Adaptable retail pricing environment and electronic exchange, delivering customized retailer opportunity rewards and discounts

• US 10,290,009 B2
• Filed: 03/25/2011
• Issued: 05/14/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Safeway Incorporated (Albertsons Cos., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Safeway Incorporated (Albertsons Cos., Inc.)
• Inventors: Thomas, David Edward, Quinn, Jonathan G., Minasi, Michael Robert, Marian, Michelle, Aamir, Mir Mohammad, Pattison, Tamara Ruth
• Primary Examiner(s): Li, Sun M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Thuy N
• Application Number:
  US13/072,556
• Publication Number:
  US 20110288906A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,972 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history

Abstract

An individualized discount and reward server includes one or more linked databases to store customer data associated with a loyalty program of a retailer. The server includes a processor to select a retail product purchased at least once by a loyalty customer. The processor determines, from at least a purchase history associated with the loyalty customer, an amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected retail product and an amount each customer from a plurality of customers forming a peer group spends on the selected retail product. Further, the processor compares the amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected retail product to the amount the peer group spends on the selected retail product to form a comparison result and allocate at least one customized offer to the retailer account according to at least the comparison result.

Claims

1. An individualized discount and reward server of a retailer comprising:

a processor and instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium which, when processed by the processor, causes the individualized discount and reward server to;

select a product category from a plurality of product categories associated with the retailer, the selected product category associated with a plurality of retail products;

select a retail product from the plurality of retail products, the selected retail product purchased at least once by the loyalty customer;

determine, from at least a purchase history associated with the loyalty customer, an amount a loyalty customer spends on the selected retail product over a predetermined time period;

determine an amount each customer from a plurality of customers forming a peer group spends on the selected retail product over the predetermined time period;

compare the amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected retail product to the amount each customer in the peer group spends on the selected retail product to form a comparison result;

send to a computer system of a consumer packaged good partner, via a network, information that a customer is only willing to buy the selected retail product at a reduced price;

after the computer system of the consumer packaged good partner receives the information, receive from the computer system of the consumer packaged good partner an agreement to provide funding for at least one customized offer for the selected retail product;

receive a purchase notification, from a mobile device of the customer or on an in-store kiosk for self-checkout, specifying a retailer account associated with the customer and the selected retail product; and

upon receiving the purchase notification from the mobile device or the in-store kiosk;

i) diverting the purchase notification to a second server which is operated by the retailer and separate from the individualized discount and reward server, and

ii) distributing one or more functions to the second server to prevent the individualized discount and reward server from being slowed down, the one or more functions distributed to the second server including;

a. retrieve the retailer account specified in the purchase notification;

b. upon determination from the comparison result that the amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected retail product is below a predetermined percentile with respect to the amount each customer in the peer group spends on the selected retail product, allocate the at least one customized offer for the selected retail product based on the consumer packaged good partner'"'"'s agreement to a retailer account associated with the loyalty customer according to at least the comparison result, the at least one customized offer including a loyalty adjustment changing a general market price point of the selected retail product to a purchase price;

c. display to the customer while the customer is making a purchase, on a mobile device of the customer or on an in-store kiosk for self-checkout, the at least one customized offer and an option for accepting the at least one customized offer to the customer;

d. receive, from the mobile device or the in-store kiosk while the customer is making the purchase, an acceptance of the at least one customized offer; and

e. redeem the at least one allocated customized offer accepted by the customer.

2. The server according to claim 1, wherein allocate the at least one customized offer further comprises:

allocate the at least one customized offer for the selected retail product to the retailer account associated with the loyalty customer upon further determination that an amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected product category is below a predetermined percentile with respect to an amount each customer in the peer group spends on the selected product category.

3. The server according to claim 2, wherein allocate the at least one customized offer further comprises:

allocate the at least one customized offer for the selected retail product to the retailer account associated with the loyalty customer upon further determination from the retailer account that no offer for the selected retail product is associated with the at least one retailer account.

4. The server according to claim 1, wherein redeem the at least one allocated customized offer comprises:

redeem the at least one allocated customized offer upon receiving a purchase notification specifying the retailer account associated with the customer and the selected retail product, the at least one allocated customized offer redeemed by associating the selected retail product with the loyalty adjustment independent of a general market price point associated with the selected retail product at a time of reception of the purchase notification.

5. The individualized discount and reward server according to claim 1,

wherein the predetermined percentile comprises a first predetermined percentile and a second predetermined percentile;

wherein the compare step comprises;

compare the amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected retail product to the amount each customer in the peer group spends on the selected retail product to determine a first number of customers in the peer group that spend less than the amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected retail product; and

wherein the allocate step comprises;

allocate at least one customized offer to the retailer account associated with the loyalty customer upon determination the first number of customers divided by a total number of customers in the peer group is below the first predetermined percentile, and the processor does not allocate the offer upon determination that the determined first number of customers divided by the total number of customers in the peer group is greater than or equal to the first predetermined percentile.

6. The server according to claim 5, wherein the instructions processed by the processor further cause the individualized discount and reward server to:

determine, from at least the purchase history associated with the loyalty customer, an amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected product category over the predetermined time period;

determine an amount each customer forming the peer group spends on the selected product category over the predetermined time period;

wherein the compare step further comprises;

compare the amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected product category to the amount each customer in the peer group spends on the selected product category to determine a second number of customers in the peer group that spend less than the amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected product category;

wherein the allocate step further comprises;

allocate the at least one customized offer for the selected retail product to the retailer account associated with the loyalty customer upon further determination that the determined second number of customers divided by the total number of customers in the peer group is below the second predetermined percentile and the determined first number of customers divided by the total number of customers in the peer group is below the first predetermined percentile, and the processor does not allocate the offer upon further determination that the determined second number of customers divided by the total number of customers in the peer group is greater than or equal to the second predetermined percentile.

7. An individualized discount and reward system of a retailer, the system comprising:

one or more linked databases to store customer data associated with a loyalty program of a retailer, the customer data including at least one retailer account and purchase history associated with a loyalty customer;

an individualized discount and reward server comprising a processor and instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium which, when processed by the processor, causes the individualized discount and reward server to;

select a product category from a plurality of product categories associated with the retailer, the selected product category associated with a plurality of retail products;

select a retail product from the plurality of retail products, the selected retail product purchased at least once by the loyalty customer;

determine, from at least the purchase history associated with the loyalty customer, an amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected retail product over a predetermined time period;

determine an amount each customer from a plurality of customers forming a peer group spends on the selected retail product over the predetermined time period;

compare the amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected retail product to the amount each customer in the peer group spends on the selected retail product to form a comparison result;

send to a computer system of a consumer packaged good partner, via a network, information that a customer is only willing to buy the selected retail product at a reduced price;

after the computer system of the consumer packaged good partner receives the information, receive from the computer system of the consumer packaged good partner an agreement to provide funding for at least one customized offer for the selected retail product;

receive a purchase notification, from a mobile device of the customer or on an in-store kiosk for self-checkout, specifying a retailer account associated with the customer and the selected retail product; and

upon receiving the purchase notification from the mobile device or the in-store kiosk;

i) diverting the purchase notification to a second server which is operated by the retailer and separate from the individualized discount and reward server, and

ii) distributing one or more functions to the second server to prevent the individualized discount and reward server from being slowed down, the one or more functions distributed to the second server including;

a) retrieve the retailer account specified in the purchase notification;

b) upon determination from the comparison result that the amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected retail product is below a predetermined percentile with respect to the amount each customer in the peer group spends on the selected retail product, allocate the at Least one customized offer for the selected retail product to the retailer account associated with the loyalty customer according to at least the comparison result and based on the consumer packaged good partner'"'"'s agreement, the at least one customized offer including a loyalty adjustment changing a general market price point of the selected product to a purchase price;

c) display to the customer while the customer is making a purchase, on a mobile device of the customer or on an in-store kiosk for self-checkout, the at least one customized offer and an option for accepting the at least one customized offer to the customer;

d) receive, from the mobile device or the in-store kiosk while the customer is making the purchase, an acceptance of the at least one customized offer; and

e) redeem the at least one allocated customized offer accepted by the customer.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein allocate the at least one customized offer further comprises:

allocate the at least one customized offer for the selected retail product to the retailer account associated with the loyalty customer upon further determination that an amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected product category is below a predetermined percentile with respect to an amount each customer in the peer group spends on the selected product category.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein allocate the at least one customized offer further comprises:

allocate the at least one customized offer for the selected retail product to the at least one retailer account associated with the loyalty customer upon further determination from the at least one retailer account that no offer for the selected retail product is associated with the at least one retailer account.

10. The system according to claim 7, wherein redeem the at least one allocated customized offer comprises:

redeem the at least one allocated customized offer upon receiving the purchase notification specifying the at least one retailer account associated with the customer and the selected retail product, the at least one allocated customized offer redeemed by associating the selected retail product with the loyalty adjustment independent of a general market price point associated with the selected retail product at a time of reception of the purchase notification.

11. The system according to claim 7, wherein the retailer receives a difference between the general market price point and the purchase price of the retail product from a consumer packaged good partner.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions that when executed by a processor in an individualized discount and reward server of a retailer causes the individualized discount and reward server of the retailer to:

store, in one or more linked databases, customer data associated with a loyalty program of the retailer, the customer data including at least one retailer account and purchase history associated with a loyalty customer;

select a product category from a plurality of product categories associated with the retailer, the selected product category associated with a plurality of retail products;

select a retail product from the plurality of retail products, the selected retail product purchased at least once by the loyalty customer;

determine, from at least the purchase history associated with the loyalty customer, an amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected retail product over a predetermined time period;

determine an amount each customer from a plurality of customers forming a peer group spends on the selected retail product over the predetermined time period;

compare the amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected retail product to the amount each customer in the peer group spends on the selected retail product to form a comparison result;

send to a computer system of a consumer packaged good partner, via a network, information that a customer is only willing to buy the selected retail product at a reduced price;

after the computer system of the consumer packaged good partner receives the information, receive from the computer system of the consumer packaged good partner an agreement to provide funding for at least one customized offer for the selected retail product to the retailer;

receive a purchase notification, from a mobile device of the customer or on an in-store kiosk for self-checkout, specifying a retailer account associated with the customer and the selected retail product; and

upon receiving the purchase notification from the mobile device or the in-store kiosk;

i) diverting the purchase notification to a second server which is operated by the retailer and separate from the individualized discount and reward server, and

ii) distributing one or more functions to the second server to prevent the individualized discount and reward server from being slowed down, the one or more functions distributed to the second server including;

a. retrieve the retailer account specified in the purchase notification;

b. upon determination from the comparison result that the amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected retail product is below a predetermined percentile with respect to the amount each customer in the peer group spends on the selected retail product, allocate the at least one customized offer for the selected retail product based on the consumer packaged good partner'"'"'s agreement to the retailer account associated with the loyalty customer according to at least the comparison result;

c. display to the customer while the customer is making a purchase, on a mobile device of the customer or on an in-store kiosk for self-checkout, the at least one customized offer and an option for accepting the at least one customized offer to the customer;

d. receive, from the mobile device or the in-store kiosk while the customer is making the purchase, an acceptance of the at least one customized offer; and

e. redeem the at least one allocated customized offer accepted by the customer.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein allocate the at least one customized offer further comprises:

allocate the at least one customized offer for the selected retail product to the retailer account associated with the loyalty customer upon further determination that an amount the loyalty customer spends on the selected product category is below a predetermined percentile with respect to an amount each customer in the peer group spends on the selected product category.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 13, wherein allocate the at least one customized offer further comprises:

allocate the at least one customized offer for the selected retail product to the at least one retailer account associated with the loyalty customer upon further determination from the at least one retailer account that DO offer for the selected retail product is associated with the at least one retailer account.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein redeem the at least one allocated customized offer comprises:

redeem the at least one allocated customized offer upon receiving a purchase notification specifying the at least one retailer account associated with the customer and the selected retail product, the at least one allocated customized offer redeemed by associating the selected retail product with the loyalty adjustment independent of a general market price point associated with the selected retail product at a time of reception of the purchase notification.