CONSUMER ANALYTICS SYSTEM THAT DETERMINES, OFFERS, AND MONITORS USE OF REWARDS INCENTIVIZING CONSUMERS TO PERFORM TASKS

1 . A method of evaluating an impact on a business of a reward offered by the business to customers of the business in exchange for the customers completing one or more surveys distributed to the customers on behalf of the business, the method comprising:

in response to completion of at least one survey of the one or more surveys by a first plurality of consumers who have visited the business, electronically storing information indicating that the reward is available for redemption by the first plurality of consumers;

following redemption of the reward by consumers of a second plurality of consumers, of the first plurality of consumers, determining at least one characteristic relating to interactions by consumers of the second plurality of consumers with the business, wherein determining the at least one characteristic comprises detecting visits by consumers of the second plurality to the business; and

determining a value of the reward to the business based at least in part on the at least one characteristic.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

prior to the reward being made available for redemption to the first plurality of consumers, determining at least one prior characteristic relating to interactions by consumers of the first plurality of consumers with the business, wherein determining the at least one prior characteristic comprises detecting visits by consumers of the first plurality of consumers to the business,

wherein the at least one characteristic is at least one subsequent characteristic, and

wherein determining the value of the reward to the business comprises comparing the at least one subsequent characteristic to the at least one prior characteristic to determine an effect of the reward on one or more characteristics of the consumers of the second plurality of consumers.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein:

determining the at least one subsequent characteristic comprises determining the at least one subsequent characteristic for a plurality of time periods following redemption of the reward by consumers; and

comparing the at least one subsequent characteristic to the at least one prior characteristic comprises comparing the at least one subsequent characteristic for each of the plurality of time periods to the at least one prior characteristic to determine a persistence of any effect of the reward on the one or more characteristics of the consumers of the second plurality of consumers.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein:

the at least one prior characteristic is a first length of a time period between visits to the business by consumers of the second plurality of consumers;

the at least one subsequent characteristic is a second length of a time period between visits to the business by consumers of the second plurality of consumers; and

comparing the at least one subsequent characteristic to the at least one prior characteristic comprises comparing the second length of a time period to the first length of a time period.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein:

the at least one prior characteristic relating to interactions by consumers of the first plurality of consumers with the business comprises, for a first consumer of the second plurality of consumers, a first individual length of time between visits to the business by the first consumer;

the at least one subsequent characteristic relating to interactions by consumers of the second plurality of consumers with the business comprises, for the first consumer of the second plurality of consumers, a second individual length of time between visits to the business by the first consumer; and

comparing the at least one subsequent characteristic to the at least one prior characteristic comprises, for the first consumer of the second plurality of consumers, comparing the first individual length of time to the second individual length of time.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein:

the at least one prior characteristic relating to interactions by consumers of the first plurality of consumers with the business comprises, for consumers of the first plurality of consumers, a first average length of time between visits to the business by the consumers;

the at least one subsequent characteristic relating to interactions by consumers of the second plurality of consumers with the business comprises, for consumers of the second plurality of consumers, a second average length of time between visits to the business by the consumers; and

comparing the at least one subsequent characteristic to the at least one prior characteristic comprises comparing the first average length of time to the second average length of time.

7 . The method of claim 2 , wherein:

the at least one prior characteristic is a first amount spent by consumers of the second plurality of consumers during visits to the business;

the at least one subsequent characteristic is a second amount spent by consumers of the second plurality of consumers during visits to the business; and

comparing the at least one subsequent characteristic to the at least one prior characteristic comprises comparing the second amount spent to the first amount spent.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting at least one message to at least one computing device associated with the business, the at least one message comprising information regarding responses provided by consumers of the first plurality of consumers to the one or more surveys and information regarding the determined value of the reward to the business.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the at least one message further comprises information regarding at least one first characteristic of the first plurality of consumers and/or at least one second characteristic of the second plurality of consumers.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein either or both of the at least one first characteristic of the first plurality of consumers and the at least one second characteristic of the second plurality of consumers comprise at least one demographic characteristic.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

determining the at least one characteristic relating to interactions by consumers of the second plurality with the business comprises analyzing location data for the consumers of the second plurality, the location data having been received from mobile devices operated by the consumers, the location data indicating geographic locations of consumers.

12 . At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having encoded thereon executable instructions that, when executed by at least one computer, cause the at least one computer to carry out a method of electronically analyzing geographic locations through which consumers passed to determine whether rewards provided to the consumers have had a desired effect, the method comprising:

determining, for a first consumer based at least in part on a first plurality of units of location data each indicating a geographic location of the first consumer at a time, at least one first behavior characteristic of the first consumer relating to a first business;

determining, for a second consumer based at least in part on a second plurality of units of location data each indicating a geographic location of the second consumer at a time, at least one second behavior characteristic of the second consumer relating to the first business;

providing to the first consumer a first reward that is redeemable at the first business, the first reward having a first value;

providing to the second consumer a second reward that is redeemable at the first business, the second reward having a second value that is higher than the first value;

following the providing of the first and second rewards to the first and second consumers, evaluating an impact of the first reward on the first consumer and the second reward on the second consumer, wherein evaluating the impact comprises comparing at least one third behavior characteristic of the first consumer relating to the first business to the at least one first behavior characteristic and comparing at least one fourth behavior characteristic of the second consumer relating to the first business to the at least one second behavior characteristic, the at least one third behavior characteristic and the at least one fourth behavior characteristic being determined following the providing of the first and second rewards; and

based at least in part on a result of the evaluating, determining whether the first reward or the second reward had the desired effect on behavior of the first consumer or the second consumer.

13 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the method further comprises:

determining a third value of a third reward that is redeemable at the first business that is to be offered to consumers to have the desired effect on consumers, wherein determining the third value comprises determining the third value based at least in part on a result of the evaluating.

14 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein determining the third value of the third reward comprises:

in response to determining, based at least in part on a result of the evaluating, that the first reward has the desired effect on behavior, selecting the third value to be less than the first value;

in response to determining, based at least in part on a result of the evaluating, that the first reward did not have the desired effect on behavior and the second reward had the desired effect on behavior, selecting the third value to be greater than the first value and less than the second value; and

in response to determining, based at least in part on a result of the evaluating, that the second reward did not have the desired effect on behavior, selecting the third value to be greater than the second value.

15 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , further comprising:

determining whether the first reward had a greater or lesser effect on behavior of the first consumer as compared to an effect of the second reward on behavior of the second consumer.

16 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the method further comprises:

determining, based at least in part on a result of the evaluating, a smallest value for a reward that will have the desired effect on behavior.

17 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein:

the first consumer is a first plurality of consumers;

the at least one first behavior characteristic and the at least one third behavior characteristic of the first consumer relating to the first business are characteristics of the first plurality of consumers;

the second consumer is a second plurality of consumers;

the at least one second behavior characteristic and the at least one fourth behavior characteristic of the first consumer relating to the first business are characteristics of the second plurality of consumers; and

determining whether the first reward or the second reward had the desired effect on behavior of the first consumer or the second consumer based at least in part on a result of the evaluating comprises determining whether the first reward or the second reward had the desired effect on behavior of the first plurality of consumers or the second plurality of consumers based at least in part on a result of the evaluating.

18 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein:

evaluating the impact comprises comparing at least one fifth behavior characteristic of the first consumer relating to the first business to the at least one first behavior characteristic and comparing at least one sixth behavior characteristic of the second consumer relating to the first business to the at least one second behavior characteristic, the at least one fifth behavior characteristic and the at least one sixth behavior characteristic being determined following the providing of the first and second rewards and following determination of the at least one third behavior characteristic and the at least one fourth behavior characteristic; and

determining, based at least in part on results of the comparing, a persistence of any effect on behavior of the first reward and the second reward.

19 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein:

the desired effect on behavior is enticing a customer of a second business, which is a competitor of the first business, to visit the first business;

the method further comprises determining that the first consumer is a customer of the second business and that the second consumer is a customer of the second business based at least in part on analyzing the first plurality of units of location data and the second plurality of units of location data;

comparing at least one third behavior characteristic of the first consumer relating to the first business to the at least one first behavior characteristic comprises determining whether the first consumer visited the first business in a way that deviates from a first previous pattern of behavior for the first consumer relating to the first business; and

comparing at least one fourth behavior characteristic of the second consumer relating to the first business to the at least one second behavior characteristic comprises determining whether the second consumer visited the first business in a way that deviates from a second previous pattern of behavior for the second consumer relating to the first business.

20 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein:

comparing at least one third behavior characteristic of the first consumer relating to the first business to the at least one first behavior characteristic further comprises determining whether the first consumer visited the first business in a way that deviates from a previous second pattern of behavior for the first consumer relating to the second business.

21 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 , further comprising:

in response to determining that the first consumer visited the first business in a way that deviates from the first previous pattern of behavior for the first consumer relating to the first business and the second consumer visited the first business in a way that deviates from the second previous pattern of behavior for the second consumer relating to the first business, determining whether a deviation of the first consumer from the first pattern of behavior is a greater deviation than a deviation of the second consumer from the second pattern of behavior.

22 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein:

the desired effect on behavior is encouraging a lapsed customer of the first business to visit the first business;

comparing at least one third behavior characteristic of the first consumer relating to the first business to the at least one first behavior characteristic comprises determining whether, following redemption of the reward, the first consumer visited the first business with a frequency that is higher than a visit frequency indicated by the at least one first behavior characteristic; and

determining whether the first reward had the desired effect on behavior of the first consumer or the second consumer comprises determining that the reward had the effect when the first consumer visited the first business with a frequency that is higher than the visit frequency indicated by the at least one first behavior characteristic.

23 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein the method further comprises determining that the first consumer is a lapsed customer of the first business at least in part by:

determining, based at least in part on a third plurality of units of location data for the first consumer, a first frequency with which the first consumer visited the first business in a first time period;

determining, based at least in part on the first plurality of units of location data for the first consumer, a second frequency with which the first consumer visited the first business in a second time period following the time period; and

comparing the first frequency to the second frequency to determine if the second frequency is lower than the first frequency.

24 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein:

the method further comprises determining that the first consumer is a lapsed customer of the first business at least in part by determining that the first consumer is a potentially-lapsing customer of the first business; and

determining that the first consumer is a potentially-lapsing customer of the first business comprises evaluating one or more inputs provided by the first consumer in response to one or more questions included in a first survey distributed to the first consumer to determine whether the one or more inputs indicate that the first consumer had a dissatisfactory experience at the first business.

25 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein providing to the first consumer the first reward that is redeemable at the first business comprises providing the first reward to the first consumer as a result of receiving one or more inputs provided by the first consumer in response to one or more questions included in a first survey.

26 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 25 , wherein the method further comprises:

in response to determining that the first consumer is or was engaging in at least one behavior that satisfies one or more conditions for distribution of a first survey, transmitting at least one message to a mobile device operated by the first consumer soliciting the consumer to complete the first survey, wherein determining that the first consumer is or was engaging in the at least one behavior comprises evaluating a plurality of units of location data received from the mobile device, each unit of location data indicating a location of the first consumer at a time the unit of location data was generated.

27 . 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 comprising:

receiving, at the apparatus, a first notification that a customer of a business has requested to redeem a reward that the customer earned that is available for redemption at the business;

receiving, from at least one remote computing device that provided the reward to the customer, a second notification that the reward that is being redeemed is legitimate; and

in response to the second notification, flagging the redemption by the customer as legitimate.

28 . The apparatus of claim 27 , wherein the apparatus is a point-of-sale terminal operated by the business.

29 . The apparatus of claim 27 , wherein:

the receiving, receiving, and flagging are carried out during a sale transaction in which the customer of the business has requested to redeem the reward; and

the method further comprises refraining from completing the sale transaction with redemption of the reward unless the second notification is received from the at least one remote computing device.

30 . The apparatus of claim 27 , wherein the method further comprises:

when the second notification is not received from the at least one remote computing device after a period of time, flagging the redemption as illegitimate and preventing redemption of the reward.

31 . The apparatus of claim 27 , wherein receiving the second notification from the at least one remote computing device that provided the reward to the customer comprises receiving the second notification from at least one computing device of a consumer analytics system that provided the reward to the customer as a result of the customer providing a response to a survey to the consumer analytics system.