SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING PROMOTIONS
First Claim
1. At least one tangible computer-readable medium storing one or more sequences of instructions for facilitating an incentive service, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps comprising:
- response to a request from an establishment from a plurality of establishments registered with the incentive service, providing to the establishment one or more prompts via one or more user interfaces to assist in forming an incentive program related to the establishment, the prompts for requesting data to create at least one earning rule for earning incentive points and at least one redemption rule for redeeming earned incentive points;
responsive to receiving data from an establishment related to its incentive program, using the data to generate and store in a rules database associated with the establishment the at least one earning rule and at least one redemption rule;
response to a request from an establishment from a plurality of establishments registered with the incentive service, providing to the establishment one or more user interfaces to facilitate submission of an earnings statement which records satisfaction of at least one earning rule, the one or more user interfaces enabling the establishment to identify and select an earning rule from among the least one earning rule of the establishment and to identify, in a patron database associated with the establishment, and select a patron who satisfied the earning rule;
responsive to receiving an earnings statement from an establishment related to its incentive program, the earnings statement comprising a selected earning rule and a selected patron, incrementing, according to the selected earning rule, an account of incentive points of the patron, the account being stored in a patron database associated with the establishment; and
response to a request from an establishment from a plurality of establishments registered with the incentive service, providing to the establishment one or more user interfaces to facilitate submission of a redemption statement, the one or more user interfaces enabling an establishment to identify and select a redemption rule from among the least one redemption rule associated with the establishment and to identify in a patron database associated with the establishment and select at least one patron with an account having sufficient incentive points to satisfy the identified redemption rule.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods for providing incentives/promotion systems to users and businesses. Embodiments comprise an Internet-based platform enabling businesses to create and maintain their own reward programs and manage customers participating in them. In embodiments, businesses can customize, according to one or more factors (which factors may be obtained from data stored in the system), and track deals and other offerings to customers, potential customers, or both. Embodiments of the platform enable customers to view each business'"'"'s rewards program, acquire and track rewards and other offering from multiple businesses using a single account offered via the platform. In embodiments, the centralized system allows users, businesses, or both to collaboratively create, promote, and/or redeem promotional activities.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. At least one tangible computer-readable medium storing one or more sequences of instructions for facilitating an incentive service, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps comprising:
-
response to a request from an establishment from a plurality of establishments registered with the incentive service, providing to the establishment one or more prompts via one or more user interfaces to assist in forming an incentive program related to the establishment, the prompts for requesting data to create at least one earning rule for earning incentive points and at least one redemption rule for redeeming earned incentive points; responsive to receiving data from an establishment related to its incentive program, using the data to generate and store in a rules database associated with the establishment the at least one earning rule and at least one redemption rule; response to a request from an establishment from a plurality of establishments registered with the incentive service, providing to the establishment one or more user interfaces to facilitate submission of an earnings statement which records satisfaction of at least one earning rule, the one or more user interfaces enabling the establishment to identify and select an earning rule from among the least one earning rule of the establishment and to identify, in a patron database associated with the establishment, and select a patron who satisfied the earning rule; responsive to receiving an earnings statement from an establishment related to its incentive program, the earnings statement comprising a selected earning rule and a selected patron, incrementing, according to the selected earning rule, an account of incentive points of the patron, the account being stored in a patron database associated with the establishment; and response to a request from an establishment from a plurality of establishments registered with the incentive service, providing to the establishment one or more user interfaces to facilitate submission of a redemption statement, the one or more user interfaces enabling an establishment to identify and select a redemption rule from among the least one redemption rule associated with the establishment and to identify in a patron database associated with the establishment and select at least one patron with an account having sufficient incentive points to satisfy the identified redemption rule. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A promotion system operating on one or more computing devices for facilitating one or more promotions for one or more individuals to patronize one or more businesses, the system comprising:
-
a contacts datastore comprising one or more sets of data regarding contacts for each of a plurality of businesses, the one or more sets of data for a contact comprising contact identity data, contacting information for communicating with the contact via one or more communication channels, and data indicating which of the plurality of businesses the contact has patronized; a promotions datastore that stores promotion data for each promotion from a set of promotions offered by at least one business from the plurality of businesses, the promotion data for a promotion comprising a promotion identifier, a business identifier to identify one or more businesses from the plurality of businesses that are associated with the promotion, and a set of one or more promotion rules configured by at least one business from the one or more businesses associated with the promotion; a promotions rules engine, communicatively coupled to the contacts datastore and the promotions datastore, that, for a promotion, uses the set of rules associated with the promotion to identify which contacts from at least some of the contacts datastore should receive a promotion offer and to generate offers; a promotions tracker datastore that stores data for each promotion from the set of promotions related to which contacts received a promotion offer and data related to which contacts participated in the promotion; and a promotions distributor, communicatively coupled to the promotions rule engine and the promotions tracker datastore, that distributes the promotion offers generated by the promotions rule engine to the selected contacts and updates the promotions tracker datastore with data related to which contacts received a promotion offer and with data related to which contacts, if any, that participated in the promotion. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A promotion system operating on one or more computing devices comprising one or more processing units communicatively coupled to one or more tangible computer-readable media storing data comprising:
-
at least one businesses database comprising one or more sets of data regarding a plurality of businesses of the promotion system, for each business the one or more sets of data comprise profile data about the business and a set of incentive rules comprising at least one earning rule for earning incentive points and at least one redemption rule for redeeming earned incentive points; at least one users database comprising one or more sets of data regarding a plurality of users of the promotion system, for each user the one or more sets of data comprise user identity data, contact information for communicating with the user via one or more communication channels, and incentives accounts that provides an incentives account for each of one or more businesses from the plurality of businesses for which the user has established a connection; and one or more sequences of instructions, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processing units causes steps to be performed comprising; responsive to a request from a user to view incentive accounts of the user, providing one or more interfaces configured to display on a display device to the user, one or more incentive accounts of the user. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification