METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ADMINISTERING A REWARD PROGRAM

• US 20080071622A1
• Filed: 11/28/2007
• Published: 03/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Groupon Incorporated
• Inventors: Jorasch, James, Van Luchene, Andrew, Alderucci, Dean, Walker, Jay
• Granted Patent: US 8,280,769 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 30/0204 Market segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0211 Determining the effectiveness of discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0212 Chance discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0236 Incentive or reward received by requiring registration or ID from user
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives

Abstract

In accordance with the present invention, a central controller stores a series of registrations, each of which corresponds to a purchaser of a product. The central controller calculates a measurement of product success, such as the number of products sold or the market share of the product. The central controller determines if the measurement is within a predetermined range. For example, the central controller may determine if the number of products sold exceeds a predetermined threshold. A selected set of registrations which are “early-adopter” registrations are selected. The set of registrations thereby defines a set of early-adopter purchasers. For example, the central controller may select a set of registrations having ordinal positions within a predetermined range of positions, such as the first hundred registrations. Thus, one hundred early-adopter purchasers are defined. If the measurement of product success is within the predetermined range, a reward, such as a refund or a free product, is provided to each early-adopter purchaser. For example, if sales of the product exceed 1,000,000 units, a reward is provided to each early-adopter purchaser.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

calculating, by a controller, a measurement of product success;

determining if the measurement is within a predetermined range;

selecting a set of registrations from a series of registrations, wherein each registration is an early-adopter registration and corresponds to a purchaser, the set of registrations thereby defining a set of early-adopter purchasers; and

providing a reward to each early-adopter purchaser if the measurement is within the predetermined range.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of calculating a measurement of product success comprises calculating a quantity of product sales.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement of product success is selected from the group consisting of product market share, purchase price, product revenue and product profit.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each registration of the series of registrations has a corresponding date.

5. The method of claim 4, in which selecting from the series of registrations comprises selecting a set of registrations having dates before a predetermined date.

6. The method of claim 4, in which selecting from the series of registrations comprises selecting a set of registrations having dates within a predetermined range of dates.

7. The method of claim 4, in which selecting from the series of registrations comprises selecting a randomly selected set of registrations having dates within a predetermined range of dates.

8. The method of claim 1, in which determining comprises determining if the measurement is within a first predetermined range, and determining if the measurement is within a second predetermined range.

9. The method of claim 8, in which providing a reward comprises providing a first reward to each early-adopter purchaser of a first group if the measurement is within the first predetermined range, and providing a second reward to each early-adopter purchaser of a second group if the measurement is within the second predetermined range.

10. The method of claim 8, in which providing a reward comprises providing a first reward to each early-adopter purchaser if the measurement is within the first predetermined range, and providing a second reward to each early-adopter purchaser if the measurement is within the second predetermined range.

11. The method of claim 1, in which providing rewards comprises providing money to the early-adopter purchasers if the measurement is within the predetermined range.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein each registration includes a corresponding purchase price, and in which providing rewards comprises, for each registration, providing to each corresponding early-adopter purchaser an amount of money based on the corresponding purchase price if the measurement is within the predetermined range.

13. The method of claim 12, in which providing rewards comprises, for each registration, providing to each corresponding early-adopter purchaser an amount of money based on the difference between the corresponding purchase price and a current purchase price if the measurement is within a predetermined range.

14. The method of claim 1, in which providing rewards comprises providing an access code for permitting access to a network.

15. The method of claim 1, in which providing rewards comprises providing an increased payout on a winning lottery entry.

16. The method of claim 1, in which providing rewards comprises adjusting an account balance.

17. The method of claim 1, in which providing rewards comprises at least one of transmitting rewards via electronic mail, or printing a mailing address.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein each registration includes a registration identifier for uniquely identifying the registration.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein each registration identifier includes a product serial number.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein each registration identifier includes a seller identifier for specifying a product seller.