Method, program, and system for resetting the value of a coupon based on market information

• US 20030130890A1
• Filed: 01/09/2002
• Published: 07/10/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dutta, Rabindranath, Banerjee, Dwip N., Ullmann, Lorin E.
• Granted Patent: US 7,337,128 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0209 Incentive being awarded or redeemed in connection with the playing of a video game
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0212 Chance discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0215 Including financial accounts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0217 involving input on products or services in exchange for incentives or rewards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0221 Re-usable coupons
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0223 based on inventory
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement

Abstract

A method and computer program for resetting the value of a coupon based on market information is provided. The program receives a request for valuation of a coupon from a retailer, accesses market demand information for a product corresponding to the coupon, determines a market demand value based on the market demand information, determines a coupon value based on the market demand value, and provides the coupon value to the retailer.

Claims

1. A method of resetting the value of a coupon comprising:

receiving a request for valuation of a coupon from a retailer;

accessing market demand information for a product corresponding to the coupon in response to the request;

determining a market demand value based on the market demand information;

determining a coupon value based on the market demand value;

providing the coupon value to the retailer;

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the request for valuation is in response to a purchase.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein market demand is accessed from a database storing product sales data.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein market demand information is selected from a database including:

retailer inventory, competitor pricing, current and anticipated competitor inventory, competitor advertising spending, cyclical buying trends, and economic indicators.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the coupon value is limited within a predefined range.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein providing the coupon value to the retailer is in response to the request for valuation.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the retailer is the manufacturer.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the market demand value comprises a percentage to be multiplied by the coupon value.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

allocating at least a portion of the coupon value to the customer purchasing the product.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

allocating at least a portion of the coupon value to the retailer.

11. Computer readable media containing computer readable code for resetting the value of a coupon based on market information comprising:

computer readable code for receiving a request for valuation of a coupon from a retailer;

computer readable code for accessing market demand information for a product corresponding to the coupon in response to the request;

computer readable code for determining a market demand value based on the market demand information;

computer readable code for determining a coupon value based on the market demand value;

computer readable code for providing the coupon value to the retailer.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the request for valuation is in response to a purchase.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein market demand is accessed from a database storing product sales data.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein market demand information is selected from a database including:

retailer inventory, competitor pricing, current and anticipated competitor inventory, competitor advertising spending, cyclical buying trends, and economic indicators.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein the coupon value is limited within a predefined range.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein providing the coupon value to the retailer is in response to the request for valuation.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein the retailer is the manufacturer.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein the market demand value comprises a percentage to be multiplied by the coupon value.

19. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

computer readable code for allocating at least a portion of the coupon value to the customer purchasing the product.

20. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

computer readable code for allocating at least a portion of the coupon value to the retailer.

21. Computer readable media containing computer readable code for resetting the value of a coupon based on market information comprising:

means for receiving a request for valuation of a coupon from a retailer;

means for accessing market demand information for a product corresponding to the coupon in response to the request;

means for determining a market demand value based on the market demand information;

means for determining a coupon value based on the market demand value; and

means for providing the coupon value to the retailer;