System and method for providing cross-merchanidising incentives in specialty departments

Abstract

A system and method for providing incentives within a retail environment by selecting a cross-merchandising incentive to be provided with a product at a specialty department location and printing a coupon reflecting the defined cross-merchandising incentive on a label that is to be affixed to the product. The coupon is provided to a shopper at a point after the shopper has selected the specific product and before a point of sale.

1 . A system for providing an incentive in a retail store comprising: 
 selecting a cross-merchandising incentive to be provided with a product at a specialty department location;    printing a coupon reflecting the defined cross-merchandising incentive on a label that is to be affixed to the product; and    providing the coupon to a shopper at a point after the shopper has selected the specific product and before a point of sale.    
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the incentive is selected based on a consumer's product selection criteria implied by the consumer's selection of a particular specialty department.  
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the incentive is selected based on a consumer's product selection criteria implied by the consumer's selection of a particular package of product.  
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the incentive is selected based on a consumer's product selection criteria implied by the consumer's selection of a particular package of product.  
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the coupon is printed before customer has selected the specific product.  
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the coupon is provided on a label that is printed at a centralized packaging site.  
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the coupon is printed in-store.  
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the coupon is printed at the specialty department.  
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the coupon is printed using a printer coupled to equipment used to package the selected product.  
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the coupon is printed using a printer coupled to equipment used to weigh the selected product.  
     
     
         11 . A method for providing incentives comprising the acts of: 
 estimating a consumer desire from a product selection in a specialty department; and    providing a coupon based on the estimated consumer desire,    wherein the coupon is for a product different from the product selected in the specialty department.    
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein act of estimating consumer desires comprises estimating the consumer desire based on the type of specialty department from which the product is selected.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  wherein act of estimating consumer desires comprises estimating the consumer desire based on the type of product that is selected.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the act of providing a coupon comprises: 
 providing a plurality of coupons on a roll of product labels;  
 printing package-specific information on one of the product labels; and  
 affixing the coupon and product with package-specific information to a package containing the consumer's product selection.  
 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the act of providing a coupon is based upon supplemental information in addition to the estimated consumer desire.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the supplemental information comprises customer shopping history.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the supplemental information comprises previously selected products.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the supplemental information comprises customer demographics.