We claim:
1. A method for determining purchase intent of an anonymous shopper in a retail
store and providing assistance to said anonymous shopper in said retail store
based on said determined purchase intent, said method employing a purchase
intent determination and assistance management system (908) comprising at
least one processor (911 and 921) configured to execute computer program
instructions for performing said method comprising:
identifying (101) said anonymous shopper within a region of interest
configured for a section in said retail store, by said purchase intent
determination and assistance management system (908) using one or more
of a plurality of sensors (901 and 902) positioned at a plurality of sections
of said retail store;
receiving (102), by said purchase intent determination and assistance
management system (908), a plurality of images of said identified
anonymous shopper captured by said one or more of said sensors (901 and
902) positioned at said configured region of interest;
determining (103) shopper attributes of said identified anonymous shopper
from said received images by said purchase intent determination and
assistance management system (908);
generating (104) an event associated with said received images and said
determined shopper attributes by said purchase intent determination and
assistance management system (908) based on a configurable dwell time
threshold, wherein said configurable dwell time threshold is dynamically configured by said purchase intent determination and assistance
management system (908) based on iterative statistical inputs;
iteratively (105) ranking said identified anonymous shopper by said
purchase intent determination and assistance management system (908)
based on said generated event and section attributes of said configured
region of interest for determining said purchase intent of said identified
anonymous shopper to convert said identified anonymous shopper into a
potential buyer;
generating (106) and transmitting one or more alert notifications (1007)
with said determined shopper attributes, images that provide a physical
identification of said identified anonymous shopper, and said region of
interest to a communication device (903 or 905) of each of one or more of
a plurality of store assistants to provide said assistance to said identified
anonymous shopper by said purchase intent determination and assistance
management system (908) based on said iterative ranking of said identified
anonymous shopper and predetermined section criteria;
rendering (107) information on target items and offers on said target items
applicable to said identified anonymous shopper based on said determined
shopper attributes to said communication device (903 or 905) of one of
said store assistants on request, by said purchase intent determination and
assistance management system (908) on receiving an acceptance indication
from said one of said store assistants to provide said assistance to said
identified anonymous shopper; and
receiving (108) and storing feedback (1009) on a communication initiated
with said identified anonymous shopper from said communication device
(903 or 905) of said one of said store assistants by said purchase intent
determination and assistance management system (908) for said iterative ranking of said identified anonymous shopper in conjunction with
conversion data extracted from said feedback (1009) received from said
communication device (903 or 905) of said one of said store assistants of
said retail store.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said shopper attributes of said identified
anonymous shopper comprise dwell time, sections of dwell, an age range,
gender, prominent colour of a clothing worn by said identified anonymous
shopper, whether said identified anonymous shopper is accompanied by
another shopper, location, date, and time.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein said section attributes comprise time of day,
day of week, section value, store sales, offers, and shopper conversion
elements.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein said predetermined section criteria comprise
section value, type of said section, and number of available store assistants
assigned to said section.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein said iterative statistical inputs comprise time
of day, day of week, promotions in said configured region of interest,
temperature, and shopper demographics.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating regions of interest by said
purchase intent determination and assistance management system (908) based
on a mapping of images captured by said sensors (901 and 902) on a floor plan
for each of said sections of said retail store.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein said determination of said shopper attributes
comprising dwell time of said identified anonymous shopper from said received images by said purchase intent determination and assistance
management system (908) comprises:
extracting one or more objects from said received images by said purchase
intent determination and assistance management system (908);
determining one or more human objects from said extracted one or more
objects by said purchase intent determination and assistance management
system (908) based on predefined criteria;
determining persistence of said identified anonymous shopper from said
determined one or more human objects at said configured region of
interest by said purchase intent determination and assistance management
system (908); and
computing said dwell time of said identified anonymous shopper based on
said determined persistence by said purchase intent determination and
assistance management system (908) by calculating a duration of presence
of said identified anonymous shopper at said configured region of interest.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein said generation of said one or more alert
notifications (1007) by said purchase intent determination and assistance
management system (908) comprises calculating a number of alert
notifications (1007) to be transmitted to said communication device (903 or
905) of said each of said one or more of said store assistants based on a
percentage of time allocated and a number of available store assistants to assist
said identified anonymous shopper.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating and rendering a
consolidated view of said generated one or more alert notifications (1007) on a
graphical user interface (907a) provided by a manager application (907) deployable on a communication device (906) of a store manager, by said
purchase intent determination and assistance management system (908) for
assignment of said generated one or more alert notifications (1007) to said one
or more of said store assistants.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating one or more retail store
analytics reports (1013, 1014, 1015, and 1016) comprising said conversion
data, sales data, a number of said generated one or more alert notifications
(1007), and said section attributes of said configured region of interest by said
purchase intent determination and assistance management system (908) for
analyzing purchase intent of anonymous shoppers in said retail store over a
duration of time, and rendering said generated one or more retail store
analytics reports (1013, 1014, 1015, and 1016) on a graphical user interface
(907a) provided by a manager application (907) deployable on a
communication device (906) of a store manager by said purchase intent
determination and assistance management system (908).
11. A system (900) for determining purchase intent of an anonymous shopper in a
retail store and providing assistance to said anonymous shopper in said retail
store based on said determined purchase intent, said system (900) comprising:
a plurality of sensors (901 and 902) positioned at a plurality of sections of
said retail store for capturing a plurality of images of said anonymous
shopper;
a purchase intent determination and assistance management system (908)
in communication with said sensors (901 and 902) via a network (909),
said purchase intent determination and assistance management system
(908) comprising: at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium (912 and
922) for storing computer program instructions defined by modules of
said purchase intent determination and assistance management system
(908); and
at least one processor (911 and 921) communicatively coupled to said at
least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium for
executing said computer program instructions defined by said modules
of said purchase intent determination and assistance management
system (908), said modules of said purchase intent determination and
assistance management system (908) comprising:
an anonymous shopper identification module (912a) for identifying
said anonymous shopper within a region of interest configured for
a section in said retail store using one or more of said sensors (901
and 902) positioned at said sections of said retail store;
a data communication module (912b) for receiving a plurality of
images of said identified anonymous shopper captured by said one
or more of said sensors (901 and 902) positioned at said configured
region of interest;
a shopper attribute determination module (923) for determining
shopper attributes of said identified anonymous shopper from said
received images;
an event generation module (912d) for generating an event
associated with said received images and said determined shopper
attributes based on a configurable dwell time threshold, wherein
said configurable dwell time threshold is dynamically configured by a dwell time threshold computation module (924) based on
iterative statistical inputs;
a ranking module (925) for iteratively ranking said identified
anonymous shopper based on said generated event and section
attributes of said configured region of interest for determining said
purchase intent of said identified anonymous shopper to convert
said identified anonymous shopper into a potential buyer;
an alert notification module (912e) for generating and transmitting
one or more alert notifications (1007) with said determined shopper
attributes, images that provide a physical identification of said
identified anonymous shopper, and said region of interest to a
communication device (903 or 905) of each of one or more of a
plurality of store assistants to provide said assistance to said
identified anonymous shopper based on said iterative ranking of
said identified anonymous shopper and predetermined section
criteria;
said data communication module (912b) for rendering information
on target items and offers on said target items applicable to said
identified anonymous shopper based on said determined shopper
attributes to said communication device (903 or 905) of one of said
store assistants on request, on receiving an acceptance indication
from said one of said store assistants to provide said assistance to
said identified anonymous shopper; and
a feedback module (912f) for receiving and storing feedback
(1009) on a communication initiated with said identified
anonymous shopper from said communication device (903 or 905)
of said one of said store assistants for said iterative ranking of said identified anonymous shopper in conjunction with conversion data
extracted from said feedback (1009) received from said
communication device (903 or 905) of said one of said store
assistants of said retail store.
12. The system (900) of claim 11, wherein said shopper attributes of said
identified anonymous shopper comprise dwell time, sections of dwell, an age
range, gender, prominent colour of a clothing worn by said identified
anonymous shopper, whether said identified anonymous shopper is
accompanied by another shopper, location, date, and time.
13. The system (900) of claim 11, wherein said section attributes comprise time of
day, day of week, section value, store sales, offers, and shopper conversion
elements.
14. The system (900) of claim 11, wherein said predetermined section criteria
comprise section value, type of said section, and number of available store
assistants assigned to said section.
15. The system (900) of claim 11, wherein said iterative statistical inputs comprise
time of day, day of week, promotions in said configured region of interest,
temperature, and shopper demographics.
16. The system (900) of claim 11, wherein said modules of said purchase intent
determination and assistance management system (908) further comprise an
interest region creation module (912c) for creating regions of interest based on
a mapping of images captured by said sensors (901 and 902) on a floor plan
for each of said sections of said retail store.
17. The system (900) of claim 11, wherein said shopper attribute determination
module (923) comprises: an object extraction module (923a) for extracting one or more objects from
said received images;
a human object determination module (923b) for determining one or more
human objects from said extracted one or more objects based on
predefined criteria;
a persistence determination module (923c) for determining persistence of
said identified anonymous shopper from said determined one or more
human objects at said configured region of interest; and
a dwell time computation module (923d) for computing said dwell time of
said identified anonymous shopper based on said determined persistence
by calculating a duration of presence of said identified anonymous shopper
at said configured region of interest.
18. The system (900) of claim 11, wherein said alert notification module (912e)
calculates a number of alert notifications (1007) to be transmitted to said
communication device (903 or 905) of said each of said one or more of said
store assistants based on a percentage of time allocated and a number of
available store assistants to assist said identified anonymous shopper.
19. The system (900) of claim 11, wherein said alert notification module (912e)
generates and renders a consolidated view of said generated one or more alert
notifications (1007) on a graphical user interface (907a) provided by a
manager application (907) deployable on a communication device (906) of a
store manager for assignment of said generated one or more alert notifications
(1007) to said one or more of said store assistants.

20. The system (900) of claim 11, wherein said modules of said purchase intent
determination and assistance management system (908) further comprise a
report generation module (912g) for generating one or more retail store
analytics reports (1013, 1014, 1015, and 1016) comprising said conversion
data, sales data, a number of said generated one or more alert notifications
(1007), and said section attributes of said configured region of interest for
analyzing purchase intent of anonymous shoppers in said retail store over a
duration of time, and rendering said generated one or more retail store
analytics reports (1013, 1014, 1015, and 1016) on a graphical user interface
(907a) provided by a manager application (907) deployable on a
communication device (906) of a store manager.
21. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied
thereon, computer program codes comprising instructions executable by at
least one processor (911 and 921) for determining purchase intent of an
anonymous shopper in a retail store and providing assistance to said
anonymous shopper in said retail store based on said determined purchase
intent, said computer program codes comprising:
a first computer program code for identifying said anonymous shopper
within a region of interest configured for a section in said retail store using
one or more of a plurality of sensors (901 and 902) positioned at a plurality
of sections of said retail store;
a second computer program code for receiving a plurality of images of said
identified anonymous shopper captured by said one or more of said
sensors (901 and 902) positioned at said configured region of interest;
a third computer program code for determining shopper attributes of said
identified anonymous shopper from said received images, wherein said
shopper attributes comprise dwell time, sections of dwell, an age range, gender, prominent colour of a clothing worn by said identified anonymous
shopper, whether said identified anonymous shopper is accompanied by
another shopper, location, date, and time;
a fourth computer program code for generating an event associated with
said received images and said determined shopper attributes based on a
configurable dwell time threshold, wherein said configurable dwell time
threshold is dynamically configured based on iterative statistical inputs,
wherein said iterative statistical inputs comprise time of day, day of week,
promotions in said configured region of interest, temperature, and shopper
demographics;
a fifth computer program code for iteratively ranking said identified
anonymous shopper based on said generated event and section attributes of
said configured region of interest for determining said purchase intent of
said identified anonymous shopper to convert said identified anonymous
shopper into a potential buyer, wherein said section attributes comprise
time of day, day of week, section value, store sales, offers, and shopper
conversion elements;
a sixth computer program code for generating and transmitting one or
more alert notifications (1007) with said determined shopper attributes,
images that provide a physical identification of said identified anonymous
shopper, and said region of interest to a communication device (903 or
905) of each of one or more of a plurality of store assistants to provide said
assistance to said identified anonymous shopper based on said iterative
ranking of said identified anonymous shopper and predetermined section
criteria, wherein said predetermined section criteria comprise section
value, type of said section, and number of available store assistants
assigned to said section; a seventh computer program code for rendering information on target
items and offers on said target items applicable to said identified
anonymous shopper based on said determined shopper attributes to said
communication device (903 or 905) of one of said store assistants on
request, on receiving an acceptance indication from said one of said store
assistants to provide said assistance to said identified anonymous shopper;
and
an eighth computer program code for receiving and storing feedback
(1009) on a communication initiated with said identified anonymous
shopper from said communication device (903 or 905) of said one of said
store assistants for said iterative ranking of said identified anonymous
shopper in conjunction with conversion data extracted from said feedback
(1009) received from said communication device (903 or 905) of said one
of said store assistants of said retail store.
22. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein
said computer program codes further comprise a ninth computer program code
for creating regions of interest based on a mapping of images captured by said
sensors (901 and 902) on a floor plan for each of said sections of said retail
store.
23. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein
said third computer program code comprises:
a tenth computer program code for extracting one or more objects from
said received images;
an eleventh computer program code for determining one or more human
objects from said extracted one or more objects based on predefined
criteria; a twelfth computer program code for determining persistence of said
identified anonymous shopper from said determined one or more human
objects at said configured region of interest; and
a thirteenth computer program code for computing said dwell time of said
identified anonymous shopper based on said determined persistence by
calculating a duration of presence of said identified anonymous shopper at
said configured region of interest.
24. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein
said sixth computer program code comprises a fourteenth computer program
code for calculating a number of alert notifications (1007) to be transmitted to
said communication device (903 or 905) of said each of said one or more of
said store assistants based on a percentage of time allocated and a number of
available store assistants to assist said identified anonymous shopper.
25. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein
said sixth computer program code comprises a fifteenth computer program
code for generating and rendering a consolidated view of said generated one or
more alert notifications (1007) on a graphical user interface (907a) provided
by a manager application (907) deployable on a communication device (906)
of a store manager for assignment of said generated one or more alert
notifications (1007) to said one or more of said store assistants.
26. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein
said computer program codes further comprise a sixteenth computer program
code for generating one or more retail store analytics reports (1013, 1014,
1015, and 1016) comprising said conversion data, sales data, number of said
generated one or more alert notifications (1007), and said section attributes of
said configured region of interest for analyzing purchase intent of anonymous shoppers in said retail store over a duration of time, and rendering said
generated one or more retail store analytics reports (1013, 1014, 1015, and
1016) on a graphical user interface (907a) provided by a manager application
(907) deployable on a communication device (906) of a store manager.