Apparatuses, methods, and computer program products enabling association of related product data and execution of transaction

• US 20120095819A1
• Filed: 10/14/2010
• Published: 04/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Phone Through, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Phone Through, Inc.
• Inventors: Li, Lehmann
• Application Number:
  US12/904,159
• Publication Number:
  US 20120095819A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.23
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Upon receiving a request for an object of interest, a client device can automatically: (a) display the combination of a retailer, a payment account, any qualifying offers, and any qualifying rewards which can yield the lowest net price; and (b) execute a purchase of the object of interest using the selected payment account and redeeming the qualifying offers and/or rewards.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method, comprising:

receiving information related to an object of interest from a client device;

identifying the object of interest;

identifying at least one payment account to associate with the object of interest;

identifying at least one base price at which the object of interest is available from at least one retailer;

searching for purchase incentives, including one or more of an offer and a reward associated with one or more of the object of interest, the at least one retailer, and the at least one payment account;

constructing a plurality of purchase solutions for the object of interest, each purchase solution including a base price and one or more of a payment account and a purchase incentive;

computing a net cost of the object of interest for each of the purchase solutions;

identifying the purchase solution having the lowest net cost; and

sending the lowest net cost purchase solution and a user-selectable prompt to purchase the object of interest in accordance with the lowest net cost purchase solution to the client device, including an instruction to cause the client device to display the lowest net cost purchase solution and the user-selectable prompt within a single display page of the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending of the lowest net cost purchase solution includes:

sending an indication of the retailer, the base price, an amount associated with the one or more of the payment account and the purchase incentive, and the corresponding net price, to be displayed within the single page of the client device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the sending of the lowest net cost purchase solution further includes:

sending one or more instructions to cause the client device to,

render the indication of the retailer and the base price with a linear relationship therebetween,

render an indication of a purchase incentive amount and a corresponding indication of a basis for the purchase incentive with a linear relationship therebetween,

render the indication of a reward associated with the payment account and a corresponding indication of a basis for the reward with a linear relationship therebetween, and

render the base price, the purchase incentive amount, the payment account reward, and the net price with a linear and tabular relationship therebetween.

4. The method of claim 1, further including:

receiving a request from the client device, in response to the user-selectable prompt, to purchase the object of interest in accordance with the lowest net price purchase solution; and

executing a transaction to purchase the object of interest in accordance with the lowest net price purchase solution.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the executing of the purchase transaction includes:

executing a payment to the retailer from a payment account when the lowest net price purchase solution specifies the payment account; and

redeeming a purchase incentive when the lowest net price purchase solution specifies the purchase incentive.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the seller is a physical retailer.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the purchase incentive includes a price discount associated with at least one of the object of interest and the retailer, and wherein the executing of the purchase transaction includes:

redeeming the price discount with respect to at least one of the retailer and a manufacturer of the product of interest.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the purchase incentive includes a reward associated with one or more of the retailer and the payment account, and wherein the executing of the purchase transaction includes:

redeeming the reward with respect to at least one of the retailer and the payment account.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending includes sending a text message to the client device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the receiving of the information includes receiving a list of a plurality of objects of interest;

the identifying of the object of interest, the identifying of at least one payment account, the identifying of at least one base price, the searching for purchase incentives, the constructing of a plurality of purchase solutions, the computing of a net price, and the identifying of the purchase solution having the lowest net price, are performed with respect to each of the objects of interest; and

the sending is performed with respect to each of the corresponding lowest net price purchase solutions, and includes instructions to cause the client device to display each of the lowest net price purchase solutions within a corresponding single display page of the client device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the list of the plurality of objects of interest includes a shopping list.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the receiving includes receiving information related to an object of interest from a wireless client communication device; and

the sending includes sending the lowest net cost purchase solution and user-selectable prompt to be displayed within the single display page of the wireless client communication device.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying of the object of interest from the information includes:

classifying one or more prior user transactions to one or more classes of objects in accordance with an object classification system;

identifying a plurality of candidate objects of interest;

generating a search space to encompass the classes of objects to which the one or more transactions are classified;

examining the search space for relationships amongst and within the classes of objects of the search space;

computing, for each candidate object of interest, a probability of one or more of the candidate object of interest, based on one or more of factors; and

identifying the object of interest from a highest computed probability.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the computing of the probabilities includes:

computing the probabilities as a function of one or more of prior user activity and relationships amongst the candidate classes of objects.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the computing of the probabilities includes:

computing the probabilities as a function of prior user transactions stored in one or more data structures.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the computing of the probabilities further includes:

computing the probabilities as a function of prior user transactions stored in one or more of,

a payment issuer data structure that stores user transactions, and

a retailer data structure that stores user transactions.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the classifying includes:

classifying the one or more transactions as a function of a classification system.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the classifying further includes:

classifying the one or more transactions as a function of one or more of,

a MCC,

a UPC,

a NAICS, and

an Ad-ID standard.

72. The method of claim 5, wherein the purchase incentive includes a price discount offered by at least one of an insurance plan associated with at least one of the object of interest and the retailer, and wherein the executing of the purchase transaction includes:

redeeming the price discount with respect to at least one of the insurance plan.

73. The method of claim 5, wherein the purchase incentive includes a price discount offered by at least one of a government entity associated with at least one of the object of interest and the retailer, and wherein the executing of the purchase transaction includes:

redeeming the price discount with respect to at least one of the government entity.

19. An apparatus, comprising:

a system to receive information related to an object of interest from a client device;

a system to identify the object of interest;

a system to identify at least one payment account to associate with the object of interest;

a system to identify at least one base price at which the object of interest is available from at least one retailer;

a system to search for purchase incentives, including one or more of an offer and a reward associated with one or more of the object of interest, the at least one retailer, and the at least one payment account;

a system to construct a plurality of purchase solutions for the object of interest, each purchase solution including a base price and one or more of a payment account and a purchase incentive;

a system to compute a net cost of the object of interest for each of the purchase solutions;

a system to identify the purchase solution having the lowest net cost; and

a system to send the lowest net cost purchase solution and a user-selectable prompt to purchase the object of interest in accordance with the lowest net cost purchase solution to the client device, including an instruction to cause the client device to display the lowest net cost purchase solution and the user-selectable prompt within a single display page of the client device.

20. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer program product logic stored thereon, including:

logic to cause a processor to receive information related to an object of interest from a client device;

logic to cause the processor to identify the object of interest;

logic to cause the processor to identify at least one payment account to associate with the object of interest;

logic to cause the processor to identify at least one base price at which the object of interest is available from at least one retailer;

logic to cause the processor to search for purchase incentives, including one or more of an offer and a reward associated with one or more of the object of interest, the at least one retailer, and the at least one payment account;

logic to cause the processor to construct a plurality of purchase solutions for the object of interest, each purchase solution including a base price and one or more of a payment account and a purchase incentive;

logic to cause the processor to compute a net cost of the object of interest for each of the purchase solutions;

logic to cause the processor to identify the purchase solution having the lowest net cost; and

logic to cause the processor to send the lowest net cost purchase solution and a user-selectable prompt to purchase the object of interest in accordance with the lowest net cost purchase solution to the client device, including an instruction to cause the client device to display the lowest net cost purchase solution and the user-selectable prompt within a single display page of the client device.

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