e-COMMERCE VOLUME PRICING

• US 20110213650A1
• Filed: 05/12/2011
• Published: 09/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Valentine Communications LLC
• Original Assignee: Ewinwin Incorporated
• Inventors: Mesaros, Gregory J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,306,870 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.23
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0217 involving input on products or services in exchange for incentives or rewards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0264 based upon schedule
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute

Abstract

A system and method that facilitates e-commerce volume pricing is provided. According to one aspect of the present invention, the system includes an offers and orders component that receives and aggregates orders for a product from a plurality of buyers. The system also includes a logistics component that determines a shipping price for the product for a subset of the plurality of buyers. The shipping price is determined at least in part upon the subset of buyers sharing a shipping method. According to another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided in which buyers within an aggregated purchasing group may be subject to different pricing structures for the same product.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon instructions executable by a processor to:

receive a deal provided by a merchant of a product or service, wherein the deal includes at least a discounted price that becomes valid only when a predetermined number of buyers purchase or indicate a desire to purchase the deal;

post the deal and terms and conditions associated with the deal to a publically accessible web site, acceptance of the terms and conditions being a condition of purchasing the deal;

receive orders for the product or service in connection with the deal from registered prospective customers who have provided a verified method of payment in connection with an associated order for the product or service;

aggregate the orders from confirmed customers until the specified end time, wherein the confirmed customers are a subset of the registered prospective customers having provided a verified method of payment;

compare a current order volume to the minimum order volume to determine whether the discounted price has become valid;

accept the orders for the product or service received from the confirmed customers at the discounted price; and

collect information relating to at least one customer from the registered prospective customers in order to match at least one customer to future deals.

2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to manage a ranking associated with the merchant.

3. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 2, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to update the ranking in response to feedback provided by a customer.

4. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 3, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to provide a questionnaire in order to solicit the feedback.

5. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to manage a points program in which redeemable points are provided to an account associated with a customer from the registered prospective customers as a function of activity of the customer.

6. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the activity of the customer relates to being one of the first among the registered prospective customers to submit an order for the product or service.

7. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the activity of the customer relates to ordering more than one of the product or service.

8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the redeemable points are redeemable for an extra discount for the product or service in addition to the discounted price.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the redeemable points are redeemable for cash.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the redeemable points are redeemable for a discount on a different product or service.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 5, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to award the redeemable points only in the event the discounted price is valid.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to maintain a profile associated with at least one registered prospective customer, wherein the profile is populated with the information collected relating to the at least one customer.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to manage access to the profile.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to receive at least a portion of the information from a third party resource.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to examine the information to infer a preference of the customer.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to group the customer with other customers with at least one similar preference.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to examine the information to infer a dislike of the customer, where the dislike relates to an inference of what the customer does not prefer.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to advertise total purchasing power as orders for the deal are received.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to accept orders after the discounted price is valid as a function of availability and time of receipt of the orders.

20. A method, comprising:

receiving a deal from a merchant of a product or service, the deal including a discounted price for the product or service that is valid only when a minimum order volume for the product or service is received before a specified end time, the deal received via a communications interface communicatively coupled to a communications network;

presenting the deal and a set of terms and conditions associated with the deal to a publically accessible web site;

receiving orders for the product or service in connection with the deal from a set of registered prospective customers who have provided a verified method of payment in connection with an associated order for the product or service, the orders received via the communications network by way of the communications interface;

aggregating the orders from a set of confirmed customers until the specified end time, wherein the set of confirmed customers is a subset of the set of registered prospective customers and that have provided a verified method of payment and having agreed to the set of terms and conditions;

comparing a current order volume to the minimum order volume for determining whether the discounted price is valid;

accepting the orders for the product or service at the discounted price when the minimum order volume for the product or service is received before the specified end time; and

storing information relating to at least one customer from the set of registered prospective customers in order to match at least one customer to a particular deal.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising computing a ranking associated with the merchant.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising updating the ranking in response to feedback provided by a confirmed customer.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising providing a questionnaire to the confirmed customer in order to solicit the feedback.

24. The method of claim 20, further comprising managing a points program in which redeemable points are provided to an account associated with a customer from the set of registered prospective customers as a function of activity of the customer.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the activity of the customer relates to being one of the first to submit an order for the product or service.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the redeemable points are provided to the account when the discounted price becomes valid.

27. The method of claim 20, further comprising maintaining a profile associated with at least one registered prospective customer, wherein the profile is populated with the information relating to the at least one customer.

28. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon instructions executable by a processor to:

receive an offer from a merchant of a product or service, wherein the offer includes at least a discounted price that becomes valid only when a minimum number of the product or service are purchased within a specified period of time;

present the offer and at least a portion of terms and conditions associated with the offer to a publically accessible web site, wherein the portion of the terms and conditions includes at least an indication of the minimum number that must be purchased prior to the specified period of time in order to validate the discounted price;

receive at least one order for the product or service from registered prospective customers;

verify a method of payment provided by the registered prospective customers in connection with an associated order for the product or service;

aggregate orders received from confirmed customers until the specified period of time expires, wherein the confirmed customers are a subset of the registered prospective customers who have agreed to the terms and conditions;

compare a current order volume to the minimum number to determine whether the discounted price is valid;

accept the orders for the product or service at the discounted price when the discounted price is valid; and

collect information relating to at least one customer from the set of registered prospective customers in order to match at least one customer to future offers.

29. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 28, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to determine a ranking associated with the merchant.

30. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 28, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to manage a points program in which redeemable points are provided to an account associated with a registered prospective customer as a function of activity of the registered prospective customer.

31. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 30, wherein the activity of the registered prospective customer relates to being one of the first among the set of registered prospective customers to submit an order for the product or service.

32. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 30, further comprising instructions executable by a processor to award the redeemable points only in the event the minimum number is met.