WO2008139432A2 - Accelerated b2c e-commerce sales maximization through decoupled online (website) and offline (desktop shopping catalogue) that offers sales discounts - Google Patents

Abstract

A E-Commerce System that uses a unique Software enabled process methodology that helps Maximizing E-Commerce Profits by generating sales out of customers who are otherwise less probable of making a purchase online, by taking the buying experience offline in the form of a Desktop Shopping Catalogue that offers Products at Discounted Prices and induces customers to opt-in for the Special offer which creates an opportunity for permission e-mail marketing with these opt-in customers.

Description

Description

Accelerated B2C E-Commerce Sales Maximization through

Decoupled Online (Website) and Offline (Desktop Shopping

Catalogue) that offer Sales Discounts

[1] CLAIM OF PRIORITY

[2] This application claims the priority benefits of India Provisional Patent Application no. 924 / MUM / 2007, filed with Govt. of India, Patent Office Mumbai on April 19, 2007 and entitled 'B2C E-Commerce Sales Maximization through Decoupled Online (Product Inventory) and offline Downloadable Shopping Catalogue'

[3] DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

[4] Field of Invention:

[5] The invention pertains to the field of E-Commerce in the B2C (Business to

Consumer) category or in other words Selling Products directly to end Consumers through the Internet

[6] Background of the invention:

[7] e-Commerce, as a process of letting customers buy on the Internet is gaining popularity at an exponential pace. However, for many categories, customers still feel that the real world shopping experience is a surer way to buy the right things. E- commerce, as a result has only be able to succeed in categories where the convenience factor of buying online becomes valuable to the customer. Or if there is a low price advantage in buying a product online.

[8] Some handicaps with existing e-commerce processes:

[9] 1. Customers find it boring and time consuming to browse products online.

2. E-Commerce ventures, unlike physical world shops donot find itself in the way of walk in traffic as the internet destinations (URLs) are not visible on the internet unless it is advertised. E-commerce ventures hence find it very expensive to get interested customers to their website and make them buy the products being sold. Since the cost of marketing is high, it adds to the cost of the product. This in turn means that the e-Commerce service provider cannot offer the product at a lower price, to induce the customer to buy it.

3. For many categories, customers don't see a clear benefit in buying a product online, due to the limitations of not being able to choose the right product without physically seeing it like it is possible in a real world shop. However if a product is available online at a price that is much lower that what it costs in a retail store, then the customer perhaps would be interested in buying it.

[10] In the years to come the growth of e-commerce and its acceptability by customers for more and more categories will hence depend on the ability of an E-Commerce venture to offer a product at a 'lower price' and / or with a 'better convenience' in buying to the customer.

[11] The proposed invention proposes a methodology that results in helping E-commerce owners increase their Sales by being able to offer a superior value proposition to the Customer in terms of a 'convenience in the online shopping process' and a 'better price deal' to the customer

[12] Summary of the invention:

[13] The proposed Invention is an E-Commerce Solution that uses a unique Software enabled process and methodology that helps Maximize E-Commerce Profits by generating sales out of customers who are otherwise less probable of making a purchase online.

[14] The process involves making available the Online Products on the E-Commerce website available in a downloadable form as an offline software that serves as a Desktop Product Shopping Catalogue.

[15] This Downloaded Desktop Product Shopping Catalogue (software) offers the same products that are online, but if purchased through the Desktop Shopping Catalogue Software, the same products would be available to the customer at a discounted price.

[16] This naturally leads to all customers visiting the site to opt- in to download the Free

Desktop Shopping Catalogue from the website. And in the process the Server Side software, will require the visitor to leave behind his e-mail id with opt- in permission to receive e-mail marketing communications.

[17] This creates a sales opportunity for the Brand Marketer with every prospective customer visiting the online website - who otherwise was not interested in making a purchase online and would have left the website. A visitor who has leave the website cannot then be contacted for a second chance by the marketer to sell his products to them.

[18] The Downloaded Electronic Shopping Catalogue Software makes all the online products available for browsing offline. This offers a great convenience to the Customer to be able to browse the products from his desktop at any convenient time without having to visit the online E-Commerce website.

[19] All products in the Desktop Shopping Catalogue are programmatically linked to the corresponding products on the online e-commerce website. This means that if the customer clicks on any product in the Desktop Shopping Catalogue, he will be taken directly to the check out page on the Online E-Commerce website from where he can purchase the product at the Special Discounted Price as specified in the Desktop Shopping Catalogue.

[20] In the Desktop Shopping catalogue, the Online Price (Website Price) of the product is mentioned and the Special Discount Price ( i.e. Desktop Shopping Catalogue Price) is also mentioned. There will be a 'Discount Offer Code' for each product as mentioned in the Shopping Catalogue.

[21] If a Customer needs to avail of the Special Discount offer on any Product, he can click on the productand get into the checkout page on the Online Website. He can then add the product to the shopping cart and claim the discount by providing the Discount Offer Code in the space provided.

[22] The system then validates the user's identity against his registration data and if he is a legitimate opt-in user in the online database who is authorized for the Discount offer, he will be validated to enjoy the offer.

[23] Customers who don't download the Shopping catalogue will not be allowed the special price discount on the products. This induces visitors on the site to become opt- in users of the Desktop Shopping Catalogue.

[24] As a result it helps build an opt-in e-mail database of Prospective Customers visiting the Website. Even visitors who don't purchase any product online become opt-in customers and the e-mail database of prospective customers will grow in size over a period of time.

[25] As these prospective customers have in them an opportunity for the brand to keep selling to them for a lifetime, it becomes a strategic reason for ongoing one-to-one e- mail marketing.

[26] Even if the visitors on the site don't buy online or even from the desktop shopping catalogue they may end up buying the brand from any of the regular retail outlets having been exposed to the e-mail advertisements of the latest products being launched by the brand from time to time.

[27] As a result of the potential value to the brand out of building an opt- in e-mail database, it makes good business sense for the marketer to spend higher budgets to advertise the E-commerce website to increase traffic.

[28] Even if the sales on the online site are minimal, it still builds value through potential e-mail marketing possibilities. This helps increase the ROI on all online marketing and traffic generation spends as the money spent may not result in immediate online sales, but it helps build a prospective customer database that can be used for e-mail marketing of special offers and other brand communications, which can lead to future repeat sales.

[29] This creates a strong reason for the Marketer (E-Commerce owner) to see viable business sense to increase their Advertising Spends and drive visitors to the website on the preposition of offering Special Price Discount Offers Exclusively for Online Customers, and there by getting a higher ROI on Marketing spends and Higher Profits from the E-Commerce Venture. [30] A full-fledged Permission based E-mail Marketing Engine helps in the process of one-to-one email marketing to prospective customers. This process involves a framework to create e-mail messages, broadcast mail, and do rigorous post campaign analysis to understand the effectiveness of each Campaign with a view to increase the impact and response to mass e-mail marketing.

[31]

[32] Detailed Description of the Invention:

[33] There is a Convention Enterprise E-commerce Back end Framework that will be used to manage the Conventional E-Commerce right from Product Management, Inventory Management, Online Sales through Credit Card Payment Gateway, Customer Management, to Order Processing and Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

[34] In addition to the Conventional E-Commerce Framework there will be special modules with uniquely developed algorithms that handle Product Management within the offline Desktop Shopping Catalogue, opt-in email database capture and management, Discount offer management and Permission E-mail Marketing.

[35] The Administration can assign multiple users with different levels of privileges with in the system to take care of specifically assigned tasks pertaining to managing the E- commerce Enterprise (For Eg. Product Management, Inventory Management, Post Order Processing, or Promotions)

[36] Product Module:

[37] The System user will be able to Add Products to the Back End Product Database and manage the same under Categories, Sub Categories. The System Administrator will be able to Add Products into the system database under the various Subcategories

[38] • Add Product Title

• Add Product Description

• Add Thumbnail Image

• Add Blow up Image 1

• Add Blow up Image 2

• Add Design Options Available (will be different for different categories / sub- categories)

• Add Size Options Available (will be different for different categories / sub- categories)

• Add Color Options Available (will be different for different categories / sub- categories)

• Add Price (Variable price for variable SKU or (Stock Taking Units) Add Related Products (Up to 4)

• Add Weight (Shipping Price calculation meter based on Weight & Volume)

• Add Volume [39] The System will have the functionality to:

[40] Add New Products

[41] Change / Edit the following details of the Product:

[42] • Edit Product Title

• Edit Product Description

• Edit Thumbnail Image

• Edit Blow up Image 1

• Edit Blow up Image 2

• Edit / Add Design Options

• Edit / Add New Size Options

• Edit / Add New Color Options

• Edit Price

Edit / Add New Related Products (Up to 4) [43] INVENTORY MANAGEMENT MODULE

[44] Once Products are added to the Product Database, it is possible to Manage Product

Inventory through the Inventory Management Module by the assigned Personnel who has the access privileges to do it.

[45] For every Product there will be multiple items.

[46] An item is defined as a specific SKU of the product in a certain Size option and a

Color Option.

[47] For each item the System will store a value called the Inventory Value'.

[48] For each item the System will store a value called the 'Alert Threshold Value'.

[49] The Alert Threshold is the value at which the Inventory Manager will receive an

Alert that the Item is low on Stock and more of the same has to be sent for production request. [50] If an item goes out of Stock it will automatically disappear from the Shop on the

Front End so that the Customer will not be able to view it. [51] This functionality will reduce inconvenience caused to the customer who places an order for it and at the time of check out he is told that the Product is out of Stock. [52] SPECIAL DISCOUNT OFFERS - DESKTOP SHOPPING CATALOGUE

[53] The Special Offers Desktop Shopping Catalogue is designed to give Discount offers to Customers on Selected Products. However the System will be capable of offering

Discount price on all Products in the System if required. [54] The choice remains with the Offer Manager (Administrator) to decide which products he wants to put up for the special offer and how much Price discount he wants to offer. [55] For every Product in the Online Inventory the Offer Manager can decide the Products for which the Special offer will be valid. [56] For all such products for which the special offer will be valid, the Offer Manager will have to assign: [57] • Add Special Discount Offer Price

• Discount offer Redemption code (will be generated by the system)

[58] The System then generates the Desktop Shopping Catalogue as a Downloadable

Component.

[59] If a Customer has downloaded a previous Desktop Shopping Catalogue and New

Products are added for Discount offer (or Old Products with Discount Offers are no longer available) the Customer will be informed at the time of redemption of the Discount offer to Download the Latest Shopping Catalogue to avail of the latest offers. [60] OPT-IN CUSTOMERS - SUBSCRIBERS OF DESKTOP SHOPPING

CATALOGUE

[61] • All visitors on the website who have downloaded the Desktop shopping

Catalogue will be part of the opt-in Customer Database. The opt- in permissions of all these customers to receive e-mail marketing messages will be maintained by the system on its online server database. [62] • A customer who has subscribed for the Special offers Desktop Shopping

Catalogue will receive special offers e-mail marketing messages from the E- Mail Marketing system. As all these customers are opt-in customers, all e- mail communication send to such subscribers are strictly based on a permission based e-mail marketing process

[63] • As per the Anti Spam Guideline, a customer has the choice to unsubscribe from the e-mail messages being sent to him. However at the time of unsubscribing the Customer will be told that by unsubscribing he will no longer be eligible for the Special Discount offers on products purchased through the Desktop Shopping Catalogue. [64] CUSTOMER MODULE:

[65] This module maintains records of all registered customer within the system on the

Online Shop. [66] These are customers who may or may not have purchased products online, but have nevertheless Registered for the purpose of conducting an online purchase. [67] View Customer Records:

[68] The System Manager will be able to View details of all

[69] 1. Registered Customer for the E-commerce Service.

2. Customers who have Downloaded Special Offer Shopping Catalogue

[70] Retrieve Password:

[71] If a registered customer has lost changed his e-mail id and cannot access his account, the Admin will be able to change his e-mail id and password after retrieving his password. [72] View Customer Sales History:

[73] Administrator will be able to view reports on Customer Sales Details based on various search parameters [74] View Customer's MY FAVOURITE LIST:

[75] Customer will have the functionality on the front end to Add Products he likes to his

My Favorite List.

[76] The Admin will be able to view Customer's My Favorite List from the back end

[77] ORDER PROCESSING:

[78] Once a customer places an order through the website, the Administration team will have to execute the order through a process called Post Order Processing.

[79] The Order Processing Module helps the Administration team to handle Orders efficiently and offer effective Customer Support to such customers.

[80] All orders in the system will exist / pass through the following 5 stages:

[81] 1. Pending

2. Purchased

3. Dispatched

4. Closed

5. Cancelled [82] 1. Pending:

[83] When a registered Customer browses products on the website and adds it to his shopping cart [84] it means that he is interested in placing an order. However sometimes customers exit before making the payment. In cases the customer was genuinely wanting to place an order but couldn't make the payment because of problems with his credit card or with the Payment Gateway, then all such orders get recorded under a status called

'PENDING' [85] If required the Admin can get in touch with such customers through e-mail to resolve issues and help him complete the purchase. [86] 1. Purchased

[87] When a Customer successfully makes a payment the order goes into a status called

'PURCHASED'. [88] On an everyday basis the administrator gets alerts in the system of all PURCHASE

ORDERS or 'PO'. A PO statement is generated by the system for every order which has all the details of the Customer's order including: [89] 1. Order No

2. Thumbnail image of Product ordered

3. Product Title 4. Short Description

5. Color required

6. Size required and

7. Price + Shipping Price [90] The Statement will also have:

1. Customers name

2. Contact Phone Number and

3. Delivery Address for dispatch.

[91] It is then the responsibility of the Administrator to take care of all the 'POs'.

[92] He will have to get the ordered items from the Inventory / Merchandise dept and pack the items, puts the customer's delivery address on the pack and pass the pack to the dispatch dept.

[93] 1. Dispatched

[94] After the Order is sent to the Dispatch dept, the Admin will have to change the status of the Order to 'DISPATCHED' status.

[95] When an Order is moved to DISPATCH status, the System will require the Administrator to fill in the following details:

[96] 1. Order No: (System generated)

2. Date of Dispatch: (Calendar)

3. Mode of Dispatch (Name of Courier Company):

4. Estimated days for Deliver to Customer* : (Drop down value)

5. Courier Consignment Number

6. Courier Company Contact details : Phone Numbers , E-mail, Website URL (incase Consignment tracking facility is available)

[97] Admin will receive an alert based on Estimated Days for Deliver, so that the Admin can call and enquire with the customer is the consignment has arrived. [98] When an Order is moved to 'DISPATCHED' status, a Mail will be sent to the customer will all the above details. [99] 1. Closed

[100] On the day the Customer is supposed to receive the Consignment, the Admin personnel will have to call the customer, to confirm receipt of the order. If he has not received the order, he will have to look into the matter. [101] If the Customer has received the order, the Admin Personnel will have to take down the following details from the Customer:

1. Date of Receipt of the Consignment.

2. Customer Satisfaction with the Service (Dropdown Values)

3. Customer Satisfaction with the Product Ordered: (Dropdown Values)

4. Any Customer Comments (Verbatim response- Text Box) [102] After this the Admin Personnel can change the Status of an order to 'CLOSED'

[103] 1. Cancelled

[104] In case there are some orders such as test orders etc. which are never closed, then they can be changed to 'CANCELLED' status [105] SALES REPORTS MODULE

[106] This module can be accessed only by personnel with privilege access. [107] The Sales & Marketing team can get detailed Sales reports of all online orders. [108] These reports can be generated Month wise, Product Category Wise, and Sales Type

Wise (Regular / Promo)

[109] MAIL FORMAT MANAGEMENT MODULE

[110] In this module the Administrator can view all the Mail Formats that is sent to the [111] 1. Customer.

2. The Admin

[112] The Admin can edit these Mails messages formats from this module. [113] He can also send test mails by adding a mail id, just to view what the Message

Format looks like in a E-mail Form

[114] PERMISSION E-MAIL MARKETING MODULE [115] Opt-in E-mail Database Management: [116] Prevents Coagulation of database with junk / invalid e-mails and e-mail ids submitted in proxy without permission: All mails are fully validated before they get categorized into the Database. 100% Spam proof database collection process in compliance with US anti-Spam laws.

[117] Fully automated subscription and un-subscription management: [118] No need to worry about un-subscription or subscription management. The system ensures this is managed without any manual intervention when a respondent clicks on the un-subscribe link in a mail. Ensures that email messages are never sent accidentally to un-subscribed customers.

[119] Automatic Cleaning up of Mailing list based on hard/soft bounce: [120] The system's Backend system automatically cleans up your database to instantly update email addresses which have bounced back because the address no longer exists, or was rejected by the mail server.

[121] Double checking of un-subscription requests :

[122] Just in case, clicking on the un-subscribe link was done accidentally, the un- subscription process is confirmed on separate page, where it is expedited as a two step process. [123] At the time of un-subscription the customer is informed that once he un-subscribes he will no longer be eligible for the special offers through the e-Shopping Catalogue. [124] e-Mail Campaign Management: [125] Built-in WYSIWYG editor to create professional Messages:

[126] The powerful html editing tools help create professional looking campaigns. Once a campaign is designed, it can be created using tools to create the e-mail ad.

[ 127 ] Personalized Emails :

[128] The system helps send personalized e-mails with the names of the recipients picked up from the database.

[129] Email Preview and Test Mailing:

[130] The system enables the Administrator to view composed campaigns before broadcasting. Further fine-tuning in terms of modifications / design changes/ text editing etc. can be done. Once the campaign is ready, the Administrator can also test mail it to see what it looks like when received through e-mail. This ensures that there are no errors after launching the entire campaign.

[131] Broad Cast Mailing:

[132] Sort and Shortlist mailing database:

[133] The Administrator can use the Mail Management's sorting feature to parametrically select a database of e-mails to whom the campaign needs to be sent.

[134] Save Selection:

[135] If required for future usage, every selection can be saved and retrieved later.

[136] Hassle free broadcasting:

[137] No monitoring required during Broadcast of large sized database. System can send mails on a continuous basis from start to finish.

[138] Post Campaign Analysis:

[139] Fully Measurable Results :

[140] The statistical reporting features gives the marketer comprehensive data to evaluate the success of every campaign. What's more, it also provides the necessary intelligence to better strategic communications and improved ROI based on past campaigns analysis.

[141] Cross Application and Cross Campaign Analysis :

[142] Based on responses, the Marketer can arrive at strategic decisions on efficacy across a variety of online marketing applications including Newsletters, Alerts and Reminders, Promotional Strategy, Contests and Sweep Stakes, Discounts, Survey and CRM.

[143] Campaign Reports :

[144] The system generates reports of statistics including total mails sent, number of mails received and bounced mails. This includes hard bounces (E-mail addresses which do not exist) and soft bounces (e-mails that get rejected / returned from the recipient mail server)

[145] Tracks and Reports email open rates and successful click-throughs : For every campaign, the e-mail open rate is reported. Further to gauge response the successful click through rate is also recorded.

Claims

Claims

[1] I claim,

[I] A process ofe-commerce sales maximization through decoupled online Product Inventory and offline Downloadable Shopping Catalogue wherein the customer intending to buy products download shopping catalogue which offers products to customers at discounted price.

[2] A process of e-commerce as said in claim 1 offering same products available online, but at a discounted price when purchased through the desktop shopping catalogue software.

[3] A process of e-commerce as said in claim 1, that helps maximizing e- commerce profits by generating sales out of customers who are otherwise less probable of making a purchase online.

[4] A process of e-commerce as said in claim 1, wherein the system administrator adding products available and product details to the system database, deciding special offer for the products and updating offers available. [5] A process of making available all the Online Products on the E-Commerce website as said in claim 1 in the form of a downloadable Desktop Product Shopping Catalogue allowing the customer browse the same products on the online website, right from the convenience of his desktop without having to be connected to the Internet.

[6] A process within the server side software in capturing e-mail id of customers with opt-in permission to send them e-mails marketing communications. [7] A process of creating a sales opportunity with every prospective customer visiting the online website who otherwise was not interested in making a purchase and would have left the website without any means to be contacted for a second chance for the marketer to sell his products to them. [8] A process of being able to purchase products in the Desktop Shopping Catalogue at a discounted price wherein the customer just has to click on a product he is interested in from the Desktop Shopping Catalogue and he will be taken directly to the Check out page on the Online E-Commerce website from where he can purchase the product at the 'Special Discounted Price' as offered in the Desktop Shopping Catalogue.

[9] A process of using Discount offer code wherein the systemvalidates every user's registration and only if he is a legitimate 'opt- in' user in the online database who is authorized for the Discount offer, otherwise he will be disqualified for the Special Discount offer [10] A process where customers who don't download the shopping catalogue will not be allowed the special price discount on the products. [H] A process of inducing customers to opt-in for the Special offers desktop shopping catalogue.

[12] A process of build an opt-in e-mail database of prospective customers visiting the Website even if the visitors does not purchase any product online. [13] A process of building a potential value to the brand out of building an opt-in e-mail database and therefore it makes good business sense for the marketer to spend a lot of money to advertise the E-commerce website to increase traffic. [14] A basis where investments made in driving traffic to the website or in e-mail marketing to the database of opt-in customers will get a higher Return on Investments (ROI) as they lead to a situation that these customers buy the brand from any of the regular retail outlets having been exposed to the e-mail advertisements of the latest products being launched by the brand from time to time. [15] A basis of conducts effective Permission based E-mail Marketing that helps in the process of one-to-one email marketing to prospective customers, thereby increasing brand awareness leading to Sales