Block, Inc.
Calculating Customer Interest In Merchant Communications

Abstract:

This disclosure describes techniques to infer customer communication preferences based on interactions between customers and merchants. In the past, merchants have typically asked customers to either opt-in or opt-out from receiving subsequent communications from the merchants. However, many customers simply choose the default setting, such that the resultant "selection" does not adequately reflect their desires regarding whether and how much future communication they would like to receive. This often results in high unsubscribe rates and/or ineffective merchant communication. The described techniques utilize behavior of a customer as a more accurate gauge of how receptive the customer is to receiving communications from a merchant. The analyzed behavior may include how often a customer visits a particular merchant, for how long the customer remains at the merchant, how much money the customer has spent at the merchant, whether the customer has previously responded to communication sent by the merchant, and the like.