System and method for integrating offers

• US 20020165775A1
• Filed: 03/05/2002
• Published: 11/07/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Liberty Peak Ventures, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Coope, Nicole D., Suki, Geetanjali R., Tagseth, Per A., Preston, Ray
• Application Number:
  US10/091,612
• Publication Number:
  US 20020165775A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0223 based on inventory

Abstract

The present invention is directed toward a system and method for administering incentive offers. A system for administering incentive offers includes a centralized repository 110 for storing offers, a maintenance engine 120 for updating and maintaining the offers in the repository 110, and a retrieval engine 130 for finding and retrieving offers. The system cooperates with an offer presentation engine 135 for configuring and presenting offers 160 based on offeree traits and the context in which the offer is to be presented. Each offer 160 may comprise both an offer summary 162 and offer details 164.

Claims

1. A system for administering incentive offers comprising:

a centralized repository 110,

a maintenance engine 120 in communication with the centralized repository for facilitating the maintenance of the repository 110,

and a retrieval engine 130 in communication with the centralized repository 110 for facilitating the identification and retrieval of an offer 160,

said centralized repository 110 being configured to store a plurality of offers 160.

2. A system as in claim 1, said maintenance engine 120 being adapted to cooperate with an administrator 199 to create, modify, or delete an offer 160 stored within the centralized repository 110.

3. A system as in claim 1, said maintenance engine 120 being further adapted to provide a security mechanism 122 to authenticate a merchant 198 before granting access to the merchant 198.

4. A system as in claim 3, said security mechanism 122 being configured to limit access to a specific merchant or group of merchants 198 whereby the security mechanism 122 enables the maintenance engine 120 to safeguard the confidentiality of data 160 within the repository, preventing data 160 from being disclosed in an unauthorized or undesirable manner.

5. A system as in claim 2, said system being configured to facilitate review and approval of new offers 160 through one or more reviewing entity 190.

6. A system as in claim 5, said reviewing entity 190 including one or more legal administrator 192.

7. A system as in claim 5, said reviewing entity 190 including one or more marketing administrator 194.

8. A system as in claim 5, said reviewing entity 190 including one or more designated merchant 196.

9. A system as in claim 1, said maintenance engine 120 being configured to facilitate tracking of times a particular offer 160 has been sought or retrieved.

10. A system as in claim 1, said maintenance engine 120 being configured to facilitate tracking of times a particular class of offers has been sought or retrieved.

11. A system as in claim 1, said maintenance engine 120 being configured to facilitate export of a report in accordance with a predetermined set of criteria.

12. A system as in claim 1, said retrieval engine 130 being configured to facilitate presenting of offers 160 via a webpage.

13. A system as in claim 1, said retrieval engine 130 including a search tool 132.

14. A system as in claim 13, said search tool 132 being configured to facilitate identification of an offer or set of offers 160 in accordance with specified search criteria.

15. A system as in claim 13, said search tool 132 configured to facilitate identification of an offer or set of offers 160 in accordance with multiple search criteria.

16. A system as in claim 1, said retrieval engine 130 including a retrieval tool 134.

17. A system as in claim 16, said retrieval tool 134 being configured to facilitate retrieval of an offer 160.

18. A system as in claim 17, said retrieval tool 134 being configured to facilitate retrieval of an offer 160 in accordance a search request configured by a user.

19. A system as in claim 17, said retrieval tool 134 being configured to facilitate retrieval of an offer 160, said offer including parameters defined by a user.

20. A system as in claim 17, said retrieval tool 134 being configured to facilitate retrieval of an offer 160, said offer including only parameters defined by a user.

21. A system as in claim 1, said retrieval engine 130 being configured to facilitate generation of a report 138 describing offers contained within the repository 110.

22. A system as in claim 1, said retrieval engine 130 being configured to facilitate generation of a report 138 describing times an offer has been retrieved.

23. A system as in claim 1, said retrieval engine 130 being configured to facilitate modification of an offer in accordance with a predetermined set of rules.

24. The system of claim 1 wherein said offer details 164 include an offer identifier 165, an offer promotion identifier 166, an offer type 167, a description of qualifying offerees 168, and a definition of offer terms 169.

25. The system of claim 1 wherein said offer details 164 include a merchant name 170.

26. The system of claim 1 wherein said offer details 164 include a trademark identifying the target merchant or the target goods 171.

27. The system of claim 1 wherein said offer details 164 include merchant demographics 172.

28. The system of claim 1 wherein said offer details 164 include an offer category identifier 173.

29. The system of claim 1 wherein said offer details 164 include a merchant type identifier 174.

30. The system of claim 1 wherein said offer details 164 include a geographic location identifier 175.

31. The system of claim 1 wherein said offer details 164 include a target product or service identifier 176.

32. The system of claim 1 wherein said offer details 164 include a description of a term of the offer 177.

33. The system of claim 1 wherein said offer details 164 include a definition of the term for displaying the offer 178.

34. The system of claim 1 wherein said offer details 164 include key word(s) 179.

35. The system of claim 1 wherein said offer details 164 include SKU/UPC information 180.

36. The system of claim 1 wherein said offer details 164 include customer service telephone number 181.

37. A method of administering an incentive offer storage and retrieval process comprising the steps of:

providing a centralized repository 110, a maintenance engine 120 in communication with the centralized repository 110 for facilitating the maintenance of the repository 110, and a retrieval engine 130 in communication with the centralized repository 110 for facilitating the identification and retrieval of an offer 160, said centralized repository 110 being configured to store a plurality of offers 160;

said maintenance engine 120 performing a database maintenance process (step 320); and

said retrieval engine 130 retrieving offers 160 in conformance with a request 140 from a user 150.