Method and system for web-based marketing of goods and services having incentive features, tracking and processing incentive based marketing data
First Claim
1. A method for marketing regulated goods and services and for tracking earned incentives associated with purchasing of said goods and services over a computer network, the computer network having a central computer and a plurality of stations connected to said central computer, comprising the steps of:
- receiving at said central computer from at least one of said plurality of the stations, a signal indicative of initialization of a referral activity by an owner of at least one item from said goods or services, said owner having an account in said central computer, said owner defining a referrer entity;
sending to the station associated with said referrer entity at least one electronic message formatted in compliance with a predefined rule or regulation and nominally directing a recipient of said electronic message to the opportunity to purchase a respective item of said regulated goods or services from an appropriate licensed entity, said respective item having an incentive feature associated therewith;
receiving from said referrer entity and storing in a data base at said central computer referral activity data associated with said referrer entity and with at least one referee entity;
receiving at said central computer from said referrer entity a signal indicative of approval of said at least one formatted electronic message;
sending said at least one formatted electronic message from said central computer to a station associated with said at least one referee entity;
matching said referrer entity with said at least one referee entity based on said referral activity data; and
electronically crediting said account associated with said referrer entity based on a predetermined incentive criteria associated with said referral activity once said respective item has been purchased by said at least one referee entity.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Web-based marketing of goods and services having incentive features, referral process, and tracking the earned incentives includes a software running on a central computer, which, upon initialization of a referral activity by a current client, presents to the client templates formatted in compliance with rules and regulations of industry. Once a template is accepted by the current client, the software e-mails the template to a prospective purchaser, whose name and e-mail address is submitted by the current client. Once the prospective purchaser has made a purchase, the software tracks the earned incentive to the referring current client and credits his/her account.
83 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for marketing regulated goods and services and for tracking earned incentives associated with purchasing of said goods and services over a computer network, the computer network having a central computer and a plurality of stations connected to said central computer, comprising the steps of:
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receiving at said central computer from at least one of said plurality of the stations, a signal indicative of initialization of a referral activity by an owner of at least one item from said goods or services, said owner having an account in said central computer, said owner defining a referrer entity;
sending to the station associated with said referrer entity at least one electronic message formatted in compliance with a predefined rule or regulation and nominally directing a recipient of said electronic message to the opportunity to purchase a respective item of said regulated goods or services from an appropriate licensed entity, said respective item having an incentive feature associated therewith;
receiving from said referrer entity and storing in a data base at said central computer referral activity data associated with said referrer entity and with at least one referee entity;
receiving at said central computer from said referrer entity a signal indicative of approval of said at least one formatted electronic message;
sending said at least one formatted electronic message from said central computer to a station associated with said at least one referee entity;
matching said referrer entity with said at least one referee entity based on said referral activity data; and
electronically crediting said account associated with said referrer entity based on a predetermined incentive criteria associated with said referral activity once said respective item has been purchased by said at least one referee entity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for marketing insurance policies and for processing insurance-policy related information, comprising the steps of:
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offering to an object of a qualifying activity, in a form of an electronic message formatted in compliance with predefined regulation, an insurance policy having a rebate feature associated with reducing the net insurance premium, said rebate feature being activated if said qualifying activity is performed by a holder of said insurance policy, said electronic message being e-mailed upon approval thereof by said insurance policy holder;
receiving data associated with said qualifying activity performed by said insurance policy holder;
calculating rebate data associated with the premium of said insurance policy based on said received qualifying activity data; and
presenting to said insurance policy holder discount information based on said calculated rebate data. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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25. A system for marketing regulated products and for tracking earned incentives associated with purchasing of said products, comprising:
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a central computer, a plurality of stations connected to said central computer in a computer network, each said station being associated with a respective current holder of at least one of said products, said respective holder having an account associated therewith, means at said central computer for sending to said stations electronic messages formatted in compliance with a predefined regulation, said electronic messages nominally directing recipients thereof to the opportunity to purchase a respective item of said regulated products from a licensed entity, means at said central computer for receiving from said stations and storing at said central computer referral activity data associated with said respective current holder of said at least one of said products and with at least one prospective holder of said respective item;
means for sending said formatted electronic messages from said central computer to a station associated with said at least one prospective holder of said respective item upon approval by said respective current holder;
means at said central computer for matching said respective current holder with said prospective holder based on said referral activity data; and
means at said central computer for calculating and crediting said respective current holder'"'"'s account, once said respective item has been purchased by said prospective holder. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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Specification