System for utilizing redemption information

• US 10,169,791 B2
• Filed: 09/15/2012
• Issued: 01/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Inventors: Walker, Jay S., Suarez, Jose A., Case, T. Scott, Kobayashi, Michiko, Golden, Andrew P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, Luis A
• Application Number:
  US13/620,719
• Publication Number:
  US 20130226735A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,299 Days
• Field of Search: 705 1449, 705 1458, 705 1463, 705 1465, 705 1466
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0266 based on the position of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0268 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted

Abstract

A system to determine offers and/or to determine the acceptability of offers based on received information relating to product redemption at a third party. According to one embodiment, the system includes arrangement for a customer to redeem a product from a third party, reception of information relating to a redemption of the product by the customer, reception of an offer to purchase a product for an offer price, determination to accept the offer based on the received information relating to the redemption, determination of an assigned third party at which the offer product may be redeemed based on the received information, and transmission of an acceptance of the offer and an indication of the assigned third party.

Claims

1. A device for implementing a recursive sales pipeline between a customer and a plurality of retailers, the device comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing a program that, when executed by the processor, causes the device to:

provide, to a customer device, an associated redemption identifier, the associated redemption identifier indicative of a predefined agreement;

access a redemption tracking database, the redemption tracking database configured to store data in a plurality of redemption tracking records, each redemption tracking record comprising a plurality of redemption tracking fields, each redemption tracking record indicative of a particular agreement, each redemption tracking field indicative of a portion of the particular agreement, a redemption tracking record associated with the predefined agreement comprised of redemption tracking fields storing information indicative of the associated redemption identifier, a first product, a first price, a first product retailer at which the redemption identifier is redeemable, and the customer device to which the redemption identifier was provided;

receive, in real-time, from a first product retailer device associated with the first product retailer, upon provision of the first product to the customer according to the predefined agreement associated with the redemption identifier, redemption information, the redemption information relating to the provision of the first product and comprising global positioning system (GPS) information indicative of a redemption location at which the first product is redeemed and a current retail price of the first product;

access, upon reception of the redemption information, a redemption transaction database, to add an associated redemption transaction record, the associated redemption transaction record indicative of the redemption information and added in accordance with the redemption information, each redemption transaction record comprised of a plurality of redemption transaction fields,

wherein the redemption tracking record associated with the associated redemption identifier comprises redemption transaction fields storing the redemption identifier, data indicative of the first product, a quantity, and the redemption location;

determine an offer to provide to the customer device based on the redemption information, the redemption information configured to enable determination of the offer based on the GPS information indicative of a location at which the first product is redeemed;

provide the offer, the offer comprised of a second product, a sale price, and a second product retailer, the second product retailer being different than the first product retailer and having a location in a same region as the redemption location; and

subsequent to the provision of the first product to the customer according to the predefined agreement, (i) receiving a second offer from one or more different customer devices, the second offer comprised of at least a second offer price, (ii) accessing dynamically updated redemption information, and (ii) utilizing the dynamically updated redemption information, including a difference between the second offer price and the first price to determine whether to accept the second offer,

wherein the difference between the second offer price and the first price determined to be acceptable in an instance in which the difference meets a predefined threshold,

wherein the predefined threshold is dynamically updated after each offer acceptance, and

wherein the second offer comprised of a second instance of the first product and redeemable within a region associated with the location indicated by the GPS information associated with the redemption information indicative of the location at which the first product was redeemed.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the program, when executed by the processor, causes the device to receive the redemption information in a batch along with information relating to other redemptions.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the program, when executed by the processor, causes the device to receive the redemption information automatically in response to providing the product to the customer.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the program, when executed by the processor, causes the device to receive the redemption information after a time delay.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the redemption information further includes a product description.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the redemption information further includes information concerning other products purchased during the redemption.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the redemption information is received via another party.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program that, when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to:

provide, to a customer device, an associated redemption identifier, the associated redemption identifier indicative of a predefined agreement;

access a redemption tracking database, the redemption tracking database configured to store data in a plurality of redemption tracking records, each redemption tracking record comprising a plurality of redemption tracking fields, each redemption tracking record indicative of a particular agreement, each redemption tracking field indicative of a portion of the particular agreement, a redemption tracking record associated with the predefined agreement comprised of redemption tracking fields storing information indicative of the associated redemption identifier, a first product, a first price, the first product retailer at which the redemption identifier is redeemable, and the customer device to which the redemption identifier was provided;

receive, in real-time, from a first product retailer device associated with the first product retailer, upon provision of the first product to the customer according to the predefined agreement associated with the redemption identifier, redemption information, the redemption information relating to the provision of the first product and comprising global positioning system (GPS) information indicative of a redemption location at which the first product is redeemed and a current retail price of the first product;

access, upon reception of the redemption information, a redemption transaction database, to add an associated redemption transaction record, the associated redemption transaction record indicative of the redemption information and added in accordance with the redemption information, each redemption transaction record comprised of a plurality of redemption transaction fields,

wherein the redemption tracking record associated with the associated redemption identifier comprises redemption transaction fields storing the redemption identifier, data indicative of the first product, a quantity, and the redemption location;

determine an offer to provide to the customer device based on the redemption information, the redemption information configured to enable determination of the offer based on the GPS information indicative of a location at which the product is redeemed;

provide the offer, the offer comprised of a second product, a sale price, and a second product retailer, the second product retailer being different than the first product retailer and having a location in a same region as the redemption location; and

subsequent to the provision of the first product to the customer according to the predefined agreement, (i) receive a second offer from one or more different customer devices, the second offer comprised of at least a second offer price, (ii) access dynamically updated redemption information, and (ii) utilize the dynamically updated redemption information, including a difference between the second offer price and the first price to determine whether to accept the second offer,

wherein the difference between the second offer price and the first price determined to be acceptable in an instance in which the difference meets a predefined threshold,

wherein the predefined threshold is dynamically updated after each offer acceptance, and

wherein the second offer comprised of a second instance of the first product and redeemable within a region associated with the location indicated by the GPS information associated with the redemption information indicative of the location at which the first product was redeemed.

9. The computer-readable medium according to claim 8, wherein the program, when executed by the apparatus, causes the apparatus to receive the redemption information in a batch along with information relating to other redemptions.

10. The computer-readable medium according to claim 8, wherein the program, when executed by the apparatus, causes the apparatus to receive d the redemption information automatically in response to providing the product to the customer.

11. The computer-readable medium according to claim 8, wherein the program, when executed by the apparatus, causes the apparatus to receive d the redemption information after a time delay.

12. The computer-readable medium according to claim 8, wherein the redemption information further includes a product description.

13. The computer-readable medium according to claim 8, wherein the redemption information further includes information concerning other products purchased during the redemption.

14. The computer-readable medium according to claim 8, wherein the redemption information is received via another party.

15. A method for implementing a recursive sales pipeline between a customer and a plurality of retailers, the method comprising:

providing, to a customer device, an associated redemption identifier, the associated redemption identifier indicative of a predefined agreement;

accessing a redemption tracking database, the redemption tracking database configured to store data in a plurality of redemption tracking records, each redemption tracking record comprising a plurality of redemption tracking fields, each redemption tracking record indicative of a particular agreement, each redemption tracking field indicative of a portion of the particular agreement, a redemption tracking record associated with the predefined agreement comprised of redemption tracking fields storing information indicative of the associated redemption identifier, a first product, a first price, the first product retailer at which the redemption identifier is redeemable, and the customer device to which the redemption identifier was provided;

receiving, from a first product retailer device associated with the first product retailer, upon provision of the first product to the customer according to the predefined agreement associated with the redemption identifier, redemption information, the redemption information relating to the provision of the first product and comprising global positioning system (GPS) information indicative of a redemption location at which the first product is redeemed and a current retail price of the first product;

accessing, upon reception of the redemption information, a redemption transaction database, to add an associated redemption transaction record, the associated redemption transaction record indicative of the redemption information and added in accordance with the redemption information, each redemption transaction record comprised of a plurality of redemption transaction fields,

wherein the redemption tracking record associated with the associated redemption identifier comprises redemption transaction fields storing the redemption identifier, data indicative of the first product, a quantity, and the redemption location;

determining an offer to provide to the customer device based on the redemption information, the redemption information configured to enable determination of the offer based on the GPS information indicative of a location at which the product is redeemed;

providing the offer, the offer comprised of a second product, a sale price, and a second product retailer, the second product retailer being different than the first product retailer and having a location in a same region as the redemption location; and

subsequent to the provision of the first product to the customer according to the predefined agreement, (i) receiving a second offer from one or more different customer devices, the second offer comprised of at least a second offer price, (ii) accessing dynamically updated redemption information, and (ii) utilizing the dynamically updated redemption information, including a difference between the second offer price and the first price to determine whether to accept the second offer,

wherein the difference between the second offer price and the first price determined to be acceptable in an instance in which the difference meets a predefined threshold,

wherein the predefined threshold is dynamically updated after each offer acceptance, and

wherein the second offer comprised of a second instance of the first product and redeemable within a region associated with the location indicated by the GPS information associated with the redemption information indicative of the location at which the first product was redeemed.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the redemption information is received in a batch along with information relating to other redemptions.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the redemption information is received automatically in response to providing the product to the customer.

18. The method according to claim 15, wherein the redemption information is received after a time delay.

19. The method according to claim 15, wherein the redemption information further includes a product description.

20. The method according to claim 15, wherein the redemption information further includes information concerning other products purchased during the redemption.

21. The method according to claim 15, wherein the redemption information is received via another party.