TRIGGERING COLLECTION OF CONSUMER DATA FROM EXTERNAL DATA SOURCES BASED ON LOCATION DATA

1 . A method of processing location data in a consumer analytics system to determine, based on the location data, whether to acquire information relating to commercial activity, the consumer analytics system comprising a plurality of first computing devices and at least one second computing device able to communicate via a communication network, the plurality of first computing devices being operated by a plurality of consumers and the at least one second computing device analyzing the location data, the method comprising:

receiving, over a period of time, a plurality of units of location data, the plurality of units of location data identifying a plurality of locations of the plurality of consumers at a plurality of times, the plurality of units of location data including multiple units of location data for a first consumer;

analyzing the plurality of units of location data and producing a result of the analysis;

determining, using the at least one second computing device, whether the result of the analysis satisfies a condition for information to be acquired from at least one data source external to the consumer analytics system; and

in response to determining that the result satisfies the condition, acquiring the data from the at least one data source.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the plurality of units of location data and producing a result of the analysis comprises analyzing the plurality of units of location data to determine at least one characteristic of consumers of the plurality of consumers.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein analyzing the plurality of units of location data to determine the at least one characteristic comprises analyzing the plurality of units of location data to determine an identity characteristic of a consumer, a behavior characteristic of a consumer, and/or a preference characteristic of a consumer.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the data from the at least one data source external to the consumer analytics system comprises acquiring, from the at least one data source, data regarding the consumer.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein acquiring, from the at least one data source, data regarding the consumer comprises acquiring, from the at least one data source, social networking data from at least one social networking service to which the consumer provides data.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein acquiring social networking data comprises acquiring textual and/or media data from the at least one social networking service.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein:

analyzing the plurality of units of location data and producing a result of the analysis comprises producing a result indicating that a consumer visited a setting during a period of time; and

acquiring the social networking data from the at least one social networking service comprises acquiring social networking data provided by the consumer to the at least one social networking service during the period of time.

8 . The method of claim 4 , wherein acquiring, from the at least one data source, data regarding the consumer comprises acquiring, from the at least one data source, purchasing information for the consumer identifying purchases previously made by the consumer.

9 . The method of claim 4 , wherein acquiring, from the at least one data source, data regarding the consumer comprises acquiring, from the at least one data source, information regarding a use of a portable computing device by a consumer.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein:

analyzing the plurality of units of location data and producing a result of the analysis comprises producing a result indicating that a consumer visited a setting during a period of time; and

acquiring the information regarding the use of the portable computing device by the consumer comprises acquiring information regarding the use of the portable computing device by the consumer during the period of time.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein acquiring the information regarding the use of the portable computing device by the consumer comprises acquiring information regarding applications executed on the portable computing device.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the data from the at least one data source external to the consumer analytics system comprises acquiring, from the at least one data source, data regarding a commercial entity of which at least one of the plurality of consumers is a customer.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein acquiring the data regarding the commercial entity comprises acquiring, for a consumer that is a customer of the commercial entity, customer profile data from a data store maintained by the commercial entity.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein acquiring customer profile data comprises acquiring data from a data store of information for a loyalty program of the commercial entity.

15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein acquiring the data regarding the commercial entity comprises acquiring marketing information for the commercial entity.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the data from the at least one data source external to the consumer analytics system comprises acquiring, from the at least one data source, environmental data regarding an environment of a physical location of a commercial entity.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein acquiring, from the at least one data source, the environmental data regarding the environment of the physical location of a commercial entity comprises acquiring weather data from the at least one data source.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein acquiring, from the at least one data source, the environmental data regarding the environment of the physical location of a commercial entity comprises acquiring, from the at least one data source, data indicating gas prices.

19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the data from the at least one data source external to the consumer analytics system comprises acquiring, from the at least one data source, environmental data regarding an environment of physical locations of the plurality of consumers.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein acquiring, from the at least one data source, the environmental data regarding the environment of the physical locations of the plurality of consumers comprises acquiring weather data from the at least one data source.

21 . The method of claim 19 , wherein acquiring, from the at least one data source, the environmental data regarding the environment of the physical locations of the plurality of consumers comprises acquiring, from the at least one data source, data indicating gas prices.

22 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the plurality of units of location data comprises receiving a plurality of measurements of physical location of the plurality of consumers.

23 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the plurality of units of location data comprises receiving indoor location data identifying a location of a consumer inside a setting.

24 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

analyzing the plurality of units of location data comprises determining, using at least one processor, at least one behavior for one or more of the plurality of consumers; and

acquiring the data from the at least one data source in response to determining that the result of the analysis satisfies the condition comprises acquiring the data in response to determining that the at least one behavior satisfies at least one condition for acquiring the data.

25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein determining the at least one behavior comprises determining at least one retail-relevant behavior for the one or more consumers.

26 . The method of claim 24 , wherein determining the at least one behavior comprises determining at least one lifestyle-relevant behavior for the one or more consumers.

27 . The method of claim 24 , wherein:

determining the at least one behavior for one or more of the plurality of consumers comprises determining that the first consumer was present at a commercial entity, wherein the determining is performed contemporaneously with the visit by the first consumer to the commercial entity; and

acquiring the data from the at least one data source comprises acquiring from the at least one data source data relating to one or more times at which the first consumer was present at the commercial entity.

28 . The method of claim 24 , wherein:

location data of the plurality of units of location data indicating a location of a consumer is electronically-derived at a time the first consumer is present at a setting; and

acquiring the data from the at least one data source comprises acquiring data relating to one or more times at which the first consumer was present at the setting.

29 . The method of claim 24 , wherein:

location data of the plurality of units of location data indicating a location of a consumer is electronically-derived at a time the consumer is traveling toward a setting; and

acquiring the data from the at least one data source comprises acquiring data relating to times at which the consumer is traveling toward the setting.

30 . The method of claim 24 , wherein:

determining the at least one behavior of the one or more consumers comprises determining a behavior of the first consumer; and

acquiring the data from the at least one data source comprises acquiring data relating to the first consumer.

31 . The method of claim 24 , wherein:

determining the at least one behavior of the one or more consumers comprises determining a behavior of a second consumer different from the first consumer.

32 . The method of claim 31 , wherein determining the at least one behavior of the one or more consumers further comprises inferring and/or predicting a behavior of the first consumer based at least in part on the determined behavior of the second consumer.

33 . The method of claim 32 , wherein inferring and/or predicting the behavior of the first consumer comprises:

in response to determining the behavior of the second consumer, identifying one or more other consumers included in a group of consumers that includes the second consumer, consumers of the group of consumers having one or more characteristics in common, the one or more other consumers including the first consumer.

34 . The method of claim 24 , wherein determining the at least one behavior for the one or more consumers comprises determining a behavior of a group of behaviors consisting of visiting a first setting and traveling past a second setting during a same trip, deviating from a previously-determined pattern of behavior, and traveling toward a setting.

35 . The method of claim 24 , wherein determining the at least one behavior for the one or more consumers comprises determining that a consumer is visiting or has visited a setting.

36 . The method of claim 24 , wherein determining the at least one behavior for the one or more consumers comprises determining that the first consumer is traveling past or has traveled past a setting.

37 . The method of claim 24 , wherein determining the at least one behavior for the one or more consumers comprises determining that the first consumer is engaging or has engaged in a behavior that deviates from a previously-determined pattern of behavior for the first consumer.

38 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

acquiring the data from the at least one data source comprises acquiring data relating to a plurality of selected consumers; and

the method further comprises:

predicting and/or inferring, using the at least one processor and based at least in part on the plurality of units of location data for the plurality of consumers, at least one characteristic of consumers of the plurality of selected consumers, the predicting and/or inferring comprising predicting and/or inferring a first characteristic for a first set of consumers of the plurality of selected consumers;

receiving, from the at least one data source, a second plurality of units of data relating to the plurality of selected consumers; and

analyzing the second plurality of units of data relating to the plurality of selected consumers to determine, from the second plurality of units of data, attributes of data related to consumers of the first set for which the first characteristic was predicted and/or inferred.

39 . A method of processing location data in a consumer analytics system to determine, based on the location data, whether to store information in at least one data store external to the consumer analytics system, the consumer analytics system comprising a plurality of first computing devices and at least one second computing device able to communicate via a communication network, the plurality of first computing devices being operated by a plurality of consumers and the at least one second computing device analyzing the location data, the method comprising:

receiving, over a period of time, a plurality of units of location data, the plurality of units of location data identifying a plurality of locations of the plurality of consumers at a plurality of times, the plurality of units of location data including multiple units of location data for a first consumer;

analyzing the plurality of units of location data and producing a result of the analysis;

determining, using the at least one second computing device, whether the result of the analysis satisfies a condition for information to be stored in at least one data store external to the consumer analytics system; and

in response to determining that the result satisfies the condition, storing the information in the at least one data store.

40 . The method of claim 39 , wherein storing the information in the at least one data store comprises transmitting the information to at least one third computing device via one or more communication networks.

41 . The method of claim 39 , wherein receiving the plurality of units of location data comprises receiving a plurality of measurements of physical location of the plurality of consumers.

42 . The method of claim 39 , wherein storing the information in the at least one data store comprises storing information relating to a consumer of the plurality of consumers.

43 . The method of claim 40 , wherein storing information relating to the consumer comprises storing information relating to commercial activity of the consumer.

44 . The method of claim 39 , wherein analyzing the plurality of units of location data and producing a result of the analysis comprises analyzing the plurality of units of location data to determine at least one characteristic of consumers of the plurality of consumers.

45 . The method of claim 39 , wherein storing the information to the at least one data store external to the consumer analytics system comprises transmitting social networking data to a social networking service.

46 . The method of claim 45 , wherein transmitting social networking data to the social networking service comprises transmitting social networking data on behalf of a consumer of the plurality of consumers.

47 . The method of claim 45 , wherein transmitting social networking data to the social networking service comprises transmitting social networking data on behalf of a commercial entity of which a consumer of the plurality of consumers is a customer.

48 . The method of claim 45 , wherein transmitting the social networking data comprises transmitting data identifying a consumer of the plurality of consumers and at least one setting visited by the consumer of the plurality of consumers.

49 . The method of claim 45 , wherein:

producing the result of the analysis comprises determining, based at least in part on the location data, at least one behavior of a consumer of the plurality of consumers; and

transmitting the social networking data comprises transmitting data identifying the consumer of the plurality of consumers and the at least one behavior of the consumer.

50 . The method of claim 39 , wherein storing the information in the at least one data store external to the consumer analytics system comprises transmitting information to a data store of information regarding a loyalty program of a commercial entity of which a consumer of the plurality of consumers is a customer.

51 . The method of claim 50 , wherein transmitting information to the data store of information regarding the loyalty program comprises transmitting an instruction to provide the consumer with a coupon.

52 . The method of claim 39 , wherein transmitting the information to the at least one data store external to the consumer analytics system comprises transmitting, to a coupon-issuing system, information indicating that a consumer did or did not engage in a first behavior with a commercial entity and information indicating that issuing a coupon to the consumer may have a high probability of causing the consumer to engage in a second behavior.

53 . The method of claim 52 , wherein the first behavior and the second behavior are the same behavior.

54 . The method of claim 39 , wherein:

analyzing the plurality of units of location data comprises determining, using at least one processor, at least one behavior for one or more of the plurality of consumers; and

storing the information to the at least one data store in response to determining that the result of the analysis satisfies the at least one condition comprises storing the information in response to determining that the at least one behavior satisfies at least one condition for storing the information.

55 . The method of claim 54 , wherein:

determining the at least one behavior of the one or more consumers comprises determining a behavior of a first consumer; and

storing the information in the at least one data store comprises storing the information related to the first consumer.

56 . The method of claim 54 , wherein:

determining the at least one behavior of the one or more consumers comprises determining a behavior of a first consumer; and

storing the information in the at least one data store comprises storing information related to a second consumer different from the first consumer.

57 . The method of claim 54 , wherein determining the at least one behavior for the one or more consumers comprises determining a behavior of a group of behaviors consisting of visiting a setting, traveling past a setting, visiting a first setting and traveling past a second setting during a same trip, deviating from a previously-determined pattern of behavior, and traveling toward a setting.

58 . An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one storage medium having encoded thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method of processing location data in a consumer analytics system to determine, based on the location data, whether to acquire information relating to commercial activity, the consumer analytics system comprising a plurality of first computing devices and at least one second computing device able to communicate via a communication network, the plurality of first computing devices being operated by a plurality of consumers and the at least one second computing device analyzing the location data, the method comprising:

receiving, over a period of time, a plurality of units of location data, the plurality of units of location data identifying a plurality of locations of the plurality of consumers at a plurality of times, the plurality of units of location data including multiple units of location data for a first consumer;

analyzing the plurality of units of location data and producing a result of the analysis;

determining, using the at least one second computing device, whether the result of the analysis satisfies a condition for information to be acquired from at least one data source external to the consumer analytics system; and

in response to determining that the result satisfies the condition, acquiring the data from the at least one data source.