Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure are generally related to the field of catalogue management, and more particularly to a method and system for providing a dynamic catalogue to a customer.
BACKGROUND
[0002] In a dynamic business landscape, the evaluation of commercial offers is significant for revenue generation and the success of a business. Commercial offers may refer to promotional deals or discounts provided by businesses such as telecommunication service operators to attract customers and encourage purchases of products offered by the telecommunication service operators. For example, the commercial offers provided by telecommunication service operators may be in one of the following forms, but are not limited to:
• Bundled services package in which multiple services such as internet, phone, and television may be offered in combination at a discounted price;
• Data plans with a variety of options such as limited data usage, unlimited data, or data rollover;
• Data subsidies, where customers purchase devices such as mobile phones or tablets at a discounted price when signing up for a long-term plan or specific plan. Such offers provide two-fold benefits where customers are able to afford the latest devices while ensuring loyalty to the telecommunication service operator;
• Roaming packages are offered to customers who travel frequently to provide voice, SMS, and data services at discounted prices when mobile devices are used in a different country or region;
• Family packages offered to allow multiple family members to share a single account and enjoy discounted rates for voice, text, and data services; and
• Loyalty programs that reward customers for their continued engagement and usage. Such rewards may include discounts on services, preferential customer support, priority access to new features, or exclusive deals.
[0003] Irrespective of the nature of a business, commercial offers are closely related to evolving business circumstances as they provide a flexible and adaptable approach to meeting customer needs and staying competitive in the market. The customer’s needs and other information associated with an individual customer may be obtained from a corresponding customer profile or customer account. The customer profile refers to a comprehensive collection of information and data about an individual customer. Such information may include details such as location, associated devices, preferences, purchase history, current contents in a corresponding shopping cart, and interactions with an e-commerce platform provided by the business. The customer profile helps businesses understand the needs of associated customers better and tailor the products or services to meet such customer needs.
[0004] By regularly reviewing and updating commercial offers, businesses may respond to changing market conditions, adjust pricing strategies, and enhance customer engagement. Such moves help businesses address shifting customer preferences, market trends, and economic conditions, ensuring that the commercial offers provided by them are relevant and appealing to the customers.
[0005] However, there are scenarios when a customer finds a commercial offer irrelevant. In an exemplary scenario, one or more prepaid voice and data plans may be offered to a customer with a fixed preference for using postpaid plans. In such a scenario, the customer would not only find the offers irrelevant but the likelihood of the customer rejecting or not accepting the offer would be high. Thus, it is essential to evaluate commercial offers before offering them to customers.
[0006] Existing techniques for evaluating commercial offers in dynamic catalogue settings rely on manual intervention where human operators manually review and assess commercial offers based on certain criteria. However, the manual intervention approach is time-consuming, prone to errors, and lacks scalability, especially in scenarios with a large number of offers or dynamic changes.
[0007] To reduce the manual intervention, rule-based systems are introduced. The rule-based systems involve defining a set of rule expressions that dictate the evaluation process. While rule-based systems provide some level of automation, such systems are often rigid and lack the flexibility to adapt to changing conditions. Further, modifying or updating rules still requires manual intervention and may lead to delays in incorporating new or modified rules.
[0008] The existing techniques for evaluating commercial offers in dynamic catalogue settings lack the agility and flexibility required for adjusting and responding to evolving business circumstances. Various limitations in the existing techniques are discussed below.
[0009] Operational inefficiencies may also arise from ineffective evaluation of commercial offers. If a business does not have a streamlined mechanism for evaluating commercial offers, it may lead to resource-intensive manual processes or reliance on outdated technologies. This may result in wasted time, money, and effort of human resources at the telecommunication service operator side.
[0010] Another consequence of inadequate commercial offer evaluation is the lack of valuable insights. Analyzing data and trends from the commercial offer evaluation may provide valuable information for future decision-making and strategic planning. Without accurate and comprehensive evaluation, businesses may miss out on such insights, hindering the ability of businesses (such as telecommunication service operators) to make informed and data-driven decisions.
[0011] Further, the complexity of evaluating commercial offers in a rapidly changing business landscape lacks the agility and flexibility to adapt to evolving scenarios, leading to inefficient decision-making processes and potentially missing out on tailored opportunities. Furthermore, the an absence of a streamlined mechanism to handle intricate rule expressions that govern the acceptance or rejection of commercial offers.
[0012] Moreover, the real-time nature of ever-evolving business circumstances demands quick responses to changing contexts. The inability to adapt swiftly to changes in customer profile, and customer preferences such as contents in a shopping cart, and shift in service location characteristics may result in missed opportunities or inadequate responses to customer needs. Such inability may result not only in poor customer satisfaction but may also impact revenue generation.
[0013] Further, inefficient and inflexible commercial offer evaluation has wide-ranging negative consequences for businesses. It may lead to missed revenue opportunities, as the inability to swiftly and accurately evaluate offers may result in the loss of potential sales. Poor customer experiences may arise when customers are presented with irrelevant or poorly suited offers due to ineffective evaluation methods.
[0014] Over time, businesses that struggle with commercial offer evaluation may experience reduced competitiveness in the market. In a rapidly changing business environment, the ability to quickly adapt and respond to customer demands is critical. Inefficient evaluation methods hinder a business's ability to stay ahead of competitors and meet evolving customer needs.
[0015] In the long term, the impacts of inefficient and inflexible commercial offer evaluation may have serious repercussions. It may lead to declining market share as customers seek out businesses that may provide more personalized and relevant offers. Financial instability may also arise as revenue is impacted by missed opportunities and decreased customer satisfaction.
[0016] Accordingly, there lies a need to address the inefficiencies and inflexibility in commercial offer evaluation to ensure business success and adaptability in a dynamic market landscape.
SUMMARY
[0017] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts, in a simplified format, that are further described in the detailed description of the invention. This summary is neither intended to identify essential inventive concepts of the invention nor is it intended for determining the scope of the invention.
[0018] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for providing a dynamic catalogue to a customer is disclosed herein. The method includes obtaining a product catalogue comprising a plurality of products and corresponding plurality of listings. Further, the method includes obtaining a set of predefined rules indicative of one or more conditions for selecting at least one product among the plurality of products and at least one listing corresponding to the selected at least one product. Furthermore, the method includes creating a set of ahead-of-time (AHT) rules based on compiling of the set of predefined rules. The method includes generating a dynamic catalogue based on a correlation of the set of AHT rules and contextual information associated with the customer. Moreover, the method includes providing the dynamic catalogue, upon receiving a customer request such that the customer receives a subset of the plurality of products and the at least one corresponding listing.
[0019] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a system for providing dynamic catalogue to a customer is disclosed herein. The system comprises a memory, and at least one processor coupled with the memory. The at least one processor is configured to obtain a product catalogue comprising a plurality of products and corresponding plurality of listings. Further, the at least one processor is configured to obtain a set of predefined rules indicative of one or more conditions for selecting at least one product among the plurality of products and at least one listing corresponding to the selected at least one product. Further, the at least one processor is configured to create a set of ahead of time (AHT) rules based on compiling of the set of predefined rules. Based on a correlation of the set of AHT rules and contextual information associated with the customer, the processor is configured to generate a dynamic catalogue. Moreover, the at least one processor is configured to provide the dynamic catalogue, upon receiving a customer request such that the customer receives a subset of the plurality of products and the at least one corresponding listing.
[0020] To further clarify the advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0021] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:
[0022] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram depicting an exemplary environment for implementing a system for providing a dynamic catalogue to a customer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0023] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram depicting a dynamic catalogue system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0024] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram for generating a rule engine, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0025] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram for a dynamic catalogue to the customer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0026] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram depicting a general flow of operations for providing the dynamic catalogue to the customer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
[0027] FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram depicting a general flow of operations for updating the rule engine, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0028] FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram depicting the method for providing a dynamic catalogue to the customer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0029] FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic diagram depicting an exemplary use case implementing the method, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
[0030] FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic diagram depicting an exemplary use case implementing the method, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0031] Further, skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and may not have necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the flow charts illustrate the method in terms of the most prominent steps involved to help to improve understanding of aspects of the present invention. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032] For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the various embodiments and specific language will be used to describe the same. It should be understood at the outset that although illustrative implementations of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated below, the present invention may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or in existence. The present disclosure is not necessarily limited to the illustrative implementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated below, including the exemplary design and implementation illustrated and described herein, but may be modified within the scope of the present disclosure
[0033] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are explanatory of the invention and are not intended to be restrictive thereof.
[0034] Reference throughout this specification to “an aspect”, “another aspect” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrase “in an embodiment”, “in another embodiment” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.
[0035] It is to be understood that as used herein, terms such as, “includes,” “comprises,” “has,” etc. are intended to mean that the one or more features or elements listed are within the element being defined, but the element is not necessarily limited to the listed features and elements, and that additional features and elements may be within the meaning of the element being defined. In contrast, terms such as, “consisting of” are intended to exclude features and elements that have not been listed.
[0036] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. Also, the various embodiments described herein are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as some embodiments may be combined with one or more other embodiments to form new embodiments. The term “or” as used herein, refers to a non-exclusive or unless otherwise indicated. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practised and to further enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
[0037] As is traditional in the field, embodiments may be described and illustrated in terms of blocks that carry out a described function or functions. These blocks, which may be referred to herein as units or modules or the like, are physically implemented by analog or digital circuits such as logic gates, integrated circuits, microprocessors, microcontrollers, memory circuits, passive electronic components, active electronic components, optical components, hardwired circuits, or the like, and may optionally be driven by firmware and software. The circuits may, for example, be embodied in one or more semiconductor chips, or on substrate supports such as printed circuit boards and the like. The circuits constituting a block may be implemented by dedicated hardware, by a processor (e.g., one or more programmed microprocessors and associated circuitry), or by a combination of dedicated hardware to perform some functions of the block and a processor to perform other functions of the block. Each block of the embodiments may be physically separated into two or more interacting and discrete blocks without departing from the scope of the invention. Likewise, the blocks of the embodiments may be physically combined into more complex blocks without departing from the scope of the invention.
[0038] The accompanying drawings are used to help easily understand various technical features and it should be understood that the embodiments presented herein are not limited by the accompanying drawings. As such, the present disclosure should be construed to extend to any alterations, equivalents, and substitutes in addition to those which are particularly set out in the accompanying drawings. Although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are generally only used to distinguish one element from another.
[0039] An object of the present disclosure is to enhance the customer experience by efficiently evaluating commercial offers to provide a tailored response in terms of context-aware commercial offers to individual customers, thereby increasing the likelihood of successful transactions and improved customer satisfaction.
[0040] The present disclosure focuses on addressing the challenges related to evaluating and determining the eligibility of commercial offers within dynamic catalogues. Therefore, another objective of the present disclosure is to improve the overall e-commerce experience and optimize the management of catalogues in dynamic environments.
[0041] The present disclosure achieves the above-described objective by providing a technique to generate a dynamic catalogue for a customer by integrating ahead-of-time compiled rules with dynamic catalogue ruling capabilities. Said techniques enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of evaluating commercial offers in the context of a catalogue.
[0042] In view of the above, described herein is a method and system for providing a dynamic catalogue to a customer. The described techniques leverage the advantages of ahead-of-time compiled rules and dynamic catalogue ruling, to provide the method and system that enables efficient and real-time evaluation of commercial offers.
[0043] The disclosed system and method for providing the dynamic catalogue to the customer are described below in the forthcoming paragraphs.
[0044] At first, various terms used throughout the description may be defined as follows:
[0045] Dynamic Catalogue: A dynamic catalogue refers to a collection of products, services, or offers that may change as items are added or removed, prices are updated, or new options become available. Thus, the dynamic catalogue is an up-to-date collection of options available to customers for browsing, selection, and purchasing.
[0046] Catalogue Ruling: Catalogue ruling involves the process of evaluating and determining the eligibility or suitability of commercial offers within a catalogue based on predefined rules, criteria, or conditions. Catalogue ruling ensures that suitable and appropriate offers are presented to customers based on factors such as their preferences, product attributes, pricing rules, and contextual information.
[0047] Rule Expression: Rule expressions refer to a set of logical conditions or criteria that determine the eligibility or validity of a commercial offer within a catalogue. It represents the rule-based logic that must be satisfied for a commercial offer to be considered applicable or qualified. Rule expressions may be created based on various factors, such as but not limited to customer preferences, product attributes, pricing constraints, or any other relevant criteria.
[0048] Ahead-of-Time Compilation: Ahead-of-time compilation refers to a process of optimizing and transforming the defined rule expressions into an efficient format before the actual runtime. It aims to enhance the performance and speed of evaluating commercial offers by converting the rule expressions into a pre-optimized representation, such as bytecode or optimized data structures.
[0049] Compiled Rules: Compiled rules are the result of the ahead-of-time compilation process. Compiled rules represent the transformed and optimized form of the rule expressions. The compiled rules are ready for efficient execution during runtime, thereby facilitating faster and streamlined evaluation of commercial offers.
[0050] Real-Time Decision-Making: Real-time decision-making refers to the ability to make prompt and timely decisions based on current, up-to-date information. In the context of the disclosed technique, real-time decision-making implies the capability of the system to evaluate commercial offers in real-time, considering dynamic factors and instantly making informed decisions based on the defined rule expressions and the contextual information available at the time of evaluation.
[0051] E-commerce: e-commerce refers to buying and selling products and/or services online. In the context of catalogue management, e-commerce may include continuous updation and personalization of product listings based on customer behaviour and market trends, alongside managing commercial offers like promotions and discounts. For example, in the telecommunication domain, e-commerce may be used by mobile service providers for dynamically updating online offerings based on user (i.e., customer) usage patterns and introducing limited-time promotions for product or service plans.
[0052] The system and method for providing the dynamic catalogue to the customer are described below in conjunction with FIGS. 1 through 9.
[0053] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram depicting an exemplary environment 100 for implementing a system for providing the dynamic catalogue to a customer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The environment 100 includes a customer 101 accessing an e-commerce server 109 provided by an e-commerce service provider on a user device 103 to request dynamic offers from a dynamic catalogue system 113. The customer 101 may access the e-commerce server 109 using a channel application 105. The channel application 105 may serve as an interface through which the customer 101 may interact with the dynamic catalogue system 113, thereby enabling seamless engagement and control. For example, channel application 105 may be installed on the user device such 103 as smartphone, tablet, laptop, or the like.
[0054] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the e-commerce server 109 may include a rule engine 111 and the dynamic catalogue system 113. The channel application 105 communicates with the rule engine 111 to obtain dynamic offers. The rule engine 111 may be coupled with the dynamic catalogue system 113 to obtain dynamic offers. For example, dynamic offers may correspond to personalized promotions, targeted discounts, real-time product recommendations, customized pricing based on user contextual information, and tailored marketing incentives.
[0055] In an example, the e-commerce service provider may be a telecommunication service operator. The telecommunication service operator may be understood as a company that provides telecommunication services such as, but not limited to voice, data, and television, to an individual, an organization, or other businesses.
[0056] The e-commerce platform provided by a telecommunication service operator may refer to an online platform that enables the telecommunication service operator to conduct electronic commerce activities, such as selling products, and services, and providing customer support online. Such an e-commerce platform may provide the necessary tools and infrastructure to set up and manage online stores, including features such as but not limited to product catalogue management, secure payment processing, order fulfilment, and customer support.
[0057] Implementing the e-commerce platform enables the telecommunication service operator to establish and grow online presence, enhance customer reach worldwide, implement online transaction operations, and streamline commercial offers evaluation.
[0058] The product catalogue management may refer to the process of creating, organizing, and maintaining a product catalogue. The product catalogue may correspond to a comprehensive inventory of a plurality of products including various products and services offered by the telecommunication service operator.
[0059] Various products and services provided by the telecommunication service operator may include, but are not limited to devices such as routers, mobile phones, landlines, voice calling plans, internet data plans, broadband services, cloud services, television services, and managed network services to help other businesses set up and manage their network infrastructure, including routers, switches, firewalls, and VPNs.
[0060] The user device 103 may be communicatively coupled with the e-commerce server 109 (alternatively referred to as ‘server 109’ for the sake of brevity) associated with the e-commerce platform provided by the e-commerce service operator over a network 107. The user device 103 may include, but is not limited to smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, smartwatches, and the like. The customer 101 may communicate with the server 105 using the user device 103, to access one or more context-aware commercial offers.
[0061] The one or more context-aware commercial offers refer to the commercial offers that are personalized and tailored to the specific needs and preferences of an individual customer (for example, the customer 101). In an example, say, the customer 101 shifts to a new geographic location and desires to set up a suitable network infrastructure. In such case, the customer 101 may communicate with the server 105 to buy one or more of the products and services such as a router, and a customized subscription plan including voice and data plans tailored to the context of the customer.
[0062] The server 109 may refer to a network infrastructure utilized by the e-commerce service operator to provide the products and/or services to the customers. The server 109 may be configured to implement the dynamic catalogue system 113 to provide a dynamic catalogue to the customer 101. The dynamic catalogue typically refers to an interactive and adaptable digital catalogue that may be updated in real-time. In an embodiment, the dynamic catalogue may be customized based on contextual information of the customer 101. In an embodiment, the dynamic catalogue may include a subset of the plurality of products in the product catalogue and corresponding one or more commercial offers.
[0063] The contextual information of the customer 101 may include one or more of geographic location of the customer 101, a time period, a list of installed bases, and serviceability. The list of installed base correspond to the existing or installed customer equipment, services, or infrastructure within a specific geographic location. The serviceability corresponds to the ability of the telecommunication service operator to deliver, and support provided services to a specific customer (i.e., the customer 101) at a specific geographic location.
[0064] In the example discussed above, the customer 101 may communicate with the server 109 to buy one or more of the products and services such as a router, and a customized subscription plan including voice and data plans tailored to the contextual information of the customer such as the new geographic location, the installed base of the customer 101, and serviceability of the telecommunication service operator at the new geographic location.
[0065] The dynamic catalogue system 113 residing in the server 109 may be configured to generate the dynamic catalogue based on a set of ahead-of-time (AHT) rules corresponding to a set of predefined rules stored in the rule engine 111. The set of predefined rules may correspond to one or more conditions for selecting at least one product from the product catalogue and provide relevant commercial offers corresponding to the at least one product based on internal business requirements. In one example, the internal business requirements may be defined via manual intervention. For example, a marketing executive may analyse current business requirements in view of current circumstances such as the customer’s geographic location, and upcoming or ongoing festive season at the geographic location. Based on the analysis of the current business requirements, the marketing executive may define the set of predefined rules.
[0066] The rule engine 111 may be understood as the component of the e-commerce server 109 that may serve as the core processing unit for executing rules and decision-making logic based on compiled rules.
[0067] In one example, when the current circumstances are determined to be an upcoming festive season, the marketing executive may define rules including one or more commercial offers corresponding to relevant products at the current geographic location. Such rules may be defined in view of the high likelihood of exchanging season greetings during the festive season.
[0068] After the set of predefined rules is defined, the dynamic catalogue system 109 may be configured to generate AHT rules corresponding to the set of predefined rules.
[0069] The set of AHT rules corresponds to the set of predefined rules compiled in advance. This may be referred to as AHT compilation. Consequently, in real time, when the dynamic catalogue is generated, the AHT rules may be executed and are not compiled, thereby eliminating the requirement to compile the set of predefined rules during runtime. Further, the dynamic catalogue system 109 may be configured to store and execute, in real time, the AHT rules based on contextual information of the customer 101.
[0070] In general, the AHT compilation is performed before the execution of the set of predefined rules. Further, the AHT compilation reduces execution time as there is no need for compilation during runtime. During AHT compilation, the set of predefined rules is compiled resulting in binaries. The resulting binaries are then executed in real time to generate the dynamic catalogue. In the example discussed above, the set of predefined rules is defined by the marketing executive in view of the likelihood of exchanging season greetings during the festive season. For example, one or more products such as voice and data plans at revised prices. Said rules may be compiled in advance resulting in AHT rules such that when the customer accesses or communicates with the server 105 to purchase a voice or a data plan, the AHT rules are executed to generate the dynamic catalogue in real time. The dynamic catalogue may then be provided to the customer 101.
[0071] The logic of the technique described in the present disclosure lies in the generation of the dynamic catalogue, by the dynamic catalogue system 113, to provide one or more context-aware commercial offers to the customer 101.
[0072] While the disclosed method and system are described in the context of a single user (i.e., customer 101), it is to be appreciated that said method and system may be utilized by a plurality of customers/users.
[0073] The network 107 may be configured to provide network connectivity and enable communication between the user device 103, and the server 105. The user device 103 may communicate with the server 105 over the network 107 via a communication port or interface or using a bus. The communication port or interface may be a part of a processor/controller or maybe a separate component in the user device 103. The communication port may be created in software or maybe a physical connection in hardware. The communication port may be configured to connect with a network, external media, the display, or any other components in a system, or combinations thereof. The connection with the network 107 may be a physical connection, such as a wired Ethernet connection, or may be established wirelessly. The network may alternatively be directly connected to the bus
[0074] The dynamic catalogue system 113 is described in greater detail below in conjunction with FIG. 2 and FIG. 3.
[0075] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram 200 depicting the dynamic catalogue system 113, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As depicted in FIG. 2, the dynamic catalogue system 113 includes a processor 201, a memory 203, a product catalogue and listing management 205, rule management 207, application programming gateway 209, a message broker 211, and storage 213. The storage 213 may further include a product catalogue and listing database 25 and a rule database 217. The term listing or product listing may be used interchangeably as ‘offers’ or ‘product offers’ hereinafter and refer to commercial offers associated with the listed plurality of products.
[0076] In an example, the at least one processor 201 may be a single processing unit or a number of units, all of which could include multiple computing units. The at least one processor 201 may be referred to as the processor 201 for the sake of brevity. The processor 201 may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, logical processors, virtual processors, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the processor 201 is configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions and data stored in the memory 203.
[0077] The memory 203 may include any non-transitory computer-readable medium known in the art including, for example, volatile memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or non-volatile memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM, flash memories, hard disks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes.
[0078] The product catalogue and listing management 205 component may be focused on the upkeep and administration of the product catalogue and related offers, in accordance with the dynamic ruling process. This involves maintaining accurate and up-to-date product listings, including descriptions, images, and pricing, as well as ensuring that various commercial offers such as discounts, promotions, and bundled deals are effectively managed and presented to customers in line with dynamic changes and trends. The function aims to provide a seamless and engaging shopping experience by continuously adapting the catalogue and offers to meet customer needs.
[0079] The rule management 207 may be configured to oversee the governance, creation, and storage of rules within the system 109, ensuring efficient management of processes associated with the rules.
[0080] The API gateway 209 may serve as an entry point that facilitates secure access to one or more microservices. It acts as a single point of entry for various channel applications to access multiple microservices, providing capabilities such as authentication, authorization, request processing, and routing.
[0081] The message broker 211 may be configured to serve as a communication intermediary that facilitates seamless interaction between different components of the system. 109 It ensures that information flows efficiently and is exchanged effectively between various modules
[0082] As an example, the storage 213 may be implemented with integrated hardware and software. The hardware may include a hardware disk controller with programmable search capabilities or a software system running on general-purpose hardware. The examples of the storage 213 are but are not limited to, in-memory databases, cloud databases, distributed databases, embedded databases, and the like. The storage 205, amongst other things, serves as a repository for storing data processed, received, and generated by one or more of the processors, and the modules/engines/units. The storage 213 may include a product catalogue and listing database 209 and a product listings database 211. The product catalogue and listing database 215 and rule database 217. The product catalogue and listing database may include products offered by the e-commerce service operator. The product catalogue and listings database 215 may also comprise the commercial offers corresponding to the products stored in the product catalogue database 213. Additionally, the storage 213 may include the rule database 217 for storing the set of predefined rules.
[0083] The system 109 may be communicatively coupled with the rule engine 111. The rule engine 111, amongst other things, includes routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., which perform particular tasks or implement data types. The rule engine 111 may also be implemented as, signal processor(s), state machine(s), logic circuitries, and/or any other device or component that manipulates signals based on operational instructions.
[0084] Further, the rule engine 111 can be implemented in hardware, instructions executed by a processing unit, or by a combination thereof. The processor 201 can comprise a computer, a processor, a state machine, a logic array, or any other suitable devices capable of processing instructions. The processing unit can be a general-purpose processor (e.g., the processor 201) which executes instructions to cause the general-purpose processor to perform the required tasks or, the processing unit can be dedicated to performing the required functions. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the rule engine 207 may be machine-readable instructions (software) which, when executed by the processor 201/processing unit, perform any of the described functionalities/methods, as discussed throughout the present disclosure.
[0085] In an embodiment, the rule engine 207 may be configured to generate the set of AHT rules 303 by compiling the set of predefined rules 301 in advance. The set of AHT rules 303 results in binaries 305 corresponding to the set of predefined rules using a container orchestration platform.
[0086] The container orchestration platform refers to a software tool that automates the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. For example, the container orchestration platform may include Docker Swarm, Kubernetes, and OpenShift. Such platforms provide features such as automated container deployment, service discovery, load balancing, and configuration management. Said features help the telecommunication service operators streamline the commercial offer evaluation process, improve customer experience, and reduce operational overhead.
[0087] Further, the rule engine 207 may be configured to execute the binaries 305 to generate a dynamic catalogue 307 based on the stored AHT rules 303. Therefore, the set of AHT rules 303 allows for fast and efficient decision-making in real-time product listing (i.e., commercial offers) availability and display, without a need for repetitive compilation of the set of predefined rules during each user request.
[0088] In an embodiment, the dynamic catalogue 307 may be generated by correlating the set of AHT rules 303 and contextual information associated with the customer 101. In an embodiment, the correlation between the set of AHT rules and the contextual information refers to a process of establishing a relationship or connection between the set of AHT rules and the contextual information. For example, when the contextual information associated with the customer 101 indicates the new geographic location, the AHT rules associated with the new geographic location would be determined and executed to generate the dynamic catalogue.
[0089] Consequently, when a customer request is received, the dynamic catalogue is provided such that the customer receives a subset of the plurality of products and at least one corresponding listing. Providing such a dynamic catalogue ensures that the product listings displayed to users are personalized, relevant, and based on their location and other contextual information.
[0090] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram for a rule engine, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0091] Initially, a back office application 301 and a rule editor 303 are used to create product entries, relevant commercial offers associated with the product, and a set of rules by human intervention. Each entry may include details such as the product name, description, pricing, and any associated promotional offers.
[0092] Thereafter, the entries may be utilized to create or update products and relevant commercial offers by a product catalogue and offer management services 305. The product catalogue and offer management services 305 are communicatively coupled with the product and listing database 215.
[0093] Further, a product and listing synchronizer 307 obtains the entries from the product catalogue and offers management services 305 from the message broker 211 facilitating a communication pathway for data exchange and other interactions.
[0094] The product and listing synchronizer 307 synchronizes data between the product catalogue and the associated offers based on messages consumed from the product catalogue and offer management services 305.
[0095] Furthermore, rule management services 307 facilitate rule-related operations such as creating, updating, and deleting, based on the rule-related inputs received from the rule editor and the back office application. The rule management services 307 aids in enhancing the efficiency of rule administration. The synchronized product catalogue and associated offers, and the rule-related input may be stored in the rule database 217. The rule database 217 may serve as a repository for the temporary storage of rules during processing.
[0096] Moreover, the rule generator compiler 311 may process and compile rules, thereby optimizing the rules for execution. The compiled rules may be stored in the rule repository 313 in the form of binaries. The rule repository 313 may be configured to securely store the compiled rules for efficient retrieval and execution.
[0097] The compiled rules binaries may then be deployed at the deployment step 315 to obtain the rule engine 111. The rule engine 111 then serves as the core processing unit for executing rules and decision-making logic based on the compiled rules.
[0098] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram 400 depicting for dynamic catalogue to the customer 101, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0099] In an alternate embodiment depicted in FIG. 4, the channel application 105 may be communicatively coupled with the API gateway 209 which may further be connected with a microservice cluster 401.
[00100] In an embodiment, the channel application 105 may communicate with the API gateway via a web-client, a third party application, or a programmatic client. The microservice cluster 401 is formed by a collection of product catalogue and offer management 205, message broker 211, rule management 207, and the rule engine 111. Since said components have been described above, the same is not repeated here for the sake of brevity. The purpose of collecting the above-mentioned components in a microservice cluster is to facilitate modular and scalable architecture.
[00101] The microservice cluster may be coupled with the storage 213 for hosting the product catalogue data, data related to product offers, and rule-related data within the system 109.
[00102] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram 500 depicting a general flow of operations for providing the dynamic catalogue to the customer 101, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[00103] At operation step 501, a request for obtaining dynamic offers may be received from the customer.
[00104] At operation step 503, in response to receiving the request for dynamic offers, contextual information associated with the customer is determined.
[00105] At operation step 505, a subset of products and offers are qualified in view of the determined contextual information associated with the customer.
[00106] At operation step 507, the qualified dynamic offers are provided to the user device and displayed on a user interface of the corresponding channel application.
[00107] FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram 600 depicting a general flow of operations for updating the rule engine 111, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[00108] In an embodiment, the rule engine 111 may be updated at every event corresponding to the creation or updation of rule expressions, or the addition or updation of product catalogues and product offers.
[00109] When rule expressions are created or updated, operation steps 601 through 605 are executed followed by operation steps 607 through 619.
[00110] Step 601 involves the creation or modification of rule expressions that define criteria and conditions for providing a dynamic catalogue.
[00111] Step 603 depicts defining the product catalogue and offers to which the rules, created or modified in the previous step, will be applied.
[00112] Step 605 depicts applying the rule expressions to the specified product catalogue and offers. The above-described series of steps are followed by execution of the rule generation compiler to process the rule expressions at step 607.
[00113] Step 613 depicts the compiling of the rules into binaries for optimized execution. Step 615 depicts the deploying of the compiled rule binaries to facilitate rule execution.
[00114] Step 617 depicts serving the dynamic offers request at the runtime by applying the compiled rule binaries. Finally, at step 619, contextual information (including customer interactions) of the customer is evaluated and responded to with qualified product offers.
[00115] In an embodiment, when the product catalogue and product offers are added or updated at step 609, a change event associated with the product catalogue and offers is received at step 611 followed by execution of the rule generation compiler to process the rule expressions at step 607.
[00116] FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram depicting the method 700 for providing dynamic catalogue to the customer 101, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 400 includes a series of operations 701 through 711 executed by one or more components of the dynamic catalogue system 109, in particular the processor 201.
[00117] At step 701, the processor 201 obtains a product catalogue comprising a plurality of products and a corresponding plurality of listings (i.e., commercial offers). In an embodiment, the product catalogue may be obtained from the product catalogue database 209. In an embodiment, the plurality of listings may be obtained from the product listings database 211.
[00118] At step 703, the processor 201 obtains a set of predefined rules indicative of one or more conditions for selecting at least one product among a plurality of products and at least one listing corresponding to selecting at least one product. In an embodiment, the set of predefined rules is generated using an application programming interface.
[00119] At step 705, the processor 201 creates the set of ahead of time (AHT) rules based on compiling of the set of predefined rules. In an embodiment, creating the set of AHT rules comprises creating binaries corresponding to the set of predefined rules using a container orchestration platform, and compiling the binaries to obtain the set of AHT rules.
[00120] At step 707, the processor 201 stores the set of AHT rules in rule engine 111.
[00121] At step 709, the processor 201 accesses the rule engine 111 for generating the dynamic catalogue307 based on the stored set of AHT rules. In an embodiment, the processor 201 generates the dynamic catalogue based on a correlation of the set of AHT rules and contextual information associated with the customer. In an embodiment, the contextual information includes one or more of, customer location, time-period, or device.
[00122] At step 711, the processor 201 provides the dynamic catalogue, upon receiving a customer request such that the customer receives a subset of the plurality of products and the at least one corresponding listing.
[00123] FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic diagram depicting an exemplary use case 800 implementing the method 700, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The rule engine 111 in the server 109 may have a set of predefined rules for providing subscription plans such as subscription plans P, X, Y, and Z, based on a customer location such as location A and location B. Additionally, the set of predefined rules may be defined based on other contextual information associated with the user, such as the content of a shopping cart associated with the e-commerce platform, time period, and the user device. In an exemplary embodiment, when customer 101 is present at location A, a dynamic catalogue 801A may be generated and provided. The dynamic catalogue 801A may be generated based on the set of AHT rules corresponding to the set of predefined rules. Alternatively, a dynamic catalogue 801B may be generated based on the set of AHT rules corresponding to the set of predefined rules when customer 101 is present at location B. According to such rules, subscription plans X, Y, and Z may be provided at location A, while subscription plans X, and P may be provided at location B.
[00124] FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic diagram depicting an exemplary use case 900 implementing the method 700, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The rule engine 111 in the server 109 may have a set of predefined rules 301 for providing 5th generation supported subscription plans such as subscription plans X, Y, and Z, and other subscription plan P that does not support 5th generation based on the installed base of the customer 101 location such as the user device 103 and a user device 901. For instance, the user device 103 may support 5th generation radio access technology while the user device 901 may not. In an exemplary embodiment, when the customer 101 uses the user device 103, a dynamic catalogue 307C may be generated and provided. The dynamic catalogue 903A may be generated based on the set of AHT rules corresponding to the set of predefined rules. Alternatively, a dynamic catalogue 903B may be generated based on the set of AHT rules corresponding to the set of predefined rules when the customer 101 uses the user device 901. According to such rules, subscription plans X, Y, and Z may be provided for the user device 103, while subscription plan P may be provided for the user device 901.
[00125] At least by virtue of the aforesaid, the present subject matter at least provides the following advantages:
[00126] The method described in the embodiments herein enables the generation of a dynamic catalogue comprising product listings aligned with the user's context. Further, the method described in the embodiments herein facilitates efficient and effective catalogue management through the utilization of ahead-of-time compiled rules.
[00127] The method described in the embodiments herein enables real-time decision-making by providing the ability to make prompt and timely decisions based on current information.
[00128] Moreover, the method described in the embodiments herein provides the capability to evaluate commercial offers in real-time, considering dynamic factors and instantly making informed decisions based on the defined rule expressions and the contextual information available at the time of evaluation.
[00129] Furthermore, the method described in the embodiments herein enables personalized marketing, improved customer services, and targeted sales efforts.
[00130] Overall, the method described in the embodiments herein enables the establishment of strong customer relationships and enhanced customer satisfaction.
[00131] While specific language has been used to describe the present subject matter, any limitations arising on account thereto, are not intended. As would be apparent to a person in the art, various working modifications may be made to the method in order to implement the inventive concept as taught herein. The drawings and the foregoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment.
, Claims:1. A method (700) for providing dynamic catalogue to a customer, the method comprising:
obtaining (701) a product catalogue comprising a plurality of products and corresponding plurality of listings;
obtaining (703) a set of predefined rules indicative of one or more conditions for selecting at least one product among the plurality of products and at least one listing corresponding to the selected at least one product;
creating (705) a set of ahead of time (AHT) rules based on compiling of the set of predefined rules;
generating (709) a dynamic catalogue based on a correlation of the set of AHT rules and contextual information associated with the customer; and
providing (711) the dynamic catalogue, upon receiving a customer request such that the customer receives a subset of the plurality of products and the at least one corresponding listing.
2. The method (700) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the set of predefined rules (301) are generated using an application programming interface.
3. The method (700) as claimed in claim 1, wherein creating the set of AHT rules comprises:
creating binaries corresponding to the set of predefined rules using a container orchestration platform; and
compiling the binaries to obtain the set of AHT rules.
4. The method (700) as claimed in claim 1, wherein contextual information includes one or more of, customer location, time-period, installed base, and serviceability.
5. The method (700) as claimed in claim 1, wherein prior to generating the dynamic catalogue, the method comprises:
storing the set of AHT rules in a rule engine (111); and
accessing the rule engine (111) for generating the dynamic catalogue based on the stored set of AHT rules.
6. A system (113) for providing dynamic catalogue to a customer, the method comprising:
a memory (203);
at least one processor (201) coupled with the memory (203), wherein the at least one processor (201) is configured to:
obtain a product catalogue comprising a plurality of products and corresponding plurality of listings;
obtain a set of predefined rules indicative of one or more conditions for selecting at least one product among the plurality of products and at least one listing corresponding to the selected at least one product;
create a set of AHT rules (303) based on compilation of the set of predefined rules;
generate a dynamic catalogue (based on a correlation of the set of AHT rules and contextual information associated with the customer; and
provide the dynamic catalogue, upon receiving a customer request such that the customer receives a subset of the plurality of products and the at least one corresponding listing.
7. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the set of predefined rules are generated using an application programming interface.
8. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein for compiling the set of AHT rules, the processor is configured to:
create binaries corresponding to the set of predefined rules using a container orchestration platform; and
compile the binaries to obtain the set of AHT rules.
9. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein contextual information includes one or more of, customer location, time-period, installed base, and serviceability.
10. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein prior to determine the dynamic catalogue, the processor is configured to:
store the set of AHT rules in a rule engine (111); and
access the rule engine (111) for generating the dynamic catalogue based on the stored set of AHT rules.