GEOSPATIALLY CONSTRAINED GASTRONOMIC BIDDING

• US 20130054317A1
• Filed: 09/23/2011
• Published: 02/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Raj Abhyanker
• Original Assignee: Raj Abhyanker
• Inventors: Abhyanker, Raj Vasant
• Application Number:
  US13/242,303
• Publication Number:
  US 20130054317A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions

Abstract

A method includes determining, through one or more central server(s) associated with a gastronomic bidding service provider, that a bidding platform provided by the gastronomic bidding service provider has a number of requests for gastronomical offers within a residential location zip code and/or a daytime location zip code associated with a user thereof. The one or more central server(s) includes a processor communicatively coupled to a memory. The method also includes permitting the user to access the number of requests for gastronomical offers within the residential location zip code and/or the daytime location zip code thereof, and denying the user access to a request for a gastronomical offer within a zip code outside a geospatially constrained region around the residential location zip code and/or the daytime location zip code thereof.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, through at least one central server, which includes a processor communicatively coupled to a memory and which is associated with a gastronomic bidding service provider, that a bidding platform provided by the gastronomic bidding service provider has a number of requests for gastronomical offers within at least one of a residential location zip code and a daytime location zip code associated with a user thereof;

permitting the user to access the number of requests for gastronomical offers within the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code thereof; and

denying the user access to a request for a gastronomical offer within a zip code outside a geospatially constrained region around the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code thereof.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

permitting a retail establishment within the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code of the user to create a minimum reserve price of a gastronomical item associated therewith based on a discount percentage automatically applied to a retail price thereof, the minimum reserve price also being a first payout price of the gastronomical item;

increasing subsequent payout prices of the gastronomical item from the first payout price up to a constrained price associated therewith;

increasing accept prices corresponding to the payout prices of the gastronomical item such that a rate of change of the accept prices as a function of a number of times the gastronomical item is sold is faster than a rate of change of the payout prices as the function of the number of times the gastronomical item is sold; and

hiding each accept price and payout price from a view of the user of the bidding platform at a client device associated therewith such that the user is configured to bid for the gastronomical item with primarily the retail price of the gastronomical item as a guidance thereto.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising at least one of:

permitting the retail establishment to create a limited special offering comprising at least one of the gastronomical item and other gastronomical items associated therewith;

generating a user feed that publishes a winning bid of a particular user to other users within the bidding platform at least one of socially and geographically associated therewith;

generating a zip feed that publishes winning bids of various retail establishments within the zip feed to users who at least one of reside and work in the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code;

generating a retail establishment feed that publishes winning bids of a particular retail establishment to users at least one of socially and geographically associated therewith; and

permitting users of the bidding platform to subscribe to at least one of the user feed, the zip feed and the retail establishment feed such that updates associated therewith are accessible through a client device of each of the subscribed users.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

permitting the user to create a series of standing bid amounts spread across a spectrum of time such that the standing bid amounts are submitted periodically to a set of retail establishments based on at least one of the gastronomical item, a business name, a cuisine type, the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code.

5. The method of claim 2,

wherein the constrained price is one of below and equal to a threshold percentage of the retail price of the gastronomical item when the first payout price is at most the threshold percentage of the retail price, and

wherein the constrained price is equal to the retail price of the gastronomical item when the first payout price is within another threshold percentage value equal to a difference between 100 and the threshold percentage value.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

crediting an account associated with the gastronomic bidding service provider on the at least one central server with an amount between a bid price of the gastronomical item and a particular payout price thereof when the bid price is at least a particular accept price corresponding to the particular payout price.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

qualifying each of at least a threshold number of retail establishments in accordance with an agreement between the at least the threshold number of retail establishments and the gastronomic bidding service provider in which the at least the threshold number of retail establishments agree to permit the user and other users to receive corresponding gastronomical items thereof based on receipts generated through the at least one central server upon securitization of at least one of a winning bid consideration and a fixed fee purchase consideration of the user and the other users.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

appending a delivery charge to the at least one of the winning bid consideration and the fixed fee purchase consideration when the user provides a physical address that is within a threshold distance from a location address of the retail establishment.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

hiding a fixed fee request for an offer in the bidding platform presented to the user through the at least one central server when the particular accept price is above the fixed fee request for the offer.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

automatically publishing a message associated with a saving associated with the at least one of the winning bid consideration and the fixed fee purchase consideration of the user to a social networking page associated with the user following completion of the securitization thereof.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

qualifying another retail establishment in an inactive location zip code when the another retail establishment lists gastronomical items to be marketed to users in a region around the inactive location zip code through the bidding platform; and

transforming the inactive location zip code to an active location zip code when there are at least a threshold number of retail establishments qualifying in the inactive location zip code.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

pre-purchasing, through the at least one central server, a set of gastronomical items from a preferred retail establishment; and

marketing, to a plurality of users, the set of gastronomical items through the bidding platform provided by the gastronomic bidding service provider.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing, through the at least one central server, a conditional purchase offer having an offer price of the user within the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code for a gastronomical item associated with a plurality of retail establishments therein;

processing, through the at least one central server, a payment identifier specifying payment information of the user, the payment identifier being associated with the conditional purchase offer;

transmitting the conditional purchase offer to the plurality of retail establishments within the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code;

receiving, at the at least one central server, an acceptance from a retail establishment within the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code, the acceptance being responsive to the conditional purchase offer by the user therein; and

paying the retail establishment associated with the acceptance based on the payment identifier.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein when a plurality of retail establishments transmits acceptances to the at least one central server, the method further comprises selecting one received acceptance to determine a selected retail establishment.

15. A bidding platform server associated with a gastronomic bidding service provider, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor configured to address storage locations associated with the memory, the processor further being configured to execute instructions associated with;

determining that a bidding platform provided by the gastronomic bidding service provider has a number of requests for gastronomical offers within at least one of a residential location zip code and a daytime location zip code associated with a user thereof,

permitting the user to access the number of requests for gastronomical offers within the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code thereof, and

denying the user access to a request for a gastronomical offer within a zip code outside a geospatially constrained region around the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code thereof.

16. The bidding platform server of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions associated with:

creating, in conjunction with a retail establishment device of a retail establishment within the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code of the user, a minimum reserve price of a gastronomical item associated therewith based on a discount percentage automatically applied to a retail price thereof, the minimum reserve price also being a first payout price of the gastronomical item,

increasing subsequent payout prices of the gastronomical item from the first payout price up to a constrained price associated therewith,

increasing accept prices corresponding to the payout prices of the gastronomical item such that a rate of change of the accept prices as a function of a number of times the gastronomical item is sold is faster than a rate of change of the payout prices as the function of the number of times the gastronomical item is sold, and

hiding each accept price and payout price from a view of the user of the bidding platform at a client device associated therewith such that the user is configured to bid for the gastronomical item with primarily the retail price of the gastronomical item as a guidance thereto.

17. The bidding platform server of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions associated with at least one of:

creating, in conjunction with the retail establishment device of the retail establishment within the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code of the user, a limited special offering comprising at least one of the gastronomical item and other gastronomical items associated therewith

generating a user feed that publishes a winning bid of a particular user to other users within the bidding platform at least one of socially and geographically associated therewith;

generating a zip feed that publishes winning bids of various retail establishments within the zip feed to users who at least one of reside and work in the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code;

generating a retail establishment feed that publishes winning bids of a particular retail establishment to users at least one of socially and geographically associated therewith; and

permitting users of the bidding platform to subscribe to at least one of the user feed, the zip feed and the retail establishment feed such that updates associated therewith are accessible through a client device of each of the subscribed users.

18. The bidding platform server of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions associated with:

permitting the user to create a series of standing bid amounts on the bidding platform spread across a spectrum of time such that the standing bid amounts are submitted periodically to a set of retail establishments based on at least one of the gastronomical item, a business name, a cuisine type, the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code.

19. The bidding platform server of claim 16,

wherein the constrained price is one of below and equal to a threshold percentage of the retail price of the gastronomical item when the first payout price is at most the threshold percentage of the retail price, and

wherein the constrained price is equal to the retail price of the gastronomical item when the first payout price is within another threshold percentage value equal to a difference between 100 and the threshold percentage value.

20. The bidding platform server of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions associated with:

crediting an account associated with the gastronomic bidding service provider on the bidding platform server with an amount between a bid price of the gastronomical item and a particular payout price thereof when the bid price is at least a particular accept price corresponding to the particular payout price.

21. The bidding platform server of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions associated with:

qualifying each of at least a threshold number of retail establishments in accordance with an agreement between the at least the threshold number of retail establishments and the gastronomic bidding service provider in which the at least the threshold number of retail establishments agree to permit the user and other users to receive corresponding gastronomical items thereof based on receipts generated through the bidding platform server upon securitization of at least one of a winning bid consideration and a fixed fee purchase consideration of the user and the other users.

22. The bidding platform server of claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions associated with:

appending a delivery charge to the at least one of the winning bid consideration and the fixed fee purchase consideration when the user provides a physical address that is within a threshold distance from a location address of the retail establishment.

23. The bidding platform server of claim 20, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions associated with:

hiding a fixed fee request for an offer in the bidding platform presented to the user through the bidding platform server when the particular accept price is above the fixed fee request for the offer.

24. The bidding platform server of claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions associated with:

automatically publishing a message associated with a saving associated with the at least one of the winning bid consideration and the fixed fee purchase consideration of the user to a social networking page associated with the user following completion of the securitization thereof.

25. The bidding platform server of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions associated with:

qualifying another retail establishment in an inactive location zip code when the another retail establishment lists gastronomical items to be marketed to users in a region around the inactive location zip code through the bidding platform, and

transforming the inactive location zip code to an active location zip code when there are at least a threshold number of retail establishments qualifying in the inactive location zip code.

26. The bidding platform server of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions associated with:

pre-purchasing a set of gastronomical items from a preferred retail establishment; and

marketing, to a plurality of users, the set of gastronomical items through the bidding platform provided by the gastronomic bidding service provider.

27. The bidding platform server of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions associated with:

processing a conditional purchase offer having an offer price of the user within the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code for a gastronomical item associated with a plurality of retail establishments therein,

processing a payment identifier specifying payment information of the user, the payment identifier being associated with the conditional purchase offer,

transmitting the conditional purchase offer to the plurality of retail establishments within the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code,

receiving an acceptance from a retail establishment within the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code, the acceptance being responsive to the conditional purchase offer by the user therein, and

paying the retail establishment associated with the acceptance based on the payment identifier.

28. The bidding platform server of claim 27, wherein when a plurality of retail establishments transmits acceptances to the bidding platform server, the processor is further configured to execute instructions associated with selecting one received acceptance to determine a selected retail establishment.

29. A gastronomic bidding system comprising:

at least one central server configured to serve as a bidding platform provided by a gastronomic bidding service provider;

a network;

a retail establishment device to submit at least one request for a gastronomical offer associated with a gastronomical item of a retail establishment to the at least one central server, the retail establishment device being coupled to the at least one central server through the network;

a client device associated with a user of the bidding platform configured to submit an offer for the gastronomical item, the client device also being coupled to the at least one central server through the network,

wherein the at least one central server is further configured to;

determine that the retail establishment associated with the submitted at least one request for the gastronomical offer is within at least one of a residential location zip code and a daytime location zip code associated with the user,

permit the user of the client device to access the submitted at least one request when the retail establishment is established to be within the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code thereof, and

deny the user access to the submitted at least one request when the retail establishment is established to be outside the at least one of the residential location zip code and the daytime location zip code thereof.

30. The gastronomic bidding system of claim 29, wherein the at least one central server is further configured to enable qualification of each of at least a threshold number of retail establishments in accordance with an agreement between the at least the threshold number of retail establishments and the gastronomic bidding service provider in which the at least the threshold number of retail establishments agree to permit the user to receive the gastronomical item thereof based on a receipt generated through the at least one central server upon securitization of at least one of a winning bid consideration and a fixed fee purchase consideration of the user.

31. The gastronomic bidding system of claim 29, wherein the at least one central server is configured to enable pre-purchasing a set of gastronomical items from a preferred retail establishment, and marketing, to a plurality of users, the set of gastronomical items through the bidding platform provided by the gastronomic bidding service provider.