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AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorBinh Q. Nguyen
Estimating the term…
The unique session ID associated with a particular web session is presented to the website visitor in connection with an incentive for purchase of merchandise at an off-line store. The number can be recorded manually by the user, stored electronically, or can be presented in the form of a coupon which is printable on a printer attached to the computer or other device on which the user visits the website. To be eligible for the incentive, the user must present the session ID to personnel at the off-line store when completing the purchase. Once in possession of the session ID correlated to a particular purchase or purchases, the store/entity can use the session ID to review and analyze the operations performed and web pages visited during the session identified by the session ID, thereby giving the entity valuable information regarding what may have gone into the thought process of the user prior to making the purchase.
A method of correlating the obtaining of an item at an off-line location with an on-line search session leading to the obtaining of said item, comprising the steps of:
A method of analyzing the effectiveness of a website in inducing the purchase of items at an off-line location, comprising the steps of:
A system for analyzing the effectiveness of a website in inducing the purchase of items at an off-line location, comprising:
A computer program product for analyzing the effectiveness of a website in inducing the purchase of items at an off-line location, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable code embodied in the medium, the computer-readable program code comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Commerce: marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
Operations research, analysis or management: strategic management or analysis, e.g. setting a goal or target of an organisation; Planning actions…
Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising: discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
Electronic shopping [e-shopping]: by investigating goods or services
Term end not estimated
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of e-commerce. More particularly, this invention relates to the correlation of web browsing with purchase behavior so that the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of web content can be more easily evaluated.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the present invention in connection with a visit to the website of a fictional “click-and-mortar” store called “MyStore”;
FIG. 2 illustrates how the incentive can be displayed to the visitor on a computer monitor being utilized to access the website;
FIG. 3 illustrates the same incentive being displayed on a typical Personal Digital Assistant (PDA);
In accordance with the present invention, a website visitor's on-line session ID is captured as part of an incentive offered to the visitor to draw the potential customer into the offline store to complete the purchase. Each time a visitor visits a Web site, the Web server normally creates a session, identified by the session ID, to track the visitor's activity. This session is unique to that visitor by virtue of the assignment of the unique session ID for that session. When a visitor accesses a predetermined product research scenario (such as viewing product descriptions, comparing product features, or using a store locator), the Web site makes incentive offers in an attempt to persuade the visitor to purchase the product at an offline store owned or otherwise affiliated with the on-line “store”. The offers include the session ID as an integral part of the offer, i.e., the visitor must present the session ID at the store in some format to be able to redeem the offer.
Using this session ID, Web analytics applications, such as Web Sphere Site Analyzer by IBM, can correlate the off-line purchase to the exact on-line session that resulted in the consummation of the sale at the store, and analyze the session, making the evaluation of the visitor's Web experience much more simple and accurate.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the present invention in connection with a visit to the website of a fictional “click-and-mortar” store called “MyStore”. Referring to FIG. 1, at step 100 a visitor accesses the website of MyStore (e.g., MyStore.com) to browse the available on-line inventory and potentially make a purchase. As part of the entry process to the website, the website software establishes, in a well known manner, a session ID for the particular web session.