provided to an Internet facilitated computer link. Such real-time information may include the average wage of the provider of the commodity from which the product is made, information about a non-governmental organization (NGO) involved with product source, or other information about the producer of a product or the main ingredient of the product.

Brief Description of the Figures Figure 1 shows a schematic flowchart of the preferred purchase and donation process.

Figure 2 is a front view of a computer terminal for displaying producer information to the prospective purchaser.

Figure 3 is a view of the back of the computer terminal shown in Figure 2. Figure 4 is a similar flowchart showing an alternate purchase and donation process.

Detailed Description Of The Preferred Embodiment

Referring to figure 1 , which shows a schematic flowchart of the purchase and donation process with the real-time display elements 10 of the process shown. This display element represent a single computer screen, especially where the coffee shop may have a self-help ordering process or a combination of a menu board and computer display, or represent several computer displays arranged throughout a coffee shop, some of which may show only the real time information about a source of the products offered for purchase, while other displays may show only price and availability of these and other products for sale at the retail location. The transaction itself can be accomplished on a conventional cash register where the clerk enters the purchase decision, calculates the bill and the change to the purchaser. The cash register and the menu board display are linked to show not only the usual purchasing information but also a potential recipient of the suggested donation or perhaps a menu of potential recipients for the donation. The Menu board/Computer display portion of the process provides the initial visual linkage between one or more possible purchases and specific charitable organizations or projects. It is here that the initial solicitation takes place, either directly through a computer interactive menu accessed by the purchaser or mediated by the sales person. For example, the menu may display a particular fair trade coffee grown by a specific farming cooperative or growers' union, a specific project which the coop needs help with (hereinafter "the recipient site), and a suggested donation. The decision to donate based on this information starts the transaction. If the purchase decision has a "no" outcome (no purchase, and/or no donation) this display can change to alter the one or more aspects of the offerings; that is change a graphic or prose description of the charitable organization, the organization's targeted project, the suggested donation amount, and the product offered for sale. This linkage between the proposed transaction and a suggested recipient site or menu of recipient sites is an important step in the preferred embodiment. If the decision is or includes a "yes" outcome, the choice that the purchaser makes from the menu of items available can be used to optimize and limit the suggested recipients as well, and thus increase the chances that the donation decision will be a positive one, that is the purchaser will decide to donate at least the remainder of the change from the amount tendered to the recipient site. The enhanced or targeted Menu board/ computer display can thus help initiate several possible purchase decision outcomes. If the outcome is to merely purchase a product, the transaction proceeds according to the conventional process where the purchaser either takes their change if any and purchase beverage, or includes the change in a tip to the retail establishment or their personnel.

In the preferred outcome however the enhanced display has helped convince the purchaser to make a donation. If this is the decision the purchaser can further decide to make a real time donation that is donate any all or more than the change from the transaction to the targeted recipient or the purchaser may decide to research the suggested recipient or other recipients further. In this case the purchaser is credited with a virtual account for the amount of the intended donation. This donation can be made later, even when the patron is still in the coffee shop, especially where the coffee shop is provided with wireless network. Alternatively the purchaser can make the donation at his or her leisure at some time later either at the next purchase occasion or any time the purchaser is on the Internet.

The real time image and other media about the source of the product provided to the purchaser when the purchase is contemplated, or when the donation is actually made is another important aspect of the subject invention. The immediacy of this image gives credibility to the need and the potential or real time effect the donation will have to the deserving recipient organization. The effect over time of the individual's donation or the accumulation of donation in similar transactions is an important positive feedback element to making this an effective way to gather charitable donations. This is especially effective for repeat customers where over days, weeks and months of many small donations. A generous patron may actually see positive effects over time. Providing GPS coordinates of the site shown in the photographs or the location of the village or project where the donation is to be directed can enhance authenticity of the images and/or text information. The concept of the "token" portion of the proposed transaction will now be detailed. Recall that the purchaser receives immediate acknowledgment that the donation has been made. If the purchaser chooses to delay the donation, a credit is recorded for later donating, at the purchaser's convenience, to a targeted recipient site. The purchaser also gets a token which could be in the form of a token coin, scrip, or a credit card-like account with the amount incurred in the magnetic strip or the like. This token carries additional benefits to the purchaser and can be accumulated, for example perhaps resulting in a free beverage for every 12 donations made. This token can also be donated to the recipient charity, all of this at the election of the purchaser. Recall that the transaction process includes the step of displaying donation-specific information immediately on the occasion of the donation decision. The link to high speed internet or other long distance, information rich media facilitates not only the fine tuning of the initial solicitation, but also permits immediate and specific imprinting of any and all information about the donation onto the token, such as details about the project, where to get additional information about the recipient site, and a reproduction of any real-time graphic shown on the display that initiated the donation decision. The "token" in this example could be a reusable coffee mug, or at least the otherwise disposable insulating jacket that slips over a disposable paper cup. Such insulating jackets are well known, and commonly available at coffee bars, an example of such sleeves is disclosed in US Patent 6152363 assigned to Westvaco Corporation, which patent, to the extent that it's disclosure is consistent with this disclosure is hereby incorporated by reference. Alternatively, the printed or embossed token could be a reusable lid or handle for the purchased beverage.

While the above example has focused on a coffee shop situation the inventive process could be adapted to other retail purchase situations. For example, an ordinary grocery store could have selected products such as custom meat or dairy products from animals that are organically raised or raised in an environmentally or socially responsive manner. These custom meat or dairy products would, when its associated bar code or the like is scanned during the purchase/decision process, trigger a similar real time display of socially responsible charities or a real time link to the web site of the socially or environmentally sensitive producer of that kind of meat or dairy product. A similar, real time donation and token award to the purchaser is triggered when the purchase is made and the total bill is presented to the purchaser at the check out counter.

The disclosed process could also work in a gas station where a similar but perhaps reduced range of purchase decisions are displayed on a gasoline pump. For example one of the "grades" of gasoline may include 10 percent ethanol. If the purchaser chooses ethanol the gasoline may have a video screen linked to the farmer cooperative that has provided the ethanol from corn or other grain raised by that cooperative association and the purchaser is given an opportunity to donate "real time", or donate later and is given a token or award for making that purchase decision to buy ethanol enhanced gasoline. In each of the above examples the video image or other multi-media of the potential or actual recipient of the charitable donation is immediate and live, thus contributing to the perceived transparency of the association of the project to the purchase and of the donation to the project being supported, and thus eliminating the perception that there is an intermediary involved in the transaction. The immediate video image also increases trust and a personal link between the donor and the beneficiary. All the above attempts to increase the likelihood that the donation will be made reduces any delay-engendered doubts that the donation would not do any good because it is only a small amount of cash.

The inventive donation process can also obviously benefit the retailer whose establishment facilitates or supports the telecommunication links, etc. that streamline the process as detailed above. For example information on consumer preference can be shared with the retailer and thus increase the profitability that the retailer experiences. This would help to offset the cost for setting up the system buying tokens and the small but not insignificant increase in the transaction cost involved with the purchase, donation, and token transaction.

Figures 2 and 3 show a simple, rugged, computer display that could be deployed at various locations at the point of retail purchase. The computer display consists of a rugged case made of a conventional hollow core concrete building block, sometimes called a "cinder block". The cinder block housing constitutes the primary outer surfaces. The hollow core or cores (not shown) contain the wiring and CPU adequate to access wired or wireless Internet connections. The majority of the front facing surface of the display is a single stainless steel panel attached to a similarly sized stainless steel back panel with tamper resistant screw fasteners or the like. An LCD screen is positioned immediately behind a rectangular cutout at the upper portion of the panel. A small cutout through the center portion of the panel extends horizontally to expose the surface of the central concrete web of the cinder block. The back panel has vents cut through to permit cooling air circulation and a series of electrical connectors for providing electrical power, Internet connection, connection for an input device (bar-code reader, mouse, and the like.) The LCD preferably is touch sensitive so that the consumer can easily alter the display (within a limited range of options), initiate printing a coupon with a bar code and price. This coupon could be the order for the coffee product in combination with the donation amount which total price would be rung up at a register as a conventional purchase. Alternatively, the coupon would be only for the targeted donation that would be purchased along with other purchases at the time the order is wrung up.

Figure 4 shows a simple block diagram of how this display would be used in the disclosed simplified process. The diagram is divided into three main areas representing the remote site where coffee beans or some other commodity where the donations are to be directed, the Internet or satellite link, and the retail purchase location, a coffee shop for example. The customer observes a photograph and other information about the source of the coffee (or other commodity or product) being displayed on the monitor, and an invitation to make a donation. The customer indicates willingness to make a donation by using the touch screen to initiate printing of the bar-coded coupon. Alternatively, the customer uses a bar-code reader to check whether there is any realtime information associated with the product bearing the bar code. The customer uses the information displayed to make the purchase and/or the donation decision. The donation could be expressed as the change from the transaction, or some set amount. The purchase or donation is accomplished using the conventional cash register process similar to that portion of the process shown in Figure 1.

The real-time digital photography and/or location information is collected on .sight by someone associated with the source of the product or more preferably an onsite employee or contractor of the web network and website administrator. As currently proposed this contractor has been provided a laptop computer of conventional type, a digital camera, and an GPS locator linked to the laptop whereby date data associated with the digital photographs are linked to the GPS receiver signal fed to the computer, thus validating the location of the photograph and permitting the customer to later try to locate this GPS coordinates using one of the many mapping and satellite imaging websites available, such as the one available on www.google.com. The coupon print-out events are also reported up through the computer monitor to give feedback to the system, as these printout commands, when combined with the payments rendered via the purchase of the "coupon" donation at the register, shows how consumers are "voting" for projects with their purchases and/or donations.

It should be understood that while the rugged computer terminal monitor or display of Figures 2 and 3 is shown in the system of Figure 4, other devices could be used to impart source multi-medial content to the shopper or potential purchaser. As suggested with regard to Figure 1 , the display 10 could also be a so-called video kiosk, a handheld portable device such as a cell phone, Internet or Blue-tooth enabled Personal Digital Device or PDA, a camera cell phone capable of receiving digital photographs and the like in addition to the usual audible information and/or text messages. In the later case, where the display to is a portable handheld device that likely does not have a bar code reader, the shopper could send a text message containing the Universal Product Code (UPC) of the potential purchase item and receive the associated real-time media or information about the source of the item.

It should be clear that the sorts of information transmitted to the prospective purchaser in the contemplated processes differ radically from the usual product information presented to the prospective purchaser. Such usual product information can almost always fall within the broad categories of price, features, and benefits, with some information amounting to warnings, cautions, and instructions as to proper use (or consumption) and potential misuses specific to the end use of the product. Here, the multi-media information focuses almost entirely on extrinsic, source, social and environmental impact related to the creation or production of the product. Currently, most retail environments are almost entirely focused on the price, feature, and benefit information transmission, using print, posters, even video kiosks showing pre-recorded video loops of the use and operation, simplicity of use, and benefits of the product or service. Deployment of the disclosed systems will empower the consumer to look behind the retail story to better understand the full societal and environmental consequences of the contemplated purchase and/or donation. While much has been said about how the purchaser interacts with the displays as in Figure 1 and the computer terminal in Figures 2 through 4, it is expected that the retail stores employees, such as the cashiers and baristas in coffee shops, will become personally involved in the people and projects promoted by the system, thus enriching their working lives with a better sense of context and purpose.

As used herein, "real-time" refers to the step of providing producer information that is relatively contemporaneous with the consumer purchase process where the donation is being facilitated. As such, the term real-time contemplates instantaneously providing information and feed-back, or at least as instantaneous as currently provided by telecommunications systems, allowing for normal lag-time for data transfer, delays inherent in satellite uplinks, and prioritization of current packet switching protocols. Real-time here also anticipates lag times of up to a few to several hours, more specifically 5 to 24 hours, but ideally no more than about 18 hours. For practical purposes, such lag times in the "real-time" linkage permits differences in time zones, and the time necessary to dispatch a courier to travel to a remote village to photograph or report on the people and projects associated with the commodity/purchase/donation process at the retail store.

Also, in its simplest form, the token could be included in the register receipt. Website information about the organization facilitating the supplier information with the product purchased, and/or on-sight authentication could also be printed on the receipt.

Specifically contemplated herein are likely technical advances in consumer electronics and advances in retail automation. For example, current cell phones and the like portable devices will work nicely to link the potential purchaser with third party sponsored and authenticated product source information. Such devices have digital cameras that may be able to accurately record and transmit the bar -code on a product or packaging. Cell phones may soon include RFID readers. If so, the potential purchaser will have an even more convenient and rich source of product information that could be used to address the real-time multi-media information available from the system shown in Figure 4.

Of course the above is only a detailed description of examples of the inventions set forth the claims that follow.

Claims

Claims

1. A method of soliciting charitable donations by displaying real-time information about the source of a product offered for purchase at a point of purchase for the product.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 further including providing digital photographic images of a project or people associated with the source of the product on a display at the point of sale.

3. The method as set forth in claim 2 wherein the photographic images were created within no more than twenty-four hours of providing those images on the display.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1 further including displaying the real-time information to a prospective purchaser of the product, and providing a token to the prospective purchaser if the purchaser makes a donation to a project associated with the source of the product.

5. The method as set forth in claim 4 wherein the donation is an amount at least equal to change normally be due to the purchaser being equal to the amount tendered by the purchaser less the cost of the product when purchased.

6. The method as set forth in claim 1 further including the step of permitting a prospective purchaser of the product to modify the information displayed.

7. The method as set forth in claim 6 wherein the step of permitting a prospective purchaser to modify the information displayed includes the step of permitting the prospective purchaser to scan a barcode associated with the product.

8. A computer monitor for real-time display in a retail store or the like of information associated with the source of a product or major ingredient of a product for sale at the point of purchase comprising a case made of a hollow concrete block having one or more hollow cores, and plates attached to the concrete block substantially closing the hollow cores.

9. A system for providing real-time information in the form of multi-media about the source of a product in a retail environment comprising, a geographically remote source of the multi-media, a data link connecting the source with the consumer, the data link including a display controllable by a prospective purchaser of the product, and a device operated by the prospective purchaser for inputting information about the product to the data link whereby the display provides the information to the prospective purchaser, whereby the prospective purchaser may use the information prior to making a transaction associated with the product.