Abstract:
A method for offering products to a consumer, the method including the steps of (1) assembling a catalog including at least a first product and a second product, the first product having a first default indicia and the second product having a second default indicia, (2) preparing a first sample of the first product and a second sample of the second product, (3) associating a first reference number with the first sample and a second reference number with the second sample, (4) associating the first reference number with the first product and the second reference number with the second product, (5) presenting the catalog to the consumer with an invitation to order at least one of the products, and (6) receiving an order from the consumer, the order specifying at least one of the reference numbers.

Description:
PRIORITY 
       [0001]    This application claims priority from U.S. Ser. No. 61/625,162 filed on Apr. 17, 2012, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure generally relates to sales of promotional products. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods that allow for simplified ordering and/or reordering of promotional products. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Current processes for ordering promotional products, such as products that may be customized by a consumer with text, graphics and the like, currently involve a number of tedious steps for ordering. For example, a consumer may place an order to a promotional products company. The order may be in a first format that includes information regarding the order. As one example, the first format may be set by the customer. As another example, the first format may be set by the promotional products company. The promotional products company must then convert the first format to a second format that may be used by a supplier to manufacture the products. For example, the promotional products company may provide a large quantity of details regarding the ordered product to the supplier, such as type, size, color, indicia on the product and/or the like. The supplier may then manufacture the products in accordance with the information obtained. 
         [0004]    Because the promotional products company must convert the details of each order from a first format received from the consumer to a second format that is recognizable by the supplier, an excessive amount of resources, such as computing power, manpower, time, expenses and the like, are required. Furthermore, the current need to convert order information into the correct format for the supplier makes it difficult to automate the process of ordering promotional products. 
         [0005]    Accordingly, there exists a need for systems and methods to obtain customized orders from a consumer and place the order with a supplier that is less time consuming, less costly, less taxing on resources and/or the like. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    In one aspect, disclosed is a method for offering products to a consumer, the method may include the steps of (1) assembling a catalog including at least a first product and a second product, the first product having a first default indicia and the second product having a second default indicia, (2) preparing a first sample of the first product and a second sample of the second product, (3) associating a first reference number with the first sample and a second reference number with the second sample, (4) associating the first reference number with the first product and the second reference number with the second product, (5) presenting the catalog to the consumer with an invitation to order at least one of the products, and (6) receiving an order from the consumer, the order specifying at least one of the reference numbers. 
         [0007]    In another aspect, disclosed is a system for offering products to a consumer. The system may include (1) a catalog including at least a first product and a second product, the first product having a first default indicia and a first reference number, the second product having a second default indicia and a second reference number, (2) a supplier, wherein the supplier has produced the first product and the second product, and wherein the supplier has associated the first produced product with the first reference number and the second produced product with the second reference number, and (3) a promotional products company in communication with the consumer and the supplier, wherein the promotional products company presents the catalog to the consumer and receives order information from the consumer, and wherein the promotional products company communicates the order information to the supplier, the order information including at least one of the first and second reference numbers. 
         [0008]    Other aspects of the disclosed system and method for ordering promotional products will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  depicts a block diagram of a promotional product ordering relationship in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  depicts an exemplary promotional product in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  depicts an exemplary catalog of promotional products in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  depicts a flow diagram of a process of receiving an order from a consumer and transmitting the order to a supplier in accordance with an embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    Disclosed are systems and methods for ordering promotional products. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a consumer  110  may communicate with a promotional products company  120  for the purposes of inquiring, placing an order, placing a re-order and/or the like. The promotional products company  120  may then communicate with one or more suppliers  130  to order products for the consumer  110 . 
         [0014]    A consumer  110  may be any entity, such as an individual, a corporation, a non-profit group, a division, an association or the like that wishes to purchase and/or customize one or more promotional products. The promotional products company  120  may be any entity, such as an individual, corporation or the like, that distributes promotional products to consumers  110 . The supplier  130  may be any entity that manufactures and/or decorates promotional products or otherwise supplies promotional products to the promotional products company  120  for distribution to the consumer  110 . The supplier  130  further may be a separate entity from the promotional products company  120 , may be a subsidiary of the promotional products company  120 , a division of the promotional products company  120  or the like. 
         [0015]    Communication between the consumer  110  and the promotional products company  120  may occur by any type of communications method now known or later developed. Examples of such communications methods may include telephony communications, facsimile communications, internet-based communications and the like. Communications may further include consumer  110  interactions with a representative or agent of the promotional products company  120 , or may not involve person-to-person interaction, such as instances where the consumer  110  may fill out a web-based or fax-based automated form that is automatically logged into a database maintained by the promotional products company  120  or instances where a consumer  110  may employ an automatic reordering system that communicates directly with a system at the promotional products company  120  at specified intervals, such as when a consumer&#39;s supply of promotional products reaches a low threshold. 
         [0016]      FIG. 2  depicts an exemplary promotional product  205  in accordance with an embodiment. The promotional product may optionally include one or more default indicia  210  and/or one or more pre-defined fields  215 . 
         [0017]    While the promotional product  205  is shown and described as a branded product, specifically a branded coffee mug, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various articles of manufacture, whether branded or not, may be promotional products  205  without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Examples of other promotional products may include, but are not limited to, articles of clothing, office supplies, paper products such as calendars, business cards, blank sheets with embossed personalization or the like, beverage containers, buttons, badges, toys, signs, displays and/or the like. Furthermore, promotional products may vary based on color, size, dimensions and/or the like. 
         [0018]    The promotional products company and the supplier may provide multiple different promotional products  205 . Thus, differing promotional products of the same type (but with varying types of indicia  210  and/or pre-defined fields  215 ) or different types of promotional products (which may further contain similar or differing indicia  210  and/or pre-defined fields  215 ) may be provided by the supplier and/or the promotional products company. Each differing iteration of a promotional product  205  with a differing indicia  210  and/or pre-defined field  215  may have a unique reference number, as described in more detail herein. 
         [0019]    The promotional product  205  may optionally contain one or more default indicia  210  such as a picture, logo, icon, text and/or the like that is imprinted on every promotional product placed by the consumer. The one or more default indicia  210  may generally be located at any position on the promotional product, and may be etched, painted, drawn, stamped, written and/or the like depending on the type of promotional product and/or a preference of the supplier or the promotional products company. 
         [0020]    The default indicia  210 , if it is provided on a particular product, may not be modified, moved, replaced, deleted, supplemented and/or the like in any manner by the consumer. Thus, the default indicia  210  may remain the same on every promotional product  205 . A product containing default indicia  210  may be viewed as one of the multiple iterations of a product, similar to products of different colors, sizes and the like. Thus, products with differing default indicia  210  may have differing reference numbers, as described in greater detail herein. 
         [0021]    The promotional product  205  may optionally contain one or more pre-defined fields  215  that contain customizable indicia  220  such as pictures, logos, icons, text and/or the like that may vary in each iteration of the promotional product  205  ordered by a consumer, or may remain consistent for each promotional product  205  ordered by the consumer. For example, a consumer may order  25  promotional products  205  that all contain the same customizable indicia  220 , such as an inspirational quote, or alternatively may order 25 promotional products  205  that each contain different customizable indicia  220 , such as a different name on each promotional product  205 . The one or more pre-defined fields  215  may generally be located at any position on the promotional product, and may be etched, painted, drawn, stamped, written and/or the like depending on the type of promotional product and/or a preference of the supplier or the promotional products company. 
         [0022]    While the consumer may specify or modify the customizable indicia  220  within the pre-defined fields  215 , the location of the pre-defined fields  215  on the promotional product  205  may be at a pre-set location, and may not be moved by the consumer. Furthermore, the type of customizable indicia  220  that the consumer may specify or modify within the pre-defined fields  215  may be limited to a certain type, such as, for example, only text of a certain font, only pictures of a certain size or color, and/or the like. 
         [0023]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , the promotional products company may provide a catalog  300  containing a list of promotional products  305  that are offered for sale to the consumer. The catalog  300  may be, for example, a paper catalog, such as a catalog that is mailed to consumers, an online list of products such as a web-based store, or contained within a software application for viewing on an electronic device such as a kiosk, a computer, a smartphone, a tablet and the like. As an alternative to a catalog  300 , the promotional products company may provide physical samples of each promotional product available for purchase, such as, for example, a physical product display at a trade show or a retail store display. 
         [0024]    The list of promotional products  305  may contain information  310  about each of the products  205  ( FIG. 2 ) that are available from the promotional products company. Information  310  may be, for example, the name of the product, various color options for the product, various indicia options for the product, various customization options for the product, various sizes and/or the like. The list of promotional products  305  may further contain a price  315  for each promotional product, one or more images  320  of a promotional product and a reference number  325  for each promotional product. 
         [0025]    The reference number  325  may generally be any type of identifier, such as a stock-keeping unit (SKU) number, serial number, order number, electronic product code (EPC), part number and/or the like. The reference number  325  may be any combination of letters, numbers, images and/or symbology such as bar codes, QR codes and the like. 
         [0026]    The reference number  325  may vary for each iteration of a promotional product. For example, a promotional product that is offered in a plurality of different colors may have a reference number  325  for each different color available. Likewise, a promotional product that is offered in a plurality of different sizes may also have a reference number  325  for each size available. Thus, a promotional product that is size large and blue in color may have a different reference number  325  than that of a product that is size large and yellow in color. Furthermore, promotional products that may have the same characteristics (i.e., size and color) but different default indicia  205  ( FIG. 2 ) may also contain differing reference numbers  325 . 
         [0027]    Since each iteration of a promotional product has a different reference number  325 , the promotional products company and the supplier may identify a precise set of parameters for a promotional product by its reference number  325 . Thus, if a promotional products company has specified that a large mug that is blue in color and contains a default indicia  205  above a pre-defined field  215  (for inputting customizable indicia  220  when specified) has a reference number  325  of XXX1234, the supplier may receive the reference number of XXX1234 and know to produce the same large mug that is blue in color and contains the default indicia  205  above the customizable indicia  215  (if any) without any further direction or input from the promotional products company. 
         [0028]    A workflow of an exemplary promotional product ordering process is depicted in  FIG. 4 . First, the consumer may select a product type  405  and default options that are offered by the promotional products company and the supplier  410  such as color, size and default indicia. The promotional products company notes the reference number for the selected product  415  and may optionally provide the consumer with the ability to add customizable indicia  220  ( FIG. 2 ) within the pre-defined field  215  ( FIG. 2 ) of the product  420 . The promotional products company may then provide the reference number, as well as the customizable indicia (if any) to the supplier  425 . Other information, such as a number of products, shipping information, and the like may also be provided at this time. The supplier then produces the proper product based upon the reference number provided by the promotional products supplier  430 . If the product contains an area for the optional customizable indicia, the supplier may produce the product with the indicia at that time. 
         [0029]    Referring back to  FIGS. 1 and 3 , prior to the promotional products company  120  offering the products  320  in the catalog  300  to the consumer  110 , the promotional products company  120  may coordinate with the supplier  130  to produce at least one physical sample of each product  320  in the catalog  300  and assign a reference number  325  to each product  320  in the catalog  300 . Therefore, the promotional products company  120  may inspect the quality of each product  320  in the catalog  300  prior to offering the products  320  to the consumer  110 . Furthermore, the reference number  325  will provide the supplier  130  with the information necessary to produce additional products  320  (except customization in the pre-defined field  215 ) prior to the products  320  being offered to the consumer  110 . 
         [0030]    Optionally, rather than producing a physical sample of each product, a virtual representation of a product  320  may be produced, such as by graphical rendering, CAD drawing or the like. The reference number  325  may then be assigned to the product  320  based on the virtual representation prepared by the supplier  130 . 
         [0031]    Thus, each product  320  will have been produced at least once (physically or virtually) prior to being offered in the catalog  300 . Therefore, a consumer  110  may place an order for a particular product  320  simply by specifying the reference number  325  for that product, as well as any customization within the pre-defined field  215  ( FIG. 2 ), and the promotional products company  120  need only forward the information (e.g., reference number, quantity and customization in the pre-defined field) along to the supplier  130 . As such, each order from the consumer  110  may be treated as a re-order, thereby significantly simplifying the process (e.g., no reformatting of order information may be required). 
         [0032]    Accordingly, by coordinating with the supplier  130  to pre-design the products  320  in the catalog  300  such that each product  320  has a reference number assigned thereto before being offered to the consumer  110 , the promotional products company  120  may significantly streamline the process for ordering promotional products, while still allowing basic customization within the pre-defined field  215 . Therefore, the streamlined process for ordering promotional products may be automated, such as by way of an online website interface between the consumer  110  and the promotional products company  120 , and electronic communication between the promotional products company  120  and the supplier  130 . 
         [0033]    Although various aspects of the disclosed point of sale device have been shown and described, modifications may occur to those skilled in the art upon reading the specification. The present application includes such modifications and is limited only by the scope of the claims.