Systems and/or methods for managing "show-rooming" practices

Abstract

Certain exemplary embodiments relate to systems and/or methods for managing “show-rooming” practices of consumers, e.g., where consumers interact with a product at a sometimes convenient brick-and-mortar location, only to later purchase the product from a different (and typically online) provider. Distinct special offers (e.g., in the form of price adjustments) may be presented to potential show-rooming consumers, e.g., via a mobile device operated by those consumers. In certain exemplary embodiments, the distinct special offers may be generated based on, for example, pricing information gathered from competitors, rules specified by the brick-and-mortar location, characteristics or habits of a particular consumer using a particular device, recent trends, etc. The rate at which browsing consumers buy products for which they are presented with special offers, etc., may be monitored and fed back into the system, e.g., to help provide a more finely tuned special offer that helps preserve profit for the seller.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly storing instructions that, when executed by an electronic device, cause the electronic device to at least:
 initiate, in response to a detected attempt to comparison shop for an item of interest currently being shopped for from a first party that offers the item of interest at a first price, a price lookup query to determine how much other parties different from the first party offer for the same item as the item of interest, the price lookup query being executed in connection with an identifier of the item of interest, at least one of the other parties being a flagged entity; and   generate a custom offer when the first price is higher than a price offered by one or more of the other parties as determined using the price lookup query,   the custom offer having terms determined in accordance with a set of predefined rules that are applicable when calculating custom offers, the predefined rules specifying, at least in part, that the custom offer is (a) to have a value that is larger when a flagged entity offers a price lower than the first price than when only non-flagged entities offer prices lower than the first price, and (b) redeemable in connection with the first party.   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the custom offer is a discount applicable to the first price. 
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 2 , wherein the discount, when applied to the first price, makes the first price match the lowest price offered by the other parties. 
     
     
         4 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 2 , wherein the discount, when applied to the first price, makes the first price lower than the lowest price offered by the other parties by a predetermined amount or percentage. 
     
     
         5 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is a server including at least one processor, the server being configured to perform price lookup queries and calculate custom offers. 
     
     
         6 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 5 , wherein the server includes a non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly storing the rules that are applicable to calculating custom offers. 
     
     
         7 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 5 , wherein the server is configured to calculate a rate at which custom offers lead to item purchases from first parties. 
     
     
         8 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 7 , wherein the server is configured to reduce the value of special offers when the rate exceeds a predefined threshold and to increase the value of special offers when the rate is below the predefined threshold. 
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein an offered discount database includes records that store, for each record, indications as to the device and/or consumer for whom a custom offer was generated, the custom offer, an item to which the custom offer applies, and an expiration date for the custom offer. 
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the custom offer relates to an item offered by a manufacturer that competes with a manufacturer of the item of interest. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein each said flagged entity is a designated close competitor of the first party. 
     
     
         12 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly storing instructions that, when executed by an electronic device, cause the electronic device to at least:
 receive an indication that an item of interest is or was being shopped for from a first party by a consumer, the first party offering the item of interest for sale at a first price;   initiate, in response to a detected attempt to shop for the item of interest from another party different from a first party, a price lookup query to determine how much other parties different from the first party offer for the same item as the item of interest, the price lookup query being executed in connection with an identifier of the item of interest; and   cause the display of a custom offer when the first price is higher than a price offered by one or more of the other parties as determined using the price lookup query, the custom offer being redeemable in connection with the first party,   wherein the electronic device belongs to the consumer and the custom offer includes redemption conditions, displayable in connection with the custom offer on the electronic device, specifying that the custom offer is redeemable by the consumer while at a brick-and-mortar store of the first party and/or through a subsequent use of an electronic purchasing channel of the first party.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the electronic device is a smart phone configured to receive the identifier by taking a picture, receiving an RF signal, and/or receiving a barcode scan. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the custom offer is only redeemable by the consumer while at a brick-and-mortar store of the first party. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the custom offer is only redeemable by the consumer through a subsequent use of an electronic purchasing channel of the first party. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly storing instructions that, when executed by an electronic device, cause the electronic device to at least:
 initiate, in response to a detected attempt to shop for an item of interest that is or was being shopped for from a first party that offers the item of interest at a first price, a price lookup query to determine how much other parties different from the first party offer for the same item as the item of interest, the price lookup query being executed in connection with an identifier of the item of interest;   generate a custom offer when the first price is higher than a price offered by one or more of the other parties as determined using the price lookup query, the generated custom offer being redeemable in connection with the first party and having a value that cannot be used to offset the first price of the item of interest; and   cause the generated custom offer to be displayed on a display device.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the custom offer is displayed in a format such that it is redeemable at a point-of-sale (POS) register. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the custom offer relates to an item offered by a manufacturer that competes with a manufacturer of the item of interest. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the electronic device is a smart phone that is configured to receive the identifier by taking a picture of the identifier, receiving near field communication (NFC) information, and/or reading an EPC/RFID tag. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein price lookup queries are performed, and custom offers are generated, by a server including at least one processor. 
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 20 , wherein the server includes a non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly storing rules that are applicable when calculating custom offers. 
     
     
         22 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 20 , wherein the server is configured to calculate a rate at which custom offers lead to item purchases from first parties. 
     
     
         23 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 22 , wherein the server is configured to reduce the value of special offers when the rate exceeds a predefined threshold and to increase the value of special offers when the rate is below the predefined threshold. 
     
     
         24 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein records are stored to an offered discount database, each record including indications as to the device and/or consumer for whom a custom offer was generated, the custom offer, an item to which the custom offer applies, and an expiration date for the custom offer. 
     
     
         25 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the pricing information is obtained via screen scraping respective websites of the other parties. 
     
     
         26 . An electronic device including at least one processor that executes an application for providing custom offers to a consumer, the application comprising instructions that cause the application to at least:
 initiate, in response to a detected attempt to shop for an item of interest currently being shopped for from a first party that offers the item of interest at a first price, a price lookup query to determine how much other parties different from the first party offer for the same item as the item of interest and for one or more similar items indicated as being substitutes for the item of interest, the price lookup query being executed in connection with an identifier of the item of interest; and   cause a custom offer to be displayed via the electronic device when the first price is higher than a price offered by one or more of the other parties as determined using the price lookup query, the custom offer being redeemable in connection with the first party and being redeemable in connection with a similar item indicated as being a substitute for the item of interest.   
     
     
         27 . The device of  claim 26 , wherein the custom offer has a value that is larger when a flagged competitor offers a better price than the first price than when only non-flagged competitors offer better prices than the first price. 
     
     
         28 . The device of  claim 26 , wherein the electronic device belongs to the consumer and the custom offer is redeemable by the consumer only while at a brick-and-mortar store of the first party and/or only through a subsequent use of an electronic purchasing channel of the first party. 
     
     
         29 . The device of  claim 26 , wherein the custom offer is redeemable only at an in-store location from which the price lookup query was initiated. 
     
     
         30 . An electronic device including at least one processor that executes an application for providing custom offers to a consumer, the application comprising instructions that cause the application to at least:
 initiate, in response to a detected attempt to shop for an item of interest that is or was being shopped for from a first party that offers the item of interest at a first price, a price lookup query to determine how much other parties different from the first party offer for the same item as the item of interest, the price lookup query being executed in connection with an identifier of the item of interest;   generate a custom offer when the first price is higher than a price offered by one or more of the other parties as determined using the price lookup query, the generated custom offer being redeemable in connection with the first party and only via a sales channel different from the one in which the price lookup query was initiated; and   cause the generated custom offer to be displayed on a display device.